How Agscent’s CH4 and CO2 measurement technologies and genomic tools are transforming beef production by identifying more efficient and profitable cattle that improve productivity and naturally produce less methane.
Advanced measurement tools are leading the fundamental shift in how the cattle industry approaches sustainability. Rather than viewing environmental goals as constraints on production, technologies like Agscent Air GHG and genetics reveal that efficiency improvements often align with economic and environmental objectives.
Dr Troy Rowan, a geneticist at the University of Tennessee, is investigating using genomics and advanced measurement technologies to understand cow efficiency, particularly in forage-based systems. His goal is to develop practical tools that allow producers to breed cattle adapted to their specific environments that are both more profitable and more sustainable.
“At the end of the day, it’s about making the best use of our natural resources,” Rowan said. “Living in harmony with the environment, putting these large ruminants in positions that they were designed to do – turning grass into high-quality protein.”
For generations, beef producers have relied on visual assessments and basic measurements to select breeding stock. Yet, within the animal, critical differences in metabolism and animal efficiency have been impossible to assess without advanced measurement tools. These differences can result in thousands of dollars in feed costs and significant variations in environmental impact.
The efficiency challenge
In pasture-based cow breeding operations, feed costs represent the largest variable expense. Yet until recently, breeders and producers have had limited tools to assess cow efficiency beyond body size.
“The biggest dictator of success for producers in this part of the world is how efficiently that cow can convert forage into milk into weaned calf weight,” said Rowan. “Our best indicator at this point is how big that cow is; bigger cows tend to be less efficient, smaller cows more efficient.”
But size alone tells an incomplete story. Research shows substantial variation in efficiency, even among cattle of similar size, managed identically.
“Variations of 30% or more can exist between individual animals of the same breed on identical diets,” said Dr Sara Place, based on her research on sustainable livestock management at Colorado State University.
This variation represents enormous untapped potential. The question is how to identify and measure it.
Methane as a window into metabolism
While methane emissions have recently attracted attention for environmental reasons, Rowan sees them more importantly as indicators of animal metabolism and feed efficiency, both of which provide direct benefits to livestock producers as well as the climate.
Methane and CO2 are the best available indicators of a grazing animal’s metabolism and feed efficiency. Research shows that cattle with lower residual feed intake (RFI) produce 15–25%1,2,3 less methane than their less efficient counterparts. “Understanding, even if it’s an imperfect indicator of metabolism, it’s something that we don’t have a good idea about for animals in the population at scale,” said Rowan.
Making measurement practical: The Agscent solution
Until recently, accurately measuring livestock metabolism and efficiency required expensive respiration chambers or specialist technicians. Rowan and his team have been using the Agscent x Optiweigh to overcome these barriers and to collect cow methane and CO2 data on the University of Tennessee farm in Spring Hill. The mobile, easy-to-use system monitors emissions and live weight and has been designed for use across commercial production and grazing systems.
“We’ve just been really impressed with how it functions,” said Rowan. “It’s different from other devices in that it really is pretty plug-and-play. That was the big reason our project decided to lean on the Agscent X Optiweigh as opposed to other measurement techniques.”
The system allows researchers to collect methane and CO2 data easily and at scale. For Rowan, this practicality is essential for scaling monitoring to build the large datasets needed for genetic evaluation.
Rowan said: “We’re never going to put every cow through a respiration chamber. But if I can get a cow to stick her head into a thing three or four times a week for four weeks, I start to get a pretty good understanding of what that cow’s average emissions are.”
Tennessee (supplied)
Dr Place from Colorado State University agreed: “We need to collect a boatload of phenotypes – thousands and thousands of animals.”
From research to reality
Agscent’s practical, scalable monitoring systems are moving measurement from research stations to working ranches and farms. “It’s the first time that I’ve thought that, particularly on this enteric methane side of things, that we’ve got a practical tool [Agscent X Optiweigh] that would work for cattle producers, beef cattle producers especially, to start doing this in a routine way,” Rowan noted.
Dr Rowan’s on farm team agree. Claire Hunkler, who runs the research projects on a day-to-day basis, said: “It’s accurate, it’s easy to move, it’s user friendly, the cows use.”’
Wes Gilliam, the Spring Hill Ranch Manager, added: “We like any piece of equipment that we can just put in the pasture field and not really change the way we operate the farm and get data.”
The potential applications are diverse: validating feed additives, evaluating pasture management decisions, and most importantly, identifying superior genetics within existing herds.
With Agscent’s measurement technology, producers can identify which animals possess the most valuable efficiency traits, information that was previously invisible. By measuring methane emissions as an indicator of feed efficiency, producers can make better breeding decisions, reduce feed costs, improve growth rates, and enhance herd profitability. The result: more profitable operations producing high-quality beef with reduced environmental impact.
The path forward: Stacking solutions
Rowan sees his work contributing to broader efforts to make beef production more sustainable while maintaining or improving profitability. Rowan is optimistic about the future of the industry.
“I’m really bullish on the future of the beef industry,” said Rowan. “There’s so much meat left on the bone for us to get at from a genetics perspective. There’s a whole suite of traits that we probably haven’t been able to measure or touch in the past. We’re starting to get the tools to get there.”
Rowan’s approach aligns with that of Global Methane Hub CEO Marcelo Mena. “The way that we want to approach it this decade is to improve productivity while we’re developing new technologies that can reduce emissions in absolute terms.” With practical measurement tools like Agscent Air now available and genetic evaluation methods advancing, the future of beef production is increasingly promising, delivering more profitable operations with reduced environmental impact.
About the research
Dr Troy Rowan leads beef cattle genetics research at the University of Tennessee, focusing on genomic approaches to improving cow efficiency, local adaptation, and sustainability in forage-based production systems. His work aims to develop practical selection tools that help producers breed more profitable, environmentally efficient cattle adapted to their specific environments.
About Agscent systems
Agscent Air provides practical, on-farm methane and CO2 monitoring solutions:
- Agscent X Optiweigh – A portable system combining methane measurement with live weight monitoring, designed for easy integration into existing farm infrastructure and grazing systems.
- Agscent Air GHG2100 – Rugged, real-time greenhouse gas monitoring for methane and carbon dioxide, flexible for various farm environments.
For more information about validation studies, measurement programmes, and how to start measuring your herd’s efficiency, contact Agscent.
References
- Basarab, J.A., Beauchemin, K.A., et al. (2013). “Reducing GHG emissions through genetic improvement for feed efficiency.” Animal, 7(Suppl 2):303-15.
- Nkrumah, J.D., Okine, E.K., et al. (2006). “Cattle selected for lower residual feed intake have reduced daily methane production.” Journal of Animal Science, 84(6):1489-96.
- Hegarty, R.S., Goopy, J.P., Herd, R.M., and McCorkell, B. (2007). “Cattle selected for lower residual feed intake have reduced daily methane production.” Journal of Animal Science, 85(6):1479-1486
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