October 30, 2019

The Grass to Gas initiative will effectively identify and selectively breed sheep that produce less greenhouse gasses in an effort to reduce the livestock's environmental impact, reported The Guardian.

The thee-year project by Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) will result in tools that can measure or accurately predict feed efficiency and methane emissions from both individual animals and sheep systems.

This provides the global livestock industry with the means to identify and selectively breed sheep with reduced environmental impact.

The project's first phase will examine various approaches for their ability to correctly forecast sheep's feed intake and methane emissions. Utilising positive approaches, the researchers will study the association between feed intake and methane emissions from both indoor-bred sheep and grazing sheep raised on pastures.

Genetic control will also be taken into consideration, measuring dissimilarities due to breed, parent, generic line or breeding values.

For this research, SRUC will utilise lambs bred from sire from the Texel Sheep Society's Texelplus programme to study the effects of sire and how much the sire contributes to breeding values.

Reported quantified data on the economic benefits of feed efficiency improvements and environmental benefits of lessened greenhouse gas emissions will be published.

£250,000 (~US$321,000) in funding was granted by the New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Research Council of Norway.

-  The Guardian