British researchers have been awarded £700,000 to buy equipment which will help measure all greenhouse gas emissions from beef cattle.
Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) project 'UltraGreenCow' is set to be one of the few in the world which can measure all emissions from livestock.
Currently there are very few facilities with the capability to measure emissions of all gases simultaneously from individual animals.
The £700k grant will ensure researchers can buy the necessary equipment, including NH3 and N20 gas sampling and analysis systems, air handling units and combined hydronic units.
The increased knowledge of trade-offs between pollutants from cattle is set to provide essential data for mitigation measures, such as feed additives, at a time when farmers are under pressure to reduce emissions.
In the UK, agriculture is responsible for 11% of greenhouse gases and 87% of ammonia emissions.
Around 50% of GHGs and 75% of ammonia emissions from agriculture are associated with livestock or their wastes.
Project co-lead Dr Miller, research fellow at SRUC, said reducing emissions of these gases from agriculture was vital to meeting net zero goals.
"However, there is a real risk that implementing a mitigation measure to reduce one gas could lead to increases in one or more of the others," he said.
“Gaining comprehensive data supporting reductions in all emissions will improve cohesion between different policy objectives and help improve farmer and consumer confidence, leading to greater uptake of mitigation measures.”
UltraGreenCow was one of 29 projects to receive a portion of the £13m of funding available from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
