Methane Research Programme
The NZAGRC methane programme is jointly planned and funded in partnership with the PGgRc and aligns with existing MPI programmes funded through SLMACC and New Zealand funding in support of the Global Research Alliance on agricultural greenhouse gases. It aims to reduce emissions by directly targeting the methane producing methanogens through the discovery of small molecule inhibitors and vaccines and indirectly through feeding and changes in animal phenotype.
- Breeding: Research to understand the genetics of host control of ruminant methane emissions, which aims to develop genetic and genomic selection technologies to reduce methane yield and intensity in sheep. The current stage of the programme involves the development and dissemination of practical tools for selection for lowered emissions. A major part of maximising impact and uptake is to explore relative economic value from increased production and potential increased feed utilisation associated with lowered methane
- Vaccine (jointly supported by PGgRc): A prototype vaccine (which after further development is aimed at producing a vaccine targeted at reducing methane emissions in cattle and sheep by 20%) is being formulated with the help of a commercial partner
- Inhibitors (previously jointly funded but now fully funded by PGgRc): Research to develop cost-effective inhibitors that reduce methane emissions by at least 20% in sheep and cattle—without reducing productivity—is now being developed, with a view to bring the technology to market
- Modelling: A tool to help scientists in the NZAGRC/PGgRc programme to develop hypotheses and predict responses in methane formation is in its final stages
Current progress and research stories
The current objectives within the NZAGRC methane programme have made significant progress this year, with the sheep breeding programme getting closer to delivering breeding values to the national flock.
Principal Investigator - Dr Graeme Attwood
29/11/19
Dr Graeme Attwood, who is a Principal Investigator in the NZAGRC, completed a PhD in Australia and a post-doc in the USA before coming home to New Zealand to further his career. Graeme completed BSc and MSc degrees at the University of Waikato...
Scientist AgResearch - Dr Robyn Dynes
27/11/19
Agriculture has always been part of Dr Robyn Dynes’ daily life. She was born into a Southland farming environment and her parents moved to a sheep and beef property on the rolling hills at Arthurton, running 1500 ewes, beef cattle and slow...
Capability Building - Holly Flay
09/05/19
Methane Research Adds to Store of Science Knowledge As part of her Masters degree, funded by the NZAGRC, Holly evaluated the effects of dairy breed on methane emissions and what would happen to those emissions if the farmer selected cows for...
Information Brochure: Mitigation and cost of on-farm Greenhouse Gas Emission
16/04/19
This information brochure reports on the modelling work done over four years on a range of dairy, sheep and beef farms, as part of a number of projects, including for the NZAGRC. It also discusses forestry as a carbon sink and possible...
Reducing New Zealand's Agricultural Greenhouse Gases: Low Greenhouse Gas Feeds
28/03/19
This publication provides an overview of how various feeds (e.g. grass silage, brassicas, cereal and root crops, maize silage, palm kernel extract) may affect greenhouse gas emissions. It shows what the NZAGRC and PGgRc research programme has...
Principal Investigator - Dr Peter Janssen
18/03/19
Dr Peter Janssen is the Principal Investigator of the NZAGRC-PGgRc methane mitigation programme at AgResearch, and co-ordinates and contributes to the different work streams developing technologies to reduce ruminant methane emissions. He has...
Feasibility study for methane capture
22/11/18
A feasibility study of a novel mechanism for capturing and breaking down methane was completed at the start of 2017/18. The aim of this study was to test the practicality of capturing methane emitted from housed cattle and stored animal waste, and...
Important finding in sheep vaccination trials
22/11/18
During 2017/18, a sheep vaccination trial, including measurement of methane emissions, was conducted and all vaccinated animals produced antibodies against each of the 19 protein/protein fusions present in the mix of recombinant proteins. This is...
Low Methane trait looks positive for meat and milk
22/11/18
Preliminary analysis showed that there are differences between the lines in fat and lean proportions of carcass. Additional detailed meat quality measures on a subset of ram lambs show that the low methane animals had no difference in...
Methane: Inhibitors
22/11/18
NZAGRC involvement in the inhibitor programme did not continue in 2017/18. It is now solely funded by the PGgRc as the lead commercialising partner.
Rumen microbes a possibility for sheep selection
22/11/18
Analyses of rumen microbial communities in ewe lambs measured multiple times on cut pasture and lucerne pellets suggest that rumen microbial community composition has the potential to be used to rank animals for prediction of methane.
