Towards selecting for lower methane sheep

The aim of this project is to enable Australian sheep breeders to select for reduced enteric methane emission, allowing industry to achieve a permanent and cumulative 4.2% reduction (0.8 MtCO₂e) in methane emissions from sheep by 2030 and 15% reduction (2.6 MtCO₂e) by 2040. A mobile field test using portable accumulation chambers for measuring methane emissions on 10,000 sheep across research and breeder flocks is being rolled out. Five thousand sheep will have feed intake, rumen microbiome and volatile fatty acids profiles recorded to better understand and improve CH₄ emission predictions. Combined with their genotype information, this data will allow genomic prediction of breeding values on selection candidates. Work to date has demonstrated that the protocol for methane measurement is robust and the preliminary data gathered has shown that there is sufficient variation in methane production among animals to enable selection for reduced methane production. Different technologies used to measure emissions data are highly correlated.