Herd-level versus animal-level variation in methane emission prediction in grazing dairy cattle

Zhang, X.; Amer, P. R.; Stachowicz, Katarzyna; Quinton, Cheryl; Crowley, John

doi:10.1016/j.animal.2021.100325

“…Contrary to the results of this experiment, it is generally believed that although the relationship between body weight and milk production is not very strong, the cows with high milk production tend to be larger [34]. Previous studies have shown that the body condition score directly affected by the body weight was negatively correlated with milk production, and negatively correlated with reproductive performance [35,36].…”

Section: Carbon Dioxide Emissions Of Lactating Holstein Dairy Cows Wi...contrasting

confidence: 96%

Characterization and mitigation option of greenhouse gas emissions from lactating Holstein dairy cows in East China

Jia

¹

,

Yan

²

,

Liu

³

et al. 2022

J Animal Sci Biotechnol

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Background This study investigated greenhouse gas (GHG) emission characteristics of lactating Holstein dairy cows in East China and provided a basis for formulating GHG emission reduction measures. GreenFeed system was used to measure the amount of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by the cows through respiration. Data from a commercial cow farm were used to observe the effects of parity, body weight, milk yield, and milk component yield on CH4 and CO2 emissions. Results Mean herd responses throughout the study were as follows: 111 cows completed all experimental processes, while 42 cows were rejected because they were sick or had not visited the GreenFeed system 20 times. On average, lactating days of cows was 138 ± 19.04 d, metabolic weight was 136.5 ± 9.5 kg, parity was 2.8 ± 1.0, dry matter intake (DMI) was 23.1 ± 2.6 kg/d, and milk yield was 38.1 ± 6.9 kg/d. The GreenFeed system revealed that CH4 production (expressed in CO2 equivalent, CO2-eq) was found to be 8304 g/d, $$ {\mathrm{CH}}_{4\left({\mathrm{CO}}_2-\mathrm{eq}\right)} $$ C H 4 ( C O 2 − e q ) /DMI was 359 g/kg, $$ {\mathrm{CH}}_{4\left({\mathrm{CO}}_2-\mathrm{eq}\right)} $$ C H 4 ( C O 2 − e q ) /energy-corrected milk (ECM) was 229.5 g/kg, total CO2 production (CH4 production plus CO2 production) was 19,201 g/d, total CO2/DMI was 831 g/kg, and total CO2/ECM was 531 g/kg. The parity and metabolic weight of cows had no significant effect on total CO2 emissions (P > 0.05). Cows with high milk yield, milk fat yield, milk protein yield, and total milk solids yield produced more total CO2 (P < 0.05), but their total CO2 production per kg of ECM was low (P < 0.05). The total CO2/ECM of the medium and high milk yield groups was 17% and 27% lower than that of the low milk yield group, respectively. Conclusions The parity and body condition had no effect on total CO2 emissions, while the total CO2/ECM was negatively correlated with milk yield, milk fat yield, milk protein yield, and total milk solids yield in lactating Holstein dairy cows. Measurement of total CO2 emissions of dairy cows in the Chinese production system will help establish regional or national GHG inventories and develop mitigation approaches to dairy production regimes.

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“…Taken together, these results indicate that the within and between individual animal variability and herd-level variation in the LW recorded database and the predicted DMI and CH 4 emissions were also coupled with the natural variation in measured LWs, DMIs, and CH 4 outputs from cattle while in accurate respiratory chambers Zhang et al, 2021). It is important to observe that we hypothesized that suckling growth paths would affect lifetime production and the sustainable efficiency of carcass yields.…”

Section: Estimated Production Patterns Methane Emissions and Carcass ...mentioning

confidence: 68%

The carbon footprint of young-beef cattle finishing systems in the Eastern Plains of the Orinoco River Basin of Colombia

