Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) Technologies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity of pasture-based cattle systems

Cattle farmers are facing increased demand for pasture-based and environmentally friendly products. Although feeding strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been studied intensively, options for grazing systems are under-researched. The overall objective of the wider European project is to develop grazing strategies and sensor systems to reduce GHG emission intensity from grazing cattle. The project will deliver reductions in GHG emissions intensity through improvements in the health, longevity, fertility and nutrient efficiency of cattle. This approach is in contrast to the traditional approach of trying to reduce methane emissions directly.

Objective
1. Identify and evaluate which of the existing and emerging PLF technologies (e.g. for monitoring and improving fertility, health and feed efficiency) are best suited for use with grazing cattle (with or without modification). This will deliver reductions in GHG emissions intensities by increasing production efficiency, reducing non-productive periods and reducing mortality. This work will be directly implementable by farmers as soon as the work is completed.

2. Refine and adapt PLF technologies that are currently restricted to housed cattle for use with grazing cattle.

3. Develop the use of existing and emerging PLF technologies, such as activity-monitoring collars, as proxies for methane emissions from grazing cattle. Ground-truth the approach using a new research tool (‘MethCollar’) for estimating methane emissions from grazing cattle refined within the project.