Methane and Carbon Dioxide Emission of Beef Heifers in Relation with Growth and Feed Efficiency

Abstract

Simple Summary: For sustainable meat production, beef farmers must make the best use of grass and roughage while limiting the carbon footprint of their herds. The genetic improvement in feed efficiency and enteric methane production of replacement heifers is possible if the recorded phenotypes are available. Intuitively, the relationship between the two traits should be negative, i.e., favorable, since the energy lost with the methane is not available for heifer metabolism. The measurement of feed efficiency requires several weeks of feed intake recording. The enteric methane emission rate can also be recorded over several weeks. The two traits of 326 beef heifers from two experimental farms were measured simultaneously for 8 to 12 weeks. The correlations between roughage intake, daily gain, and methane were all positive. The enteric methane emission rate was positively related to body weight, daily gain, and dry matter intake. The relationship with feed efficiency was slightly positive, i.e., unfavorable. Therefore, the two traits should be recorded simultaneously to evidence low-emitting and efficient heifers. This study also showed that replacing the feed intake recording with the carbon dioxide emission rate appeared potentially beneficial for selecting these low-emitting and efficient heifers.Abstract: Reducing enteric methane production and improving the feed efficiency of heifers on roughage diets are important selection objectives for sustainable beef production. The objective of the current study was to assess the relationship between different methane production and feed efficiency criteria of beef heifers fed ad libitum roughage diets. A total of 326 Charolais heifers aged 22 months were controlled in two farms and fed either a grass silage (n = 252) or a natural meadow hay (n = 74) diet. Methane (CH 4 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission rates (g/day) were measured with GreenFeed systems. The dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), CH 4 and CO 2 were measured over 8 to 12 weeks. Positive correlations were observed among body weight, DMI, ADG, CH 4 and CO 2 . The residual feed intake (r wg DMI) was not related to CH 4 or residual methane (r wi CH 4 ). It was negatively correlated with methane yield (CH 4 /DMI): R p = −0.87 and −0.83. Residual gain (r w iADG) and ADG/DMI were weakly and positively related to residual methane (r wi CH 4 ): R p = 0.21 on average. The ratio ADG/CO 2 appeared to be a useful proxy of ADG/DMI (R p = 0.64 and 0.97) and CH 4 /CO 2 a proxy of methane yield (R p = 0.24 and 0.33) for selecting low-emitting and efficient heifers.

Feeding Forage Mixtures of Ryegrass (Lolium spp.) with Clover (Trifolium spp.) Supplemented with Local Feed Diets to Reduce Enteric Methane Emission Efficiency in Small-Scale Dairy Systems: A Simulated Study

“…Similar to our study, Renand et al [53] found in beef Heifers a positive correlation between DMI with CH 4 . Methane is a byproduct of anaerobic microbial fermentation of feed in the rumen, and energy used for its synthesis is considered as a loss of energy for animal production; it has been calculated that the energy loss fluctuates between 3% and 6.5% on average for cattle fed diets high in concentrates and low-quality pastures, respectively [52].…”

Effect of divergence in residual methane emissions on feed intake and efficiency, growth and carcass performance, and indices of rumen fermentation and methane emissions in finishing beef cattle

“…In addition, for comparative purposes among methane phenotypes, RME was calculated using the equation proposed by Renand et al (2019) whereby DCE replaced DMI. RME with DCE ( RME CO2 ; CH 4 g/ day) was assumed to represent the residuals from a multiple regression model regressing DME on DCE and methane BW with CG included as a fixed effect in the model.…”

“…However, the selection of animals on the basis of ratio traits has been disputed by virtue of their unpredictable response to other traits of economic importance in beef production ( Pickering et al, 2015 ). In addition, a negative phenotypic correlation between MY and feed intake has recently been observed across both concentrate and forage based diets under ad libitum feeding conditions with the use of the GreenFeed emissions monitoring system ( Bird-Gardiner et al, 2017 ; Renand et al, 2019 ).…”

Comparative Effects of Stovers of Four Varieties of Common Vetch on Growth Performance, Ruminal Fermentation, and Nutrient Digestibility of Growing Lambs

“…Improvement of forage efficiency and reduction of CH 4 emissions is of high importance to benefit the global eco-environment [12,13]. Based on the model of Moss et al [22], the C333A and CLJ3 stover diets would generate lower CH 4 emissions than the control, and CLJ1 and CLJ2 stover diets, due to differences in total VFA concentration and proportions of individual VFA.…”

“…Methane (CH 4 ) emission by ruminants is a significant contributing factor to the emerging global warming phenomenon [11][12][13]. In addition, enteric CH 4 formed by the fermented feed in the gastrointestinal tract of ruminant represents a loss of approximately 2-12% of gross energy (GE) intake [11].…”