Ramírez-Restrepo

¹

,

Vera-Infanzón

²

,

Rao

³

2023

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IntroductionPrevious research has shown increased productivity amongst sown grass pastures compared to native savanna pastures by year-round grazing for fattening of adult and young Brahman (Bos indicus)-bred cattle in the well-drained native savanna ecosystem of the Colombian Orinoquía. But there is limited information on the carbon footprint (CF) of commercial young-Brahman heifers and steers reared throughout life on well-managed Brachiaria decumbens Stapf pastures.MethodsThe present study characterized growth, lifetime enteric methane (CH4) emissions, carcass carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-eq) CH4 efficiency intensities (i.e., emissions per kg of product), and estimated the overall CF of young cattle grazing B. decumbens pastures subject to a range of daily liveweight gains (DLWGs; 0.428 – 0.516 kg) and fattening framework (405 – 574 kg). Weaning data from seven consecutive calving seasons in a commercial Brahman breeding herd continuously grazed on B. decumbens were integrated with a Microsoft Excel® dynamic greenhouse gas emission (GHGE) simulation of stockers-yearlings, and seven fattening, and processing scenarios.ResultsThe model predicted that heifers subject to low and high DLWGs (0.428 vs 0.516 kg) and steers (0.516 kg) may be successfully fattened without supplementation assuming that animals had access to a well-managed grass pasture. Depending on the fattening strategy, kg CO2-eq CH4/kg edible protein values ranged from 66.843 to 87.488 ± 0.497 for heifers and from 69.689 to 91.291 ± 0.446 for steers.DiscussionAssuming that forage on offer is at least 1,500-2,000 kg of dry matter/ha during the rainy season, all the simulated systems showed potential for C neutrality and net-zero C emission when considering GHGEs from the soil, pasture, and animal components vs the estimated soil C capture over seven seasons. However, under a more optimistic scenario, these beef systems could accomplish substantial net gains of soil C, over the period for which field data are available. Overall, this study projects the positive impact of the design of plausible fattening strategies on grasslands for improving cattle productivity and reducing emission intensities with concomitant increases in technical efficiency.

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“…The relative emphasis of each trait and subindexes for every variant of the BPI was calculated using the approach of Zhang et al (2021), which accounts for the accuracy of the EBV as well as the (favorable or antagonistic) relationships between traits in contrast to traditional approaches that are often a simple multiplication of the relative contribution of each trait's economic value (converted to absolute value) by its genetic standard deviation (SD). Here, we applied the method of Zhang et al (2021) using correlations between the EBV. The resulting trait emphasis values more accurately present the true selection pressure each trait receives within the given index.…”

Section: Relative Emphasismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The GHG indexes may also be used to quantify, on a large scale, individual animal GHG from a management perspective. As a management tool, the GHG subindex may be used to rank farms or individual cows and identify those animals or farms that are the lowest GHG emitters (Zhang et al, 2021). In terms of quantifying emissions inventories for individual farms or animals, base breed averages can be applied to translate genetic improvements back to the phenotypic scale as a way for farmers to document carbon release from cows.…”

Section: Other Applications For Ghg Subindex Valuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through genetic selection in the Australian dairy industry

Richardson

¹

,

Amer²,

Quinton³

et al. 2022

Journal of Dairy Science

Self Cite

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This research explores possible options to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Australian dairy industry by (1) including an environmental component in the national breeding program and (2) estimating the economic and environmental impacts of implementation of the subsequent indexes. A total of 12 possible selection indexes were considered. These indexes were developed to predict changes in gross per-animal methane production (using 3 scenarios depending on availability and efficacy of a direct methane trait breeding value prediction) with 4 different carbon prices, integrating them into an augmentation of the current conventional national selection index. Although some economic response is lost with inclusion of the GHG subindexes in the Balanced Performance Index, options do exist where this loss is marginal and, even in scenarios where all selection pressure is based on the environmental weighting, economic progress is still made in all cases. When including environmental traits within an index, if a relatively low percentage of economic gain or index progression is sacrificed, then approximately 40 to 50% of the maximum possible reductions in emissions may be achieved. This concurrent selection of estimated breeding values that have a correlated favorable response in emissions in addition to direct selection on a residual methane trait allows a high level of methane reduction to be achieved with a realized cost to farmers that is far lower than the economic value placed on carbon. By implementing a GHG subindex in the national breeding program, we can achieve up to a 7.9% decrease in residual methane and 9 times the reduction in gross emissions in 10 yr, compared with the current breeding program, with little to no cost to farmers. By 2050, selection based on one of the more moderate index scenarios at a carbon

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Herd-level versus animal-level variation in methane emission prediction in grazing dairy cattle

Cited by 6 publications

References 33 publications

Characterization and mitigation option of greenhouse gas emissions from lactating Holstein dairy cows in East China

Characterization and mitigation option of greenhouse gas emissions from lactating Holstein dairy cows in East China

The carbon footprint of young-beef cattle finishing systems in the Eastern Plains of the Orinoco River Basin of Colombia

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through genetic selection in the Australian dairy industry

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