The government have provided over £500,000 in funding to researchers looking to ‘transform’ lowland and upland livestock farms to help achieve net zero goals.

The money will be used to fund an SRUC project designed to measure greenhouse gas emissions from grazing livestock.

It Is part of a wider project that will also analyse soil health and carbon storage in grass as the UK continues its push towards meeting mitigation goals and has the potential to save more than £1.6bn every year.

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At their Loch Lomond research centre SRUC scientists will review the effects of several grazing strategies in upland lamb production on soil, greenhouse gas emissions, efficiency and productivity.

GPS tracking and animal locational recording will be monitored within a flock of 600 hill sheep to track where the animals naturally choose to graze.

Using the portable GreenSheep facility methane emissions will be measured from selected sheep, as well as growth, body condition, maternal traits, and welfare.

Professor Christine Watson, lead scientist of SRUC’s research, said it was a 'really exciting' project.

"We are able to contribute a considerable range of expertise, across grasslands, ecology, animal science and modelling, in helping to truly understand the climate change mitigation potential of UK grassland.”

Additionally, the project will utilise SRUC’s Aberdeenshire farm by investigating the carbon sequestration of short-term leys in arable rotations. Offering a unique opportunity to follow grazed mixed herbal leys through their lifetime and ultimate incorporation within arable production.

The loss of carbon and nitrogen will be monitored throughout the longevity of the rotation.

SRUC will lead one of six UK Land Use Clusters for Agroecology (LUCAs), each aimed at engaging various farmers and land managers. The Scottish cluster will focus on rotational grazing, the application of agri-tech to enhance grassland management, and the role of vegetation types in soil carbon storage.