Methane Efficiency Research Brief

AMERICAN ANGUS ASSOCIATION - THE BUSINESS BREED

The history of the Angus breed has been one of driving breed improvement. Recently, the Angus Foundation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Association, received a grant to expand methane efficiency research work as a part of an international research project. The goal of this document is to summarize, all in one place, the information surrounding the methane efficiency research and offer a route for Association members to ask additional questions.

A group of black Angus cattle grazing in a lush green pasture underneath blue skies.

Timeline:

February 2024: AGI® is invited to collaborate

Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI) is first invited by the Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit (AGBU) of the University of New England in Australia to join an international beef industry project as a collaborator, representing U.S. Angus genetics.

May 2024: Research proposal drafted by group

An official proposal is drafted by AGBU, and it is reviewed and edited by the beef industry research group’s representatives from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. The project aims to study the influence genetics has on methane emissions, their usefulness for genetic selection, and its relationship to other important production traits, such as feed efficiency, meat quality, and lifetime production traits. The completed research proposal is submitted to the Global Methane Hub in late spring, and the group waits to hear more about potential funding sources.

Mid-November 2024: Potential funding source identified

Bezos Earth Fund, a collaborator of the Global Methane Hub and promoter of the Global Methane Genetics (GMG) initiative, expresses interest in the proposal; and the research group is invited to resubmit the proposal to the Bezos Earth Fund.

The research group evaluates the funding opportunity and asks if the Angus Foundation would submit the proposal and accept the project funds, if awarded, on the research group’s behalf. The Foundation would then redistribute to AGBU, who leads the research group, to support the project. Because the Angus Foundation is the official grantee, more of the funding could go directly toward the industry research instead of being lost to high overhead costs — like those often charged by universities when they manage grants.

While the research is in line with previous AGI work, the funding source and involvement with the Angus Foundation is unique. Not having a board meeting for several months, staff seeks the opinion of the Board Executive Committee, along with the AGI chairman and the Angus Foundation chairman. The group evaluates the opportunity and ultimately decides to direct staff to move forward with the grant application for several reasons:

The project aligns with the Long Range Objectives of the Association, including Driving Breed Improvement by directing and supporting research for advancing the Angus breed and the beef industry.
The project aligns with previous AGI research, covered in these articles:
- From thin air, November 2023
- Breeding a better future, December 2022
This project enables AGI to gather difficult-to-collect data that may help in finding a genetic tie to cow efficiency at no cost to the membership.
Other organizations and companies have been engaging in this type of research for years. If the Association by itself or through its entities does not participate in this research, other organizations would—and they may not prioritize the needs or values of Angus producers.
By engaging directly, we ensure that any tools, data, and findings developed through this project are accessible to Association members and aligned with our mission.
The data sharing agreements ensure that member data was protected.
The agreement also ensures the grant funder has no influence on the outcome of the research nor has access to the collected data.
The Association remains in control of whether the research is eventually used in adding to the suite of tools available for Angus breeders.

Late November 2024: Research grant proposal submitted

The research grant is submitted by the beef industry research group to the Bezos Earth Fund, with the Angus Foundation identified as the grantee for any awarded funds.

Late February 2025: Grant awarded to research group

The proposal and funding are awarded by the Bezos Earth Fund. AGI is not able to announce the award and is notified that a public announcement will come at a later date after the other three projects’ grantees being funded by the Bezos Earth Fund are notified.

April 2025: Grant announcements published

A breakdown in communication occurs, and the Angus Foundation and AGI receive late notification of the press release by Bezos Earth Fund outlining the grant awarded to the Angus Foundation and the other three projects. Bezos Earth Fund makes the announcement on their website on April 8 and AGI begins preparation of their news release. BEEF Magazine runs the article on April 9. AGI distributes their release on April 15 as a post to the website, post to the Association social channels, a print story in the Angus Journal and news sent out via the Inside Angus newsletter.

June 2025: Membership and Board discuss research

Social media traffic and member calls increase. The Board addresses many of those questions in a social media post, AJ Daily article and website story on June 2.

A few days later, during their summer meeting, the Association’s Board of Directors reviews the details of the project and member feedback. The board confirms their confidence in the project, the protection of the data and the potential benefits for the Association members and vote unanimously to continue with the project. While reducing methane emissions is seen as a climate priority for the Bezos Earth Fund, the Board reaffirmed their confidence in the Angus cow and their priority in studying methane emissions and other gases to understand differences in cow efficiency. The Board says they are optimistic that methane emissions can be used as a scientifically-sound measurement tool of efficiency—not a political statement or endorsement of climate change agendas.

They make their announcement on June 6, in conjunction with the President’s Letter sent out after each board meeting. In addition, Jonathan Perry, Darrell Stevenson, John Dickinson and Danny Poss joined the regular post-board meeting The Angus Conversation podcast and discussed their thought process.

The following week, President Perry records a video answering many of the frequently asked questions he and other board members had received. It is posted on June 12, along with a research summary on AGI’s research page of the website. On that page, the details of the project are outlined including the project overview, objective, research timeline, activities, outcomes, budget, updates, leadership and collaborators. This is the page where ongoing updates will be made as the research progresses.

