The North Wyke Farm Platform: GreenFeed System Methane and Carbon Dioxide Data

The North Wyke Farm Platform (NWFP) was established in 2010 to study and improve grassland livestock production at the farm-scale. The NWFP uses a combination of environmental sensors, routine field and lab-based measurements, and detailed management records to monitor livestock and crop production, emissions to water, emissions to air, soil health, and biodiversity. The rich NWFP datasets help researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of different grassland (and arable) farming systems, which in turn, contributes to the development of sustainable, resilient and net zero land management strategies. This document serves as a user guide to the methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission data, sampled from housed cattle and sheep using GreenFeed systems. This document is associated with other dedicated user guides that detail the collection, and quality control processing of all the datasets produced on the NWFP

Performance and enteric methane emissions from housed beef cattle fed silage produced on pastures with different forage profiles

Methane (CH4) produced by ruminants is a significant source of greenhouse gases (GHG) from agriculture in the United Kingdom (UK), accounting for approximately 50% of the emissions in this sector. Ration modification is linked to changes in rumen fermentation and can be an effective means of CH4 abatement. In temperate climate countries, forage silage represents a major feed component for cattle during the housing period. The objective of this study was, therefore, to compare enteric CH4 emission from cattle offered silage produced from different types of grassland. Beef cattle, steers (n = 89) and heifers (n = 88) with average liveweight (LW) of 328 ± 57.1 kg, were evaluated during two housing seasons (2016-2017 and 2017-2018) from November to April, at the Rothamsted Research North Wyke Farm Platform (NWFP, UK). The treatments corresponded to three diet types, comprising silage harvested from three different pastures: MRG, monoculture of perennial ryegrass (PRG, Lolium perenne L.cv. AberMagic), bred to express the high sugar phenotype; RG-WC, a mixed sward comprised of the same perennial ryegrass cultivar with white clover (Trifolium repens L.) with a target clover proportion of 30% as land cover; and PP, permanent pasture dominated by PRG and a small number of non-introduced species. MRG and PP received 160-200 kg N/ha/year. Cattle were weighed every 30 days and the enteric CH4 emission was determined using GreenFeed automated systems. No significant differences in enteric CH4 emission per head or per kg LW were observed between treatments. However, emission expressed per average daily gain (ADG) in LW was greater (p<0.001) for MRG compared with RG-WC and PP, at 270, 248 and 235 g CH4/kg ADG, respectively. This related to a lower ADG (p=0.041) for the animals fed MRG silage compared with RG-WC and PP which were similar, with respective values of 0.67, 0.71 and 0.74 kg/day. The forages compared in this study showed little or no potential to reduce enteric CH4 emission when fed as silage to growing beef cattle during the winter housing period

Can Intensified Pasture Systems Reduce Enteric Methane Emissions from Beef Cattle in the Atlantic Forest Biome?

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different pasture systems on beef steers’ performance, dry matter intake, enteric methane emission, carcass production, forage quality, and animal production per hectare (ha). The trial was conducted at Embrapa Southeast Livestock, São Carlos/SP, Brazil. Sixty Cachim beef steers (5/8 Charolais × 3/8 Zebu) with initial liveweights of 255 ± 7 kg were evaluated for two years under five different grazing production systems (EXT = Extensive; INT = Intensive; iCL = Integrated crop livestock; iCLF = Integrated crop livestock forest; iLF = Integrated livestock forest). The final liveweight was greater (p < 0.05) for the animals under the INT and iCL systems (484 ± 51 and 466 ± 79 kg, respectively) compared to animals in the iCLF, iLF and EXT systems (416 ± 57, 414 ± 50 and 429 ± 48 kg). The dry matter intake was significantly greater under the EXT system than it was under the iCL system (9.8 ± 2.1 and 7.5 ± 2.9 kg day−1). Regarding the emission intensity in relation to the liveweight gain per unit area (g CH4 kg LWG−1 ha−1 year−1), it differed significantly among the systems (EXT = 1.6; INT = 0.6; iCL = 0.8; ICLF = 1.1; ILF = 0.7). Similarly, the methane emission intensity differed in relation to the carcass production (kg CH4 kg−1 carcass; EXT = 0.496; INT = 0.250; iCL = 0.297; iCLF = 0.345; iLF = 0.286). Beef cattle that are raised in intensive and/or integrated pasture systems have a greater availability of forage mass and nutrients than those that are raised extensively. Pasture systems that undergo soil pH correction and fertilization, rotational grazing and/or integrated with maize cropping produce animals with greater average daily gain and final liveweights, thereby lessening the enteric methane emissions per kg of weight gain. In these systems, the efficiency in terms of the gain per land area is also greater, however, the systems that are integrated with a forest component (iLF and iCLF) are equal to that of the EXT system. The same pattern is observed in the intensity of the methane emission as for the efficiency of the animal gain per unit of land are

