Breeding Angus cattle that naturally emit less methane

Title
Breeding Angus cattle that naturally emit less methane
Publication Date
2011
Author(s)
Herd, Robert M
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4689-5519
Email: rherd3@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:rherd3
Donoghue, K
Bird, S H
Hegarty, Roger
Arthur, P F
Editor
Editor(s): William Pattie
Type of document
Conference Publication
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics (AAABG)
Place of publication
Armidale, Australia
UNE publication id
une:18906
Abstract
The aim of this experiment is to investigate and demonstrate genetic variation in daily methane production (MP; g/d), methane intensity (MI; MP per unit bodyweight; g/kg) and methane yield (MY; MP per unit feed intake; g/kg). Angus cows in pedigree- and performance-recorded research herds at Industry & Investment NSW research centres at Grafton and Trangie NSW were mated in 2007 to Angus bulls that had previously been recorded for MY. Bulls that had been identified as either phenotypically high or low for MY were used as sires in the Grafton herd; unselected sires were used in the Trangie herd. In 2010 the near 2-year-old bull progeny from Trangie and heifer progeny from Grafton were measured for MP, MI and MY. There were 8 sires with progeny represented in the Trangie bull data (n=63 progeny). A wide range in least-squares (LS) sire means was observed for MP (191g/d to 233g/d), MI (0.26g/kg to 0.63g/kg) and MY (24.3g/kg to 30.2g/kg). There were 6 sires with progeny represented in the Grafton heifer data (n=79 progeny). A wide range in LS sire means was observed for MP (133g/d to 165g/d), MP (0.15g/kg to 0.55g/kg) and MY (21.5g/kg to 27.0g/kg). The differences between sires for these traits that indicate that there may be genetic variation present and provide preliminary evidence that selection on a methane production trait may be possible.
Link
Citation
Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics, v.19, p. 187-190
ISSN
1328-3227
ISBN
9780646559155
Start page
187
End page
190

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