Sheep breeding for low methane
22/11/18
The sheep breeding programme in 2017/2018 continued to build on developments from earlier years. High/low sheep lines continue to diverge and are currently on average 10% different for methane yield. The lines continue to segregate on maternal...
Understanding the methane debate
06/07/18
Parliament will decide on the pathway for tackling our greenhouse gases (GHGs) after the current consultation on the proposed Zero Carbon Bill. The Bill presents three broad scenarios – net zero carbon dioxide by 2050, which would reduce...
Applying maths to methane
14/05/18
What does maths have to do with methane? Quite a lot, it turns out, with a research project combining the disciplines of biology and mathematics—funded by the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre—set to boost...
Genetic parameters of methane emissions determined using portable accumulation chambers in lambs and ewes grazing pasture and genetic correlations with emissions determined in respiration chambers
09/05/18
A Jonker S M Hickey S J Rowe P H Janssen G Shackell S Elmes W E Bain J Wing G J Greer B Bryson S MacLean K G Dodds C S Pinares-Patiño E A Young K Knowler N K Pickering J C McEwan (2018). Genetic parameters of methane emissions determined...
Media release: NZ-led rumen microbial genome work published in prestigious journal
20/03/18
A global scientific project led by New Zealand researchers, which has generated a reference set of genome sequences of microbes found in the stomachs of sheep and cattle, has been published in the respected international scientific journal Nature...
Cutting Down on Cow Burps to Ease Climate Change
30/11/17
Livestock has directly caused about a quarter of industrial-age warming. Scientists in New Zealand are working on an anti-burp vaccine for those methane-emitting cows. In a cream-colored metal barn two hours north of Wellington, New Zealand, a...
Recognition for world-renowned animal geneticist
09/11/17
A major force behind many ground breaking advances in animal genetics is being recognised with a Science NZ Lifetime Achievement award this month. John McEwan, a principal scientist at AgResearch Invermay, has devoted his career to genomic...
Towards low emissions livestock: the GRA's Enteric Fermentation Flagship
01/11/17
The GRA’s Enteric Fermentation Flagship is beginning to take shape with four initial project proposals presented to the Council when it met in August. The Enteric Fermentation Flagship is being set up to support countries account for and...
Enteric fermentation
28/09/17
Cow fermentation: Methanogens love rumen They make CH4
Morning Rural News for 13 September 2017
13/09/17
Listen to Suzanne Rowe discussing current low methane breeding work at Invermay Listen (external website)
Sheep from low-methane-yield selection lines created on alfalfa pellets also have lower methane yield under pastoral farming conditions
08/09/17
Jonker, A., S. Hickey, C. Pinares-Patiño, J. McEwan, S. Olinga, A. Díaz, G. Molano, S. MacLean, E. Sandoval, R. Harland, D. Birch, B. Bryson, K. Knowler, and S. Rowe. 2017. Sheep from low-methane-yield selection lines created on...
Low methane producing sheep could be way forward for NZ
30/08/17
Sheep giving off lower methane emissions are being bred by scientists now looking to see if they can produce leaner meat and more lambs. Methane from livestock is responsible for 33 per cent of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions. As part...
What are the role of methanogens?
31/07/17
Methanogens belong to a group of ancient microbes known as archaea. They have evolved hundreds of millions of years ago and occupy oxygen-free niches such as peat bogs and anaerobic gut systems. In the rumen, methanogens modify the fermentation...
What is enteric fermentation?
31/07/17
The rumen: One of the most efficient fibre decomposing systems The rumen first evolved 50 million years ago, giving mammals access to plant foods they would other not be able to digest. The rumen is the first and largest part of the...
Reducing NZ's agricultural GHGs: Methane Inhibitors
28/07/17
This publication provides an overview of how we may be able to use compounds that suppress an animal's methanogen population effectively without causing unwanted side effects in their health, welfare or production. It covers some of the...
Development of Multiwell-Plate Methods Using Pure Cultures of Methanogens To Identify New Inhibitors for Suppressing Ruminant Methane Emissions
19/05/17
Weimar, M. R., Cheung, J., Dey, D., McSweeney, C., Morrison, M., Kobayashi, Y., . . . Cook, G. M. (2017). Development of Multiwell-Plate Methods Using Pure Cultures of Methanogens To Identify New Inhibitors for Suppressing Ruminant Methane...
Greenhouse gas awareness of livestock's contribution to emissions rises among farmers
29/03/17
More farmers are aware of the impact of livestock on global warming, says an agricultural greenhouse research expert. New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre director Dr Harry Clark said farmer awareness of their...
