The trial at Te Mania Angus stud near Parnassus has generated interest from visiting scientists and farmers from Australia.
Cattle can gain the same weight yet eat different amounts of grass and fodder each day.
Research teams hope to analyse this data to develop genetic tools so farmers can produce animals feeding more efficiently and emitting less methane, without reducing their productivity.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) geneticists are working with AgResearch scientists and the Wilding family at Te Mania Angus on the project.
B+LNZ genetics head Dr Jason Archer said the goal was to develop new traits for the beef industry so farmers could produce efficient cattle with a light environmental footprint and run productive and profitable farms.
"The feed efficiency of an animal is important to farmers because they’re facing rising costs behind the farmgate," he said in a statement.
"An animal that can grow or produce more for the same amount of feed eaten is a real advantage for the farmer. At the same time, we are keen to find animals that produce less methane."
He said they aimed to produce breeding values for an animal's genetic potential to pass on traits to its offspring for feed efficiency and methane emissions per kilogram of feed.
"In sheep, we have shown that we can breed for animals that produce less methane for every mouthful of feed. The goal in this trial is to try and identify those cattle that can do both – produce less methane per kilogram of feed and grow faster per kilogram of feed. That way we can get a double shot of lower methane and better animal performance."
New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions profile was heavily influenced by enteric methane from livestock production, he said.
"Methane reductions will be important in future to meet climate commitments and will support marketing efforts around lower carbon input red meat production. This becomes more relevant as governments and customers focus on reducing their Scope 3 emissions."
The project is part of B+LNZ’s Informing New Zealand Beef programme.
"Only one animal can feed at any one time. While the animal eats, the system reads its NAIT identification tag, records which specific animal is eating, and weighs feed before, during and after feeding. The system feeds data back to Vytelle Sense in Canada and they collate the data to tell you exactly how much each animal has eaten. When the animals have a drink, they are weighed on scales, providing data for their daily weight gain."
AgResearch then measured methane emissions during the trial, he said.
"Farmers will benefit from the trial because they will be able to extract more value from inputs by having a more accurate feed efficiency Estimated Breeding Value (EBV) as a tool in their toolbox. Feed efficiency is a moderately heritable trait, and we know we can make good progress in breeding more efficient animals. Research has shown feed efficiency is correlated to reduced emissions. By gradually improving feed efficiency in cattle, we can also reduce emissions."
He said the results could help farmers avoid potential regulatory risks, with more productive, lower-emission genetics offering a competitive advantage to customers.
"With the genetic reduction in emissions and a lift in production, I think this is a much better alternative for New Zealand than reducing the national herd to meet commitments. There is also the potential we could grow the national herd and emit less than the targets set."
He said the work was not being carried out for single trait selection and the Te Mania herd was maintaining fundamental breeding qualities.
AgResearch principal scientist Dr Suzanne Rowe said the Portable Accumulation Chambers system developed by the research institute could be taken by trailer to where cattle were grazing for methane measurements.
The technology had closed a long-standing gap in being able to effectively measure grazing beef cattle, she said.
"The cow walks into the chamber and we capture all of the gas that’s emitted from that animal for just one hour. We then use this data to rank animals according to their methane emissions. We’ve been doing this for many years with sheep, with thousands of measures on farms around New Zealand, and we’ve been able to prove that is an accurate and effective method."
This helped farmers understand the emissions profile of their herds to assist them in breeding decisions for producing lower methane offspring.
"We are also finding some promise in other simpler methods to gauge the methane output of animals, such as analysing mouth swabs or milk samples. What we have also found is that the portable chambers can be useful in providing a rapid insight into feed efficiency, as the carbon dioxide emitted is proportionate to the animals’ metabolism and the breakdown of feed eaten."
Both Angus and Hereford heifers were being tested in the trial. The heifers are part of an across-breed Beef Progeny Test at Pāmu’s Kepler Farm in Manapouri.
Supporting the trial were four other Hereford studs putting their animals through the feed intake facility and portable chambers to get measurements and assist geneticists in collecting a database of information.
