Methane and Efficiency Research
Project Overview
Although significant progress has been made in developing selection tools for feed intake during the postweaning gain phase to describe efficiency, accurately measuring intake and efficiency in grazing cattle remains a major challenge.
Mature body weight has been used historically as a straightforward approach to measuring cow efficiency (Dickerson, 1978). Recent research from Oklahoma State University shows that mature body weight might not tell the whole story. In drylot studies using feed intake systems and high forage diets, some larger cows ate the same amount or even less than smaller cows (Lalman, BIF Proceedings, 2024). This supports the long-standing hypothesis that mature body size alone might not be the best way to measure cow efficiency. Selection for enteric methane and other emissions in combination with other important production traits may pose a potential solution.
Enteric methane is a natural byproduct of the fermentation process as microbes in the rumen working to break down feed. Energy extracted from feed is partitioned to either 1) body maintenance functions, 2) growth or lactation, or 3) is lost as a waste product. Energy lost as methane can equal over 10% of an animal’s energy intake (Johnson & Johnson, 1995). Energy savings from reductions in enteric methane emission are realized as increased feed efficiency.
Research has reported that genetic correlations between methane production and residual feed intake of 0.65-0.76 exist (Manzanilla-Pech et al., 2022). Another study published in the Journal of Dairy Science, reported a correlation of 0.62 between methane production and dry matter intake (Fresco et al., 2023). These findings show that measuring methane emissions might be a useful indicator of feed intake and efficiency of grazing cattle.
In addition to minimizing energy lost as methane, selection tools that identify animals with lower maintenance requirements could drive increased forage efficiency. Measuring gas emissions (methane, carbon dioxide, oxygen) from cattle also enables direct estimates of maintenance energy (Brouwer, E. (1965) Report of Sub-Committee on Constants and Factors. In: Blaxter, K.L., Ed., Proceedings of the 3rd Symposium on Energy Metabolism, Academic Press, London, 441-443). Metabolic heat production is one well-understood indicator of maintenance and can make up over 70% of a mature cow’s feed energy use.
The study will evaluate the effective capture of methane emission records, the genetic drivers of methane emissions, and the potential to select for these traits. The resulting records will enable examination of genetic drivers of metabolic heat production and allow for investigation into genetic correlations with other economically relevant traits. Understanding, these differences may provide valuable insights into cow intake, efficiency, and energy loss under grazing conditions. The findings could contribute to the development or refinement of selection tools that potentially enable producers to identify and select cattle who emit less methane and are more efficient.
Project Objective
To understand the influence genetics has on methane emissions, whether it can be reduced through genetic selection, and examine its relationship to other traits including efficiency for growth and maintenance, feed intake, lifetime productivity, and beef quality. That could be used to better understand cow efficiency.
Project Timeline
This is a five-year project with an anticipated completion date of 2030.
Project Activities
1. Build Chambers* (Year 1) — Leveraging technology that has been widely deployed in sheep, New Zealand partners have demonstrated how a Portable Accumulation Chamber (PAC) can provide practical solutions to capture methane. This project will refine the PAC design for beef cattle, considering specific in-country requirements and opportunities – i.e. size, age and weight of the animals. Once designed, PAC construction will commence with the aim of deploying 30 units in the U.S. and 30 units in Australia and four in the United Kingdom. New Zealand already has PACs available (Figure 1 & 2). Measurement protocols and data collection protocols will be established for the project during activity 1.
*NOTE: Current PAC designs are optimized for smaller animals, such as sheep or growing cattle. The research team is actively working to adapt these systems for larger females. This step is critical as the intent is to use these records to better understand cowherd efficiency. Evaluation of additional technologies is also underway.
2. Ask for Volunteers (Year 1-5) — AGI will actively pursue volunteers interested in participating in the research from across the Angus community representing diverse regions and varying forage and grazing environments. At this stage, no specific breeders have been selected.
3. Collect Data (Year 2-5) — Utilizing the PAC technology developed in activity 1, the methane measurement records paired with genotypes will be collected. The number of records matches within country capabilities which is also generally aligned with the size and influence of the respective beef cattle populations in each country. The number of records increases over years as the PACs developed in activity 1 are scaled up to full capacity and recording protocols are streamlined. In total, the AGI will collect 7,000 total measurements (4,600 records funded by the Bezos Earth Fund grant will be submitted to the committee managing the Global Methane Genetics initiative, and any data shared for research or genomic prediction will be anonymized.) Samples for rumen microbial analyses will be collected from 20% sub-sample of animals across locations. Different microbial communities are known to produce varying levels of methane – subsampling may help to clarify the influence of these microbial factors.
4. Analyze and Report Findings (Year 5) — Working collaboratively across international research teams, the analysis pipeline will be built to estimate research breeding values from the data. The development pipeline includes the establishment of trait definition. Methane alone is difficult to select for and needs to be considered along with other traits such as level of performance, lifetime productivity, or feed intake. Understanding the relationship of this trait to others will help determine the trait definition. The pipeline also includes data edits and the genetic model definition. Once established, multi-country within-breed genetic evaluations and research breeding values will be delivered for industry review.
Figure 1
Example of a Portable Accumulation Chamber (PAC) for cattle as seen in New Zealand.
Figure 2
Example of a Portable Accumulation Chamber (PAC) for cattle as seen in New Zealand.
Project Outcomes
The project will determine the heritability of this methane measurement, the variation in the population, and how it relates to other production traits - enabling an efficiency metric. The project will deliver a set of multi-country within-breed genetic evaluations and research breeding values for review by the beef industry. In addition, these data and findings could help increase accuracy of current genetic selection tools (i.e. feed efficiency).
Project Budget
Research partners designed this study and submitted a proposal to the Global Methane Hub. Approximately two-thirds of the project was funded by the Bezos Earth Fund. This fund has no access to the data or authority over how the data is used. The Angus Foundation received a grant of $4.85 million, and will distribute it to the project coordinator, at the University of New England — Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit (AGBU) in Australia. The remaining one-third of the budget came from the match funding of Meat & Livestock Australia.
AGI will receive a project budget of $1.65 million to construct the PACs, and fund the collection and analysis of the data. Building the PACs and collecting the actual data is no small task, therefore the University of Tennessee has agreed to work with AGI on this endeavor. UT is a land grant university that is actively working in beef cattle genetics and production research.
Project Updates
Progress updates will be provided on milestones of the project, including progress on PAC design and construction and the progress of data collection. At the conclusion of the project, researchers will publish final reports and research breeding values for the beef industry.
Project Leadership
Internationally, the research will be coordinated by Dr. Steve Miller, University of New England — AGBU, with North American collection efforts led by Angus Genetics Inc. Dr. Miller was previously Director of Genetic Research at AGI from 2016-2020 and has 25 years of experience with livestock genetics, genomics and technology.
Project Collaborators (country lead for design, coordination, and analysis)
- AGI - United States
- Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit (AGBU) University of New England - Australia
- Beef + Lamb New Zealand Genetics & AgResearch - New Zealand
- AHDB The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board - United Kingdom
- Teagasc The Agriculture and Development Authority & Irish Cattle Breeders Federation - Ireland
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