Grazing livestock move by Levy walks - Implications for soil health and environment

Grazing livestock plays an important role in the context of food security, agricultural sustainability and climate change. Understanding how livestock move and interact with their environment may offer new insights on how grazing practices impact soil and ecosystem functions at spatial and temporal scales where knowledge is currently limited. We characterized daily and seasonal grazing patterns using Global Positioning System (GPS) data from two grazing strategies: conventionally- and rotationally-grazed pastures. Livestock movement was consistent with the so-called Lévy walks, and could thus be simulated with Lévy-walk based probability density functions. Our newly introduced "Moovement model” links grazing patterns with soil structure and related functions by coupling animal movement and soil structure dynamics models, allowing to predict spatially-explicit changes in key soil properties. Predicted post-grazing management-specific bulk densities were consistent with field measurements and confirmed that rotational grazing produced similar disturbance as conventional grazing despite hosting higher stock densities. Harnessing information on livestock movement and its impacts in soil structure within a modelling framework can help testing and optimizing grazing strategies for ameliorating their impact on soil health and environment

Effect of Yerba Mate Extract as Feed Additive on Ruminal Fermentation and Methane Emissions in Beef Cattle

The inclusion of plant extracts that contain secondary compounds with the potential to modulate rumen fermentation and improve animal performance has gained attention in recent years. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of yerba mate extract (Ilex paraguariensis ST. Hilaire) (YME) on the ruminal parameters. Eight castrated cattle were divided into four groups, a control without YME (0%) and three treatment groups with 0.5, 1 and 2% inclusion of YME in the dry matter. The inclusion of YME did not show differences in ruminal methane emissions (CH4), and total apparent digestibility (p = 0.54). Likewise, YME did not modify ruminal pH, but positively affected NH3-N, which decreased linearly as the extract level in the diet increased (p = 0.01). No short chain fatty acids (SCFA) were influenced by YME, except isovaleric acid (p = 0.01), which showed a lower concentration in the inclusion of 2% YME. Our results show that up to 2% YME does not affect digestibility, ruminal fermentation parameters, or the concentration of short-chain fatty acids in the rumen

Peso e rendimento de carcaça de novilhos Canchim de diferentes linhagens terminados em confinamento.

A intensificação da produção atende à crescente demanda por produtos de origem animal, especialmente a carne bovina. Este estudo avaliou o peso e o rendimento de carcaça de bovinos da raça Canchim, de diferentes linhagens, terminados em confinamento. Foram utilizados 46 e 44 novilhos castrados, respectivamente em 2015 e 2016, da Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste (São Carlos-SP). Os animais foram separados de acordo com seu peso corporal inicial e linhagem (Antiga - A, Nova - N e Cruzada - C). Após o abate foram avaliados o peso e o rendimento de carcaça individual. A análise dos dados foi realizada através do pacote SAS e a comparação entre as linhagens foi feita por meio do teste de Tukey ajustado (&#945;=0,05). O peso da carcaça foi estatisticamente diferente entre as linhagens (P<0,01), enquanto o rendimento de carcaça não apresentou diferença significativa. Há diferenças de desempenho em confinamento entre linhagens da raça Canchim, podendo esta variabilidade ser utilizada na seleção