There are a range of additives being developed and tested for reducing methane emissions in sheep. How do we deliver these in large flocks in extensive grazing systems? Can we use automated radio frequency technology to help us understand variation of supplement and additive intake in large scale situations and inform better supplement design and delivery systems?

The project will evaluate and demonstrate the feasibility of:

• Using radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies for capturing, understanding and managing intake variation in grazing sheep. This will provide feedback for improving supplement design and delivery. Both low frequency (LF) and ultra high frequency (UHF) RFID systems will be tested and have been specifically designed to read and record the frequency and duration of individual visits to a feeder within a group of sheep.
• Using self-feeders to deliver antimethanogenic additives at quantities required to reduce methane output in extensively grazing sheep. Two commonly used types of lick feeders will be examined for delivering high (grain/pellet) and low (powder/granulated) volume supplements.

Impact on Industry

Understanding variation of supplement intake is a critical step to enhance the use of feed additives to reduce methane emissions in extensive livestock systems. This knowledge will also lead to improvements in the intake of other supplements, such as minerals.

This project received grant funding from the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water through the Methane Emissions Reduction in Livestock – Stage 2 program. It is also supported with funding from Australian Wool Innovation (AWI).

We are working with Feeder Reader on a low frequency RFID system and Agriscan for a UHF RFID system.

Project lead: Jess Wallace

Project team: Gordon Refshauge, Ed Clayton, Forough Ataollahi, Augusto Imaz

Project Value: $300k