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Updated: Feb 26, 2026
11:02
The Use of an Automated System GreenFeed to Monitor Enteric Methane and Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Ruminant Animals
Published on: September 7, 2015
23.2K
Exploring different definitions of methane phenotypes in Dutch Holstein cattle
C I V Manzanilla-Pech1, A E van Breukelen1, R F Veerkamp1
1Animal Breeding and Genomics, Wageningen Livestock Research, Wageningen University & Research, 6708 PB Wageningen, the Netherlands.
JDS Communications
|February 25, 2026
Summary
Genomic selection can reduce dairy cattle methane emissions. Average methane concentration (CH4c) and peak methane concentration (speaks) are suitable proxies for breeding low-emitting cows, showing strong genetic correlations with other methane measures.
Area of Science:
- Animal Science
- Genetics
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Reducing methane emissions in dairy cattle is crucial for environmental sustainability.
- Genomic selection offers a promising strategy for breeding lower-emitting ruminants.
- Accurate methane phenotyping is essential for effective genetic improvement.
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate genetic parameters for 11 distinct methane emission phenotypes in dairy cattle.
- To assess genetic correlations between various methane phenotypes and milk yield (MY) and body weight (BW).
- To identify suitable methane phenotypes for genomic selection programs.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 149,726 sniffer records from 7,600 Dutch Holstein cows (2019-2024).
- Utilized an animal repeatability model with fixed effects (herd-year-season, lactation week, lactation number, age at calving).
- Estimated heritabilities and genetic correlations for methane concentration (CH4c), methane production (CH4p), methane intensity (MeI), and related traits (CO2c).
Main Results:
- Heritability estimates for CH4c phenotypes ranged from 0.16 to 0.30; CH4p phenotypes ranged from 0.03 to 0.27.
- High genetic correlations were observed among most CH4c and CH4p phenotypes, except for the IPCC Tier2 benchmark.
- Average CH4c (avg) and sum of maximum peaks (speaks) showed strong positive correlations with CH4p and minimal undesirable correlations with MY and BW.
Conclusions:
- Average CH4c (avg) and peak CH4c (speaks) are reliable proxies for methane emissions in dairy cattle when using sniffer measurements.
- These phenotypes demonstrate favorable genetic correlations for breeding low-emitting animals without negatively impacting milk yield or body weight.
- The findings support the use of avg and speaks in genomic selection strategies to mitigate methane emissions in dairy farming.
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