Feeding diets with fodder beet decreased methane emissions from dry and lactating dairy cows in grazing systems
24/02/17
Jonker Arjan, Scobie David, Dynes Robyn, Edwards Grant, De Klein Cecile, Hague Helen, McAuliffe Russel, Taylor Anna, Knight Trevor, Waghorn Garry (2017) Feeding diets with fodder beet decreased methane emissions from dry and lactating dairy cows...
Comparative genomics of rumen methanogens
01/01/17
Li, Y. (2016). Comparative genomics of rumen methanogens, Massey University. Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry: 550. Abstract Methane (CH4) emissions from agriculture represent around 9% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The...
Gene network analysis identifies rumen epithelial cell proliferation, differentiation and metabolic pathways perturbed by diet and correlated with methane production
14/12/16
Xiang, R., J. McNally, et al. (2016). "Gene network analysis identifies rumen epithelial cell proliferation, differentiation and metabolic pathways perturbed by diet and correlated with methane production." 6: 39022. Abstract Ruminants obtain...
NZAGRC welcomes PCE report on agricultural GHG mitigation
19/10/16
Wednesday, 19 October 2016 The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report into greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture highlights the need for a suite of mitigation solutions rather than a single silver bullet....
The complete genome sequence of the methanogenic archaeon ISO4-H5 provides insights into the methylotrophic lifestyle of a ruminal representative of the Methanomassiliicoccales
06/09/16
Li, Y., Leahy, S. C., Jeyanathan, J., Henderson, G., Cox, F., Altermann, E., . . . Attwood, G. T. (2016). The complete genome sequence of the methanogenic archaeon ISO4-H5 provides insights into the methylotrophic lifestyle of a ruminal...
What are micro-meteorological techniques for measuring methane?
01/09/16
Other methane measurement techniques provide estimates of emissions from individual animals. This raises the question whether the animals that have been measured are representative of average emissions coming from an entire herd over long...
What are portable accumulation chambers
31/08/16
HOW THEY WORKCommonly, these are a sheepsized transparent polycarbonate box suspended above a race. When a sheep walks into the race, the chamber is lowered over it and the sheep is held inside for about 30 minutes. Air samples are taken during...
What are respiration chambers?
31/08/16
How they work Respiration chambers are animal-friendly closed circuit containers in which animals are contained while their gas output is measured. The New Zealand Animal Ruminant Methane Measurement Centre at AgResearch, part-funded by the...
What is the SF6 tracer technique?
31/08/16
How they work This technique was devised to answer the question ‘How much methane does an animal grazing freely in a field produce over a given period (usually one 24-hour feeding cycle)?’ Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) is an inert gas...
Vaccination of Sheep with a Methanogen Protein Provides Insight into Levels of Antibody in Saliva Needed to Target Ruminal Methanogens
29/07/16
Subharat S, Shu D, Zheng T, Buddle BM, Kaneko K, et al. (2016) Vaccination of Sheep with a Methanogen Protein Provides Insight into Levels of Antibody in Saliva Needed to Target Ruminal Methanogens. PLOS ONE 11(7):...
Methane emissions changed nonlinearly with graded substitution of alfalfa silage with corn silage and corn grain in the diet of sheep and relation with rumen fermentation characteristics in vivo and in vitro
14/07/16
Jonker, A., K. Lowe, S. Kittelmann, P. H. Janssen, S. Ledgard, and D. Pacheco. 2016. Methane emissions changed nonlinearly with graded substitution of alfalfa silage with corn silage and corn grain in the diet of sheep and relation with rumen...
A Review of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Use of Brassica and Fodder Beet Forages on New Zealand Farms
01/07/16
Brassicas (represented mainly by forage rape, kale, swede and turnip) and fodder beet are widely used in New Zealand grazing systems due to their high DM yield and high nutritional value compared to conventional perennial ryegrass/white clover...
Complete Genome Sequence of Methanogenic Archaeon ISO4-G1, a Member of the Methanomassiliicoccales, Isolated from a Sheep Rumen
07/04/16
Kelly WJ, Li D, Lambie SC, Jeyanathan J, Cox F, Li Y, Attwood GT, Altermann E, Leahy SC. 2016. Complete genome sequence of methanogenic archaeon ISO4-G1, a member of the Methanomassiliicoccales, isolated from a sheep rumen. Genome Announc...
