Reducing Methane Emissions From Livestock

Why It Matters

Low‑methane forages promise to reduce livestock greenhouse‑gas emissions, delivering both environmental benefits and a competitive edge for producers adopting climate‑smart feed solutions.

Key Takeaways

• Global consortium screens forage germplasm for low-methane traits.
• In vitro assays identify promising low‑methane forage candidates.
• Candidates require in vivo testing to confirm animal performance.
• Collaboration spans ILRI, CIAT, ICARDA, ensuring standardized protocols.
• Genetic variation, not experimental conditions, drives methane emission differences.

Summary

The animal nutrition lab is leading a multi‑institutional effort called the Low‑Methane Forage project, which screens a vast germplasm collection from the ILRI gene bank for forage varieties that emit less methane while maintaining nutritional value.

Researchers incubate each forage sample, measure methane output in vitro, and rank the lowest emitters. Promising lines have been identified, but the team stresses that only in vivo trials will confirm whether the reductions translate to real‑world livestock feeding scenarios.

The initiative unites three CGIAR centers—ILRI, CIAT, and ICARDA—each housing identical facilities and following a unified protocol, eliminating experimental variability. As the scientists note, the only source of variation observed is the plant’s genetic makeup, underscoring the importance of breeding for low‑methane traits.

If successful, these forages could cut livestock greenhouse‑gas emissions, offering a scalable, feed‑based climate mitigation tool and opening new market opportunities for sustainable agriculture stakeholders.

Original Description

🌱🐄 Feed has a big impact on how much methane livestock emit.

Three CGIAR Centers - International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT and ICARDA – have therefore joined forces to screen forages from their genebanks for drought-tolerant, anti-methanogenic and nutritious compounds.

🎥 Watch Dr Bayissa Hatew, of the ILRI Animal Nutrition Lab in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 🇪🇹, explain the screening process.

The most promising forages will be validated with animals and then promoted for direct use in livestock systems or used to develop new climate-smart cultivars.

The initiative aims to contribute towards a 1.5% reduction in global enteric methane emissions by 2030.

#climateaction #ghg #biodiversity #foodsecurity #sustainablefarming