Scientists and breeders across the globe have joined forces on a new $27.4 million ‘Global Methane Genetics Initiative’ designed to breed low-methane livestock across four continents.
The Animal Breeding and Genomics group, in collaboration with the Wageningen University, are leading an international consortium with 50 partners from 25 countries, to cut livestock emissions through natural, science-backed breeding methods.
The project has been awarded $19.3 million from the Bezos Earth Fund, Amazon founder’s Jeff Bezos philantropic organisation that finances climate and nature projects, and $8.1 million from the Global Methane Hub, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) that aims to reduce methane emissions in the world.
The funding will support projects that deliver the tools to identify low-emission cattle and sheep based on biological traits; and help breeding programmes select animals that are naturally more climate-efficient.
These research and breeding programmes will take place across the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Oceania.
Genetics initiative
Director of the Future of Food at the Bezos Earth Fund, Dr. Andy Jarvis said: “Reducing methane from cattle is one of the most elegant solutions we have to slow climate change.
“Thanks to collaboration with the Global Methane Hub, we’re backing an effort that uses age-old selection practices to identify and promote naturally low-emitting cattle, locking in climate benefits for generations to come.”
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas which scientists have proved is more than 80 times as powerful as carbon dioxide, over a 20-year period.
According to the Bezos Earth Fund, cattle are the largest contributors to livestock-related methane emissions, but even within a single herd, some animals emit up to 30% less methane than others.
Scientists claim that selecting and breeding for these low emmission traits – just as farmers have done for centuries for milk yield, fertility, or disease resistance – can lead to “substantial, permanent emissions reductions across the industry”.
Because methane-efficient animals are selected using traits that already exist in herds, this approach will not require farmers to change how they feed or raise livestock, making this an “easy, no-cost way” for agriculture to contribute to climate progress, the scientists added.
Agriculture program director at the Global Methane Hub, Hayden Montgomery commented: “This initiative is a cornerstone of a broader global push to accelerate public-good research on enteric methane.
“Together with the Bezos Earth Fund, as part of the Enteric Fermentation R&D Accelerator, we’re building an open, coordinated foundation that spans countries, breeds, and species – delivering practical solutions that reduce emissions and support farmers worldwide.”
The initiative will screen more than 100,000 animals to collect methane emissions data, which will in turn scale up low-emission breeding practices across public and private breeding programmes.
According to researchers, the initiative aims to make methane efficiency a global breeding standard, which over time could cut methane emissions from cattle by 1% to 2% each year – accumulating to a 30% reduction over the next two decades.
