Genomic estimated breeding values for methane production in Australian beef cattle (#66)
Methane emissions for beef cattle are heritable, whether measured as methane production, methane yield (methane production/dry matter intake), or residual methane (observed methane production – expected methane production). This suggests methane emissions could be reduced by selection. Genomic selection is perhaps the most feasible approach to implement for the beef industry, given the high cost of measuring methane production from individual cattle. Here we derive genomic estimated breeding values (GEBV) for methane traits from a reference set of 747 Angus animals measured for methane traits, and genotyped for 630K SNP. The accuracy of GEBV was evaluated in a cohort of 273 Angus animals. Accuracies ranged from 0.29, for methane yield, to 0.35 for residual methane. Selection on GEBV using the genomic prediction equations derived here could reduce emissions for beef cattle by roughly 5% over 10 years.