Methane emissions from beef farming – in field measurements in the BEEFTWIN project

BEEFTWIN is a UK Research and Innovation interdisciplinary project bringing methane emission data together with other parameters to form a digital twin of UK beef farming. Ultimately the project aims to identify ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the beef farming sector whilst improving productivity, beef quality and animal welfare.

We are developing techniques to quantify grazing cattle emissions using mobile measurements of methane concentrations in transects downwind of cattle pastures, together with meteorological measurements and drone imagery to pinpoint locations of the cattle, followed by atmospheric dispersion modelling.

Measurements of methane stable isotopes and methane:carbon dioxide ratios are used to characterise predominant farm emission sources (eructation and manure). We are linking microbial measurements (relative species abundance and gene expression) in manure samples to the stable isotopic and methane:carbon dioxide ratios of manure emissions.

Through these measurements we are gaining a better understanding of the distribution and variability of methane emissions across beef farms and of how variability in methanogenic communities in manure affects emissions. These results will allow us to provide more insightful greenhouse gas emission estimates for farms employing different livestock management practices.