Measuring methane when cows do not live in the lab: Agscent’s portable methane monitoring brings lab grade accuracy to the paddock.
Livestock producers and researchers face serious problems. As cows roam the paddock rather than standing in labs or under research conditions, they accurately measure methane emissions and feed efficiency. Although there are limited real-world applications of traditional experimental methods, pressure is installed to reduce methane. The global commitment to reducing emissions by 30%, coupled with buyer commitments such as McDonald’s 31% reduction target, is in demand for practical on-farm tools to prove environmental performance and improve efficiency.
Intestinal methane accounts for half of the greenhouse gas footprint of dairy farms, with all cattle losing 6-12% of their feed energy as methane, equivalent to 25-40 grazing days each year. Low digestibility of pastures combines this, making efficient measurements and mitigation measures important for both profitability and sustainability.
Lab to Padoc: Convert Agscent
Agscent’s portable methane monitoring brings lab grade accuracy to your paddock. Pairing in the paddock with the Agscent Air GHG system and Optiweigh’s paddock, and comparing or integrating the Agscent Air GHG 2100 with existing infrastructure, such as robotic dairy products, allows producers to capture real-time methane emissions and live weight gain without interrupting operations. This closes the gap between scientific research and commercial agriculture, and examines feed additives, genetic programs, and management practices where they are truly important.
Measurement of successful feed additives when cows do not live in the lab
Feed companies must prove that the product delivers results beyond a controlled setting. Ranchers and dairy farmers need accurate measurements to improve productivity, report on environmental reports, and prove justification of investment. The Agscent Air GHG system is used to fill this gap.
Feedyard Trial, Queensland, Australia: South Barnet Feedlot’s Agscent Air GHG system recorded an approximately 50% reduction in emissions after additive inclusion. Great Plains USA Feed Yard Trial: The leading retailer developing premium low-emission beef sponsored this trial, achieving 50% emission reductions, expanding US trials, and showing how validation reductions can access premium markets. Australia, NSW, Grazing Test: Using AgScent GHG 2100, the study achieved an emission reduction of approximately 90% after additive inclusion and persuaded its customers to continue additive development.
Bringing Measuring to Cows: Seamless Robotic Dairy Integration
Modern dairy products are increasingly adopting robotic milking systems where cows choose to milk 2-3 times a day. Agscent converts these routine visits into opportunities for radiofrequency methane measurements without additional labor or animal handling.
Important Benefits:
It is quiet and automatically operated without detecting the cow. No changes to behavior are required. High herd coverage with 2-3 daily data points per cow. Integration with existing herd management software.
In partnership with Japanese companies, Agscent has integrated the Agscent Air:GHG 2100 units into robotic dairy products, allowing farmers to track feed additive performance and individual performance with minimal operational changes.
Measuring methane for genetic decisions when cows roam freely
Genetic selection provides permanent cost-free emission reductions across generations. Coota Park Blue-E is Australia’s leading breeding program with 25 years of feed efficiency expertise and collaborated with AGSCENT to investigate the relationship between genetics, feed efficiency and methane emissions under natural grazing. Using Agscent Air GHG X Optiweigh technology, we revealed that real-time methane and body weight data from 52 cattle (90% of herds) had a strong correlation between average methane concentration and dry matter intake (r = 0.43, p < 0.02) and residual feed intake (r = 0.33, p < 0.05).
This breeding approach is as follows:
Permanent genetic improvement given to offspring. Feed efficiency increases over time throