Cattle Contribution to Methane Emissions Lower than Previously Thought

Over the weekend, negotiators from all over the world reached a major deal on climate change in Paris.

The Director-General of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), José Graziano da Silva, welcomed the agreement, saying that it recognises food security and the vulnerability of food production to climate change.

Many countries included improving sustainability of agriculture and fisheries in their action plans to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.

But a recent study in Australia found that cattle were contributing less to methane emissions than previously thought.

Methane emissions from cattle in Australia are 24 per cent lower than previously estimated, equivalent to 12.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

Meat and Livestock Australia’s (MLA) General Manager for On Farm Innovation, Matthew McDonagh, said the results of this research provide an accurate dataset which clearly shows Australian cattle contribute substantially less to methane emissions than previously believed.

“This revelation clearly shows livestock-based emissions are nowhere near what they were thought to be and will help improve the accuracy of Australia’s national greenhouse gas emissions estimates,” Dr McDonagh said.

“This is positive news for the Australian livestock sector as it seeks to continually improve its production efficiencies and demonstrate its environmental credentials.” – Click here to read more.

This week we also featured a report from Melanie Jenkins on the problem of livestock rustling, which occurs all over the world, but is a serious issue in Northern Ireland.

Since 2013, farmers have reported 9,745 cattle as lost or stolen to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (Dard). Only 219 of those animals have been recovered.

Although preventing cattle theft is often difficult, as it often occurs in remote areas where farmers cannot keep a constant eye on cattle, measures such as locks, alarms and CCTV can act as a deterrent.

Farmers and police are also looking at other measures such as freeze branding or micro-chipping of cattle, which would allow easy identification of stolen animals – read more here.