Methane Sires: What a Cattleman Should Know First

Somebody is going to call you with a bull that cuts methane. Maybe soon. Before you write a check, here is the lay of the land, and it is a lot shorter than the sales pitch.

The idea

Cows burp methane. It comes off rumen fermentation. Feed additives can cut it, but you pay for them every day. Breeding is slower, but it sticks. A researcher quoted by Beef Central called genetic selection a long-term option that could lower emissions without the continuing cost of feed additives (Beef Central). If it works, a sire bred for it passes it on for good. That is the pitch.

What has been done

The big work is in Australia. It is a $15 million partnership between the University of New England, Angus Australia, NSW DPI and Meat and Livestock Australia. Researchers have measured methane on nearly 1,000 steers and about 700 heifers, the heifers out on grass, using 18 GreenFeed units. They are recording methane, hydrogen and feed intake together, and genotyping every animal so they can build DNA-based selection tools.

What they found so far is that methane output varies a lot from animal to animal and that low emitters do exist. It also varied a lot by pasture, which means what your cattle eat changes the number as much as what they inherited.

What has not been done

Meat and Livestock Australia says the aim is genomic tools that let producers balance methane traits with productivity traits. It says a methane breeding value could be available in the short to medium term, but that the data is not yet reliable enough for routine selection. One of its scientists is quoted saying they do not have data they can rely on just yet (MLA). Whether feed-efficient cattle also emit less is still under study.

So here is where that leaves a cattleman. You cannot yet buy a bull with a proven, published low-methane rating from the Angus evaluation. If a seller says you can, ask him for the source, the accuracy, and what the trait does to growth and fertility. If he cannot show you, keep your money.

Why a premium would be a gamble

Think about the economics. A bull you buy today will work for several years, and his daughters will be in your herd for a decade after that. If you pay extra for a trait with no validated rating and it turns out to cost you growth, fertility or calving ease, you carry that mistake for a long time. If a payment program for low-emission cattle shows up, it will come with rules about how emissions are measured and verified, and a catalog claim will not meet them. Nobody has shown that a premium exists for the cattle you would produce, so do not pre-pay for it.

Genetic change is slow and forgiving only when you pick the right traits. Put your selection pressure where payment is certain today, and keep a close eye on the research so you can move once the evaluation is real.

What I would do instead

Spend on things that pay now and happen to cut emissions per pound of beef:

• Fertility. A cow that raises a calf every year spreads her upkeep over more pounds.
• Efficiency. Calves that gain well on less feed get to market faster. Our piece on feed intake EPDs shows what is available today.
• Forage. Better grass means better digestion and better gain.
• Culling cows that do not produce.

None of that is a methane program. All of it lowers emissions per pound and puts money in your pocket, which is the part you can count.

If a buyer asks about it

Some processors and retailers are asking producers about emissions. If you are asked, be straight. Say what you do and keep records to back it up. Do not claim a low-methane herd you cannot prove. USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service lays out label claim rules at ams.usda.gov, and the Beef Checkoff's Beef Research site covers sustainability work.

Environment moves the number too

One more thing the researchers keep running into: where the cattle graze changes methane output as much as the cattle themselves. That is why the work is being done on grass and not only in a feedyard. For you it means a number from a bull's calves in one climate and forage type may not carry over to your ground. When a real methane value arrives, ask where it was measured.

Keep watching it

This could become useful in a few years. When a breed association publishes a validated methane value with an accuracy you can read, and shows it does not cost you growth or fertility, that is the time to look hard at it. Until then, a methane trait is a promise, not a tool. Bulls are expensive and you live with their daughters for a decade.

For more on what a good bull does for you, see farm.fm's page on understanding bulls, and the agriculture directory can help you find seedstock suppliers. Research moves, so check current breed association and extension sources before you buy. This site is independent and not affiliated with the American Angus Association, Angus Australia or Meat and Livestock Australia.