Draft Genome Sequence of the Rumen Methanogen Methanobrevibacter olleyae YLM1Draft Genome Sequence of the Rumen Methanogen Methanobrevibacter olleyae YLM1
07/04/16
Kelly WJ, Li D, Lambie SC, Cox F, Attwood GT, Altermann E, Leahy SC. 2016. Draft genome sequence of the rumen methanogen Methanobrevibacter olleyae YLM1. Genome Announc 4(2):e00232-16. doi:10.1128/genomeA.00232-16. Methanobrevibacter...
The complete genome sequence of Eubacterium limosum SA11, a metabolically versatile rumen acetogen
15/03/16
Kelly, W. J., G. Henderson, et al. (2016). "The complete genome sequence of Eubacterium limosum SA11, a metabolically versatile rumen acetogen." Standards in Genomic Sciences 11(1): 26. Acetogens are a specialized group of anaerobic bacteria able...
Forage brassica: a feed to mitigate enteric methane emissions?
09/02/16
Sun Xuezhao, Pacheco David, Luo Dongwen (2016) Forage brassica: a feed to mitigate enteric methane emissions?. Animal Production Science 56, 451-456. A series of experiments was conducted in New Zealand to evaluate the potential of...
A mechanistic model of hydrogen
15/01/16
Yuancheng Wang, Peter H. Janssen, Tammy A. Lynch, Bruce van Brunt, David Pacheco, A mechanistic model of hydrogen–methanogen dynamics in the rumen, Journal of Theoretical Biology, Volume 393, 21 March 2016, Pages 75-81, ISSN 0022-5193...
Does gibberellin biosynthesis play a critical role in the growth of Lolium perenne? Evidence from a transcriptional analysis of gibberellin and carbohydrate metabolic genes after defoliation
03/11/15
Liu, Q., C. S. Jones, et al. (2015). "Does gibberellin biosynthesis play a critical role in the growth of Lolium perenne? Evidence from a transcriptional analysis of gibberellin and carbohydrate metabolic genes after defoliation." Frontiers in...
Global solutions to reduce methane emissions from ruminant animals are feasible, because the microbes causing the emissions are similar around the world
12/10/15
The New Zealand-led “Global Rumen Census” project analysed the microbes responsible for ethane emissions from a wide range of ruminant animals around the world. The project found imilar bacteria and methanogens dominate in nearly all...
Co-leader of breeding programme keen to make a positive contribution to farming
15/09/15
Dr Suzanne Rowe, co-leader of the NZAGRC-PGgRc programme to breed low methane ruminants, has always been passionate about farming. Originally from Devon, in the UK, she grew up in the city and left home at 16 to work on a horse breeding stud....
Buccal swabbing as a non-invasive method to determine bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryotic microbial community structure in the rumen
14/08/15
Kittelmann, S., M. R. Kirk, et al. (2015). "Buccal Swabbing as a Noninvasive Method To Determine Bacterial, Archaeal, and Eukaryotic Microbial Community Structures in the Rumen." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 81(21): 7470-7483. Analysis...
A modified version of the Molly rumen model to quantify methane emissions from sheep
26/06/15
Vetharaniam, I., R. E. Vibart, et al. (2015). "A modified version of the Molly rumen model to quantify methane emissions from sheep1." Journal of Animal Science 93(7): 3551-3563. We modified the rumen submodel of the Molly dairy cow model to...
1115 Rick Pridmore, Strategy and Investment Leader for Sustainability (DairyNZ)
07/05/15
Rick provided the conference delegates with an overview of the New Zealand investment landscape for reducing agricultural greenhouse gases. He highlighted that New Zealand is putting in a great deal of effort into reducing agricultural greenhouse...
1315 Peter Janssen, Principal Scientist (AgResearch)
07/05/15
Peter gave an interesting overview of how ruminants produce methane and the strategies that are being investigated for reducing, or even eliminating, this methane. Feeds which lead to reduced methane production have been studied and the...
1340 John McEwan, Principal Scientist (AgResearch)
07/05/15
John provided further detail about the low methane emitting sheep breeding programme. There is excellent rationale for this strategy given that for most farmed species (plants and animals) genetics contributes around 50% of the farm system...
1405 Tim McAllister, Principal Scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
07/05/15
Tim presented an international perspective on the methane research being conducted globally. There is research being conducted to investigate both: (i) technologies to reduce emissions and ii) ways to increase efficiency across the...
Animal variation project provides wealth of information
13/11/14
Animal variation project provides wealth of... (0.66MB)
From tiny bottles to grazing sheep and cows
13/11/14
From tiny bottles to grazing sheep and cows (0.90MB)
IDing Livestock Gut Microbes Contributing to Greenhouse Gas Emissions
13/11/14
News release from DOE JGI, 17 June 2014 excerpt "...not all ruminants are equal when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. It turns out that the amount of methane produced varies substantially across individual animals of the...
