Agrifirm and CRV will jointly conduct research into methane

The cooperative organisations Royal Agrifirm Group and CRV will start up a joint project designed to measure the methane emission of individual cows in actual practice. The purpose is to gain greater insight into the differences between animals and rations. This knowledge will be used to develop new products that enable livestock farmers to control methane emissions. The researchers will focus on various aspects, such as feed advice, methane efficiency breeding values and improved methods for estimating methane emissions at the cow and farm level.

 

Measurements at practice farm

The methane emissions will be determined with the aid of so-called GreenFeeds, whereby the measuring equipment is built into a feed concentrate station. This equipment analyses the breath’s composition each time a cow visits the feed concentrate station. For frequent visits this provides a reliable measurement of methane production. The GreenFeeds will be installed on one of the CRV feed efficiency practice farms in the Netherlands. CRV is already collecting data here, for example about the feed intake of individual cows. With this, the connection can be made between feed intake and methane emission.

A one-percent reduction in methane emission each year

‘This project will generate a great deal of knowledge about the differences in methane production between cows and the reasons for these differences,’ says Maarten Moleman, Lead Innovator at CRV. ‘The differences between animals are largely determined genetically. We combine the data we collect on the basis of these measurements with data from other projects and then use this for developing (genomic) breeding values. These values are then integrated into our breeding programme. This enables dairy farmers to breed a herd with lower methane emissions,’ he explains.
CRV expects that on the basis of genetic progress, methane production per cow can be reduced by up to one percent per year. ‘This way CRV can make an important contribution to further reducing the CO2 footprint of milk production,’ says Global Director Genetics Sander de Roos.

 

Balanced Nutrition at the cow level

‘Agrifirm aims to feed every cow according to needs for generating maximum health and minimum environmental impact,’ says Johan de Schepper, CIO of Royal Agrifirm Group. ‘Methane emissions can be reduced by adjusting the ration and adding additives. Furthermore, we believe there are good opportunities for balancing the nutrition of individual animals so as to make a further reduction in methane emission possible. This project will teach us how to use the genetic differences among cows to enable us to feed individual animals even better according to need,’ says De Schepper.

 

Part of strategic partnership

The methane project is part of the strategic partnership between Agrifirm and CRV. The cooperatives work together in developing new solutions. This enables member dairy and beef cattle farmers to improve their farming practices and make them sustainable.

 

Royal Agrifirm Group
With more than 3.000 dedicated employees driven to excel every day, Royal Agrifirm Group contributes to a responsible food chain for future generations. The cooperative delivers measurable, relevant and sustainable value to farm, field and industry level. Founded over 120 years ago in the Netherlands, Royal Agrifirm Group is now a leading agricultural cooperative with an international network of subsidiaries within Europe, South America, USA and Asia and a worldwide distribution network.

 

By globally combining years of scientific research with local, specific know-how in the arable and livestock feed sector, Royal Agrifirm Group offers its customers worldwide the best solutions for the challenges they face every day. With high quality animal feeds, premixes, concentrates, mineral mixes, additives for the animal feed industry, crop cultivation products, animal and crop specific digital solutions and professional advice, their group of subsidiaries offers arable and nutritional solutions for enterprising livestock farmers, integrators, feed mills, distributors and growers. Royal Agrifirm Group strives to be the preferred knowledge and solution-driven partner for its customers in animal nutrition, crop cultivation and animal, plant and soil health.

 

CRV

Since 1874, we have strongly believed that better cows lead to a better life for farmers, their herds and their environment. Together with the 23,000 farmers who are members of our cooperative and over 2000 employees, every day we still continue our work of improving dairy and beef herds around the world. We do this by delivering top quality genetics, smart breeding management solutions and personal advice on herd management. The foundation of our approach is creating a perfect balance between healthy and efficient cows. After all, the healthier a cow is, the more efficiently it will produce. Every day we work on improving the herd of the future. CRV is active in over 60 countries and has offices in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Czech Republic, the USA, the United Kingdom and South Africa. We also have state-of-the-art production sites in the Netherlands, New Zealand, Brazil, Germany and the Czech Republic where the highest quality semen and embryos are produced. The main focus in our vision is on healthy and efficient cows. That is why we are world leading in health and efficiency.