Developing optimal methane mitigation strategy for milk production by animal breeding

The objective is to develop a method for decreasing methane emissions by genomic selection of dairy cows. Methane emissions can be decreased by selecting low-emitting cows or indirectly by improving feed efficiency. An advantage of indirect breeding is that it not only lowers negative environmental impacts but also boosts the economy. Breeding for improved efficiency has been hampered by the lack of cost-effective methods to measure intake. Using gas measurements with the GreenFeed system offers a solution. It allows for estimating feed efficiency metrics without intake measurements. The length and time of sampling period will be optimized, the effects of feeding strategies will be investigated and comparison with an alternative method to estimate intake in farm conditions will be made.