August 2025: Funding distribution

The Angus Foundation distributes the funds to the research group lead - AGBU at the University of New England.

Current Project:

Although significant progress has been made in developing selection tools for feed intake during the postweaning gain phase to describe efficiency, accurately measuring intake in grazing cattle remains a major challenge. Selection for methane and other emissions in combination with other important production traits may pose a potential solution. The study will investigate the genetic influence of methane and the ability to select for the trait, especially among cattle on pasture and forage-based diets.

What do we hope to learn?

From this research, we expect to better understand the genetic differences in energy efficiency, in terms of energy loss, between grazing animals emitting different levels of methane, an established research priority for AGI. It’s not just about methane emissions but also considering production and the profit drivers for cattle producers.

Why could methane be an indicator of cow efficiency?

Researchers have long hypothesized that mature body size alone might not be the best way to measure cow efficiency. Selection for enteric methane (gas produced by the rumen, expelled through burping) and other emissions such as carbon dioxide and oxygen in combination with other important production traits may pose a potential solution. Enteric methane is a byproduct of the fermentation process as microbes in the rumen break down feed. Energy extracted from feed is divided to either 1) body maintenance functions, 2) growth or lactation, or 3) lost as waste. More than 10% of energy intake can be lost as methane, so the more feed that can go toward maintenance, growth or lactation, the more efficient the cow will be. 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. Metabolic heat production is one well-understood indicator of maintenance and can make up over 70% of a mature cow’s feed energy use.

Why genetics?

Previous research has shown that methane emissions and other gas outputs from ruminants can be measured reliably and are heritable. Some studies have reported genetic correlations as high as 0.7 with residual feed intake and ~0.6 with dry matter intake in dairy cattle. If similar relationships are observed in this project, it could provide support for using genetic selection to improve cow efficiency either through reduced intake or cow maintenance energy. That’s an opportunity, considering how difficult it’s been for the beef industry to make consistent progress in grazing efficiency.

What are the outcomes?

This research could lead to better selection tools available to the beef industry, but the Association or AGI has not committed to any change to our suite of EPDs or indexes.

Should we be using external funding?

Research is expensive and animal science funding is limited. When others are willing to underwrite a project that enables data collection that supports our research priorities and aligns with our scientific rigor, we consider it. These kinds of arrangements have worked successfully in the past, funding important research at no cost to the member.

Is the data secure and who can access the data?

Per the funding agreement, 4,600 records funded by the Bezos Earth Fund grant will be submitted to the committee managing the Global Methane Genetics (GMG) initiative. This includes individual animal data, such as who the animal is, the methane record and genotype. Other industry research groups could then request that data via a proposal, the proposal would be reviewed and if accepted, data shared for research or genomic prediction will be anonymized. No other performance data from our members’ database will be shared with the GMG initiative. As is standard in research grants, funders have no access to the data nor authority to influence or alter the direction, design, or use of the research, and it cannot be changed by outside parties. In the end, Bezos Earth Fund nor the Global Methane Hub has access to the data or influence on how it’s reported.

What’s the current status?

We are currently in Year 1 of the project. Portable Accumulation Chambers are being planned and designed while other data capture methods are being explored.

A complete explanation of the research can be found on the AGI’s website page or by reading AGI President Kelli Retallick-Riley’s September 2025 By the Numbers column in the Angus Journal.

Next steps:

Ask for volunteers (Year 2-5):

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 participants have been selected.

Collect Data (Year 2-5):

Using the Portable Accumulation Chambers built in Year 1, the methane records, paired with genotypes, will be collected. In total, 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).

Analyze and Report Findings (Year 5):

Working collaboratively across international research teams, researchers will estimate research breeding values, establish trait definition and analyze relationships to other traits. Once established, multi-country within-breed genetic evaluations and research breeding values will be delivered for industry review. These are not Association tools and will not be a part of the World Angus Evaluation or National Cattle Evaluation.

Association analysis (After Year 5):

Following the completion of the research project, the Association Board of Directors will decide how to move forward and what questions are still left to answer. For example: Should we continue to pursue data capture? How useful is it at better understanding cow efficiency? etc.

Bottom line:

This research is a stepping stone to better understand cow herd efficiency. Earlier studies have captured data from cows on pasture, but this project makes the research practical on a larger scale. Ultimately, the goal is to have cows that work out in the country, get it done with less feed, and still produce sought-after, heavy-weaning calves.

Who's who?

Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit (AGBU) University of New England in Australia: Leading institution in research group.

Angus Foundation: Wholly owned subsidiary of the American Angus Association. Recipient of the Bezos Earth Fund grant who distributed the funds to AGBU to distribute to research partners, including AGI.

Angus Genetics Incorporated (AGI^®): Wholly owned subsidiary of the American Angus Association and collaborator in the international beef industry project, representing U.S. Angus genetics.

Global Methane Hub (GMH): Original recipient of grant proposal and an organization that helps connect researchers with funding sources

Global Methane Genetics (GMG) initiative: Global program to accelerate genetic selection for reduced methane emissions in ruminants, funded by the Global Methane Hub and the Bezos Earth Fund.

Bezos Earth Fund: The grant funder for this research project.