Scientists at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) have been awarded a £250,000 grant from the UK government to mitigate and monitor methane production in outdoor cattle. Despite a number of projects looking at emissions produced by cattle housed indoors, this is one of the first to study outdoor cows.

The quarter of a million funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is part of a collaborative research project with European partners. The project will fund animal-mounted activity sensors and systems for monitoring location, feeding behaviour and weight, to use with cattle outdoors.

Around 90% of Scotland’s cattle are outdoors for significant parts of the year, and it is hoped the GrASTech project will identify the best options for managing grassland and grazing animals to reduce methane emissions.

One of the key approaches for reducing methane emissions is to increase the health, fertility and longevity of animals

Methane emitted from livestock is responsible for around five per cent of UK total greenhouse gas emissions and the UK government is targeting net-zero emissions by 2050.

The GrASTech project will face a number of key technical challenges, including the miniaturising of equipment, battery technology to permit long-lifetime measurement periods, data transmission and capture for remote grazing environments.

Solutions

Farming minister George Eustice said: “Researchers in the UK are at the forefront of innovative solutions to tackle climate change and help us meet our world-leading target of net zero emissions by 2050.

“We are proud to be sponsoring this work by Scotland’s Rural College, which will bring forward new technologies to support farmers across the UK to rise to the challenge.”

Professor Richard Dewhurst from SRUC said: “One of the key approaches for reducing methane emissions is to increase the health, fertility and longevity of animals. By adapting technologies used to monitor and manage these things for housed cattle, we expect to deliver similar benefits for grazing cattle.”

The project is due to run until September 2021.