Researchers in Canada and Europe are collaborating on a new initiative aimed at genetically reducing methane emissions from beef cattle.

The University of Alberta is leading the five-year project, which marks the first large-scale effort to measure methane emissions from beef cattle in Canada.

The primary goal is to help producers ‘genetically identify which animals in their herds produce less of the potent greenhouse gas (GHG)’.

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The project will also investigate ‘a carbon offset protocol’ that, if implemented in Canada, could potentially provide beef producers with a ‘financial return on using genetic selection in their herds’.

Over 2300 beef cattle in the field will be monitored by researchers, who will use a system to measure methane released or ‘burped out by the animals as they feed on treat pellets’.

The Canadian research team will also collaborate with European researchers who have been experimenting with near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to analyse manure.

While NIRS has previously been used to examine milk from dairy cattle, this is the first time that infrared spectroscopy is being used on beef cattle faecal samples in Canada at such a large scale to develop molecular breeding values for methane emissions.

According to John Basarab, an associate professor of livestock genetics at the University of Alberta, if the NIRS method proves successful, ‘it provides a valuable proxy for fast, cheap and high-throughput measurement of methane emissions’.

He explained: "To get a proper representation of methane emissions coming from just one animal takes at least 30 days, so to measure thousands of beef cattle would take a long time."

"Using NIRS, we could potentially get a value for those emissions in as little as a few days."

Basarab added that the measurements from the feeding trials and faecal analysis will generate the large amounts of data needed to calculate accurate breeding values, ‘allowing producers to pick cattle that have, by inheritance, lower methane emission rates’.

This ‘trait’ could then be incorporated into existing DNA-based multi-trait selection indexes commercialised by the Canadian research centre Livestock Gentec, co-founded by the University of Alberta.

Basarab believes this addition would help enhance indexes that already consider desirable traits for ‘superior growth, feed efficiency, carcass quality and female fertility’.

He added: "We'd be able to offer the producer a way to select for an animal that balances all of these qualities.”

The new research project, led by the university, is also exploring ways to boost the adoption of genetic selection on commercial farms.

Currently, less than 20% of commercial cow-calf producers in Canada use genomics, mainly due to the high cost of genotyping animals for various traits, which can reach up to $52 per head.

Basarab noted that commercial beef producers have not yet received ‘a clear signal from feedlots or packers’ regarding whether genetic selection improves the end price they receive for their cattle.