Genetic parameters for methane emissions by dairy cows

Recently, a study on genetic parameters for predicted methane production and laser methane detector measurements was published in the Journal of Animal Science. This work is part of international collaboration between the ASGGN group of the Global Research Alliance and researchers in the METHAGENE network.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of predicted methane emissions (PME) in a British dairy data set and whether this trait could be used for genomic selection. The work is based on records on nearly 2,000 cows from the Langhill selection lines of cows (Scotland) and uses individual cow feed intake, milk yield, live weight and condition score data to calculate the PME. Additionally, a small group of these cows had a laser methane measurement. A heritability of 5% was estimated for the laser methane measure, and one of 13% was estimated for PME. There were some limitations in the power of this dataset for genomic prediction, but the results were promising. However, they highlight the need for collaboration and pooling of data for the genetic and genomic dissection of the methane complex of traits.

Please find a link to the article here