On a recent ‘Lets talk cattle’ webinar hosted by Teagasc, Andrew Cromie from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) spoke about research based on methane output, which was carried out at the ICBF test centre based in Tully, Co. Kildare.
As part of the research over 670 cattle have had a direct measurement taken of growth, feed intake and methane output per day. These cattle are also progeny of different artificial insemination (AI) sires.
Speaking about the trials and studies, that have taken place and made comparatives between suckler-beef progeny, dairy-beef progeny and between their genders, Andrew explained:
“We are seeing clear breed and gender differences; it’s not surprising that we know young bulls are more efficient than steers or heifers. The bulls have a lower methane output/day.
“It is interesting to see that the suckler-beef animals are more efficient than the dairy-beef animals. This from a dry matter (DM) feed intake, but also from a methane output perspective,” he said.
Diving further into this topic, host on the evening Alan Dillion from Teagasc, questioned Andrew in relation to whether or not these figures account for the suckler cow’s output as well, to which he replied:
“This data is just a per animal figure, but obviously when you start to factor in the full suckler cow picture, that efficiency would obviously rest more with the dairy cow.
“In saying that, you can get into a different conversation about extensification and stocking rates, which tips the balance more in favour of the suckler cow as well,” Andrew said.
‘Higher index cattle have lower methane output per day’
Moving on, Andrew highlighted how the research has illustrated that the animals with higher Eurostar Indices are preforming desirably when it comes to methane output.
“When we look at methane out in context with the animal’s indexes, it is reassuring to see that the higher index animals have the lower methane output per day,” he said.
“This is crucial because it just gives us absolute confidence that our indexes, by breeding through the replacement and terminal index, is actually reducing down methane output.
“It is a validation that the aim of breeding more carbon-friendly and efficient animals is actually happening now.
“The goal going forward is to have genomic predictions for methane yield. This would become a new trait, which people can expect to see in terms of a new evaluation in 2022 – so are very positive developments in this area,” he concluded.