Reducing sheep methane emissions: sustainability in practice via new breeding goals

This project aims to create an infrastructure for the incorporation of genetic merit for low environmental impact into national breeding schemes that dovetails into the IPCC inventory and provides a mechanism for national and global comparison. Key benefits would be the incorporation of methane emissions, feed intake and efficiency measures. As all partner countries have invested in the same technology to measure methane emissions from individual sheep, we have the perfect platform for synergystic research and investment has been made in developing an impactful team. Each country has its own investment program this piece of work would specifically be for cross country alignment.
This work will build on the successful results of the Joint Call ERA-Net project Grass To Gas: Strategies to mitigate GHG emissions from pasture-based sheep systems and will translate results into breeding programmes to estimate impact through inventories. This will provide farmers and policymakers with a tool to compare methane emissions from sheep production systems and will help to break down barriers to the successful implementation of science into policy.