With the support of Sheep Ireland and under the Green ERAHUB funding programme (DAFM), Teagasc is leading a new international project to create knowledge and infrastructure for incorporating genetic merit for low environmental impact traits into national sheep breeding schemes.
Key sheep breeding nations, including New Zealand, Scotland, Norway, France and Uruguay, are joint partners on the project, which aims to provide a platform for national and global comparison of methane and carbon dioxide emissions for the purpose of selective breeding for lower-emitting animals.
Building on existing and previous project collaborations nationally and internationally, the project uses portable accumulation chambers across all countries for individual animal methane measurements. In Ireland, performance-recorded animals from Sheep Ireland Central Progeny Test flocks and the research flock at Teagasc Athenry are participating in the research.
Methane measurement using the portable accumulation chambers is well established at Teagasc, while GreenFeed technology for measuring methane is now in its early stages. However, focusing solely on methane reduction could undermine profit traits, so balancing its economic value within a multi-trait breeding programme is necessary.
Understanding the impacts
Crucial to the project is understanding the impacts of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) on other animal characteristics, such as:
- growth,
- feed intake and efficiency,
- and quantifying these effects.
The knowledge generated will provide a comprehensive list of recommendations for breeding programmes to be determined in tandem with the economic implications of selecting for low methane sheep.
The robust science from this project will provide a mechanism for national and global comparisons to underpin governmental GHG reduction targets for the successful implementation of science into policy and work to encourage farmers to use genetic improvement as a means to reduce GHG emissions from one generation to the next.
Using Genetics to reduce methane emissions from the Irish sheep sector
In Ireland and other countries, research has shown that genetic improvement can be used as a means to meet policy targets for lower Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In 2023 Sheep Ireland launched new breeding values for sheep aimed at reducing methane emissions and supporting delivery of climate emission reductions.
Selective breeding for animals with lower methane emissions is becoming a focus in livestock management. Some sheep are genetically predisposed to produce less methane, potentially due to differences in rumen microbial populations or their digestive efficiency. Sheep Ireland in partnership with Teagasc, has developed breeding values for methane, meaning farmers can select genetic lines to breed for low CH₄ emitting sheep with high levels of performance. In doing so, we can help reach future emission targets while focusing on breeding animals that increase profitability in a sustainable manner.
The €uro-Star sheep indexes have already proven to deliver across a range of traits, and this new research on methane allows for the publication of only the world’s second national genomic evaluation for methane emissions in sheep. The methane breeding value is available on all genotyped animals through the Sheep Ireland run website www.ramsearch.ie.
More information about Sustain Sheep Project:
- The project builds on information generated from a first international project, ‘Grass to Gas’.
- This project is led by Dr Fiona McGovern ([email protected]) of Teagasc who can be contacted for further information.
- The full project title is ‘Reducing sheep methane emissions: sustainability in practice via new breeding goals’.