Technology transfer could help reduce methane emissions from animal waste storage
13/11/14
Technology transfer (0.59MB)
Delving into rumen 'soup': identifying targets to mitigate methane
24/10/14
What's really in a rumen? It's probably something that most people haven't given much thought to. However, in the search for methods and technologies to mitigate methane produced from ruminant animals, this is a key question. The...
Low GHG feeds: latest research shows that forage rape can make a real impact
24/10/14
Could forage rape, a brassica crop, hold the key to understanding what and how to feed animals to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions? A wide search has been carried out to date for animal feeds that reduce GHGs. For a long...
Tiny organism a big challenge to methane researchers
20/08/14
Much effort and intellectual grunt is going into solving the livestock methane emissions problem. Peter Burke reports on this science challenge facing New Zealand. A TINY micro-organism one thousandth of a millimetre long is proving a huge...
Decreasing methane emissions by feeding grazing ruminants: a fit with productive and financial realities?
15/07/14
Pacheco, D., G. Waghorn, et al. (2014). "Decreasing methane emissions from ruminants grazing forages: a fit with productive and financial realities?" Animal Production Science 54(9): 1141-1154. Ruminants contribute to human food supply and also...
Methane yield phenotypes linked to differential gene expression in the sheep rumen microbiome
06/06/14
Shi, W., C. Moon, et al. (2014). "Methane yield phenotypes linked to differential gene expression in the sheep rumen microbiome." Genome Research. AbstractRuminant livestock represent the single largest anthropogenic source of the potent...
The effects of fresh forages and feed intake level on digesta kinetics and enteric methane emissions from sheep
24/04/14
K.J. Hammond, D. Pacheco, J.L. Burke, J.P. Koolaard, S. Muetzel, G.C. Waghorn, The effects of fresh forages and feed intake level on digesta kinetics and enteric methane emissions from sheep, Animal Feed Science and Technology, Volume 193, 2014,...
Heritability estimates of methane emissions from sheep
06/06/13
Pinares-Patiño, C. S., Hickey, S. M., Young, E. A., Dodds, K. G., MacLean, S., Molano, G., Sandoval, E., Kjestrup, H., Harland, R., Hunt, C., Pickering, N. K. and McEwan, J. C. (2013) “Heritability estimates of methane emissions from...
Overseas technicians train on methane measurement
22/01/13
Overseas technicians train on methane measurement | Radio New Zealand News Scientists from developing countries are in Palmerston North for a training course on measuring methane emissions from forage-fed farm animals. Nine...
Technical Manual on Respiration Chamber Designs
24/04/12
Technical Manual on Respiration Chamber Designs Released: March 2012 Edited by: Cesar Pinares & Garry Waghorn Download here
Rumen microbial (meta)genomics and its application to ruminant production
01/03/12
Morgavi, D., Kelly, W., Janssen, P., & Attwood, G. (2013). Rumen microbial (meta)genomics and its application to ruminant production. Animal, 7(S1), 184-201 Abstract Meat and milk produced by ruminants are important agricultural...
Exploring rumen methanogen genomes to identify targets for methane mitigation strategies
23/05/11
G.T. Attwood, E. Altermann, W.J. Kelly, S.C. Leahy, L. Zhang, M. Morrison, Exploring rumen methanogen genomes to identify targets for methane mitigation strategies, Animal Feed Science and Technology, Volume 166, 2011, Pages 65-75, ISSN...
Uncertainties of global warming metrics: CO2 and CH4
30/07/10
Reisinger, A., M. Meinshausen, M. Manning, and G. Bodeker (2010), Uncertainties of global warming metrics: CO2 and CH4, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L14707, doi:10.1029/2010GL043803. We present a comprehensive...
Strategies to reduce methane emissions from farmed ruminants grazing on pasture
26/03/10
Bryce M. Buddle, Michel Denis, Graeme T. Attwood, Eric Altermann, Peter H. Janssen, Ron S. Ronimus, Cesar S. Pinares-Patiño, Stefan Muetzel, D. Neil Wedlock, Strategies to reduce methane emissions from farmed ruminants grazing on pasture,...
Methane emissions from bison-An historic herd estimate for the North American Great Plains
29/12/09
Kelliher, F. M., & Clark, H. (2010). Methane emissions from bison-An historic herd estimate for the North American Great Plains. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 150(3), 473-477. AbstractEnteric methane (CH4) emissions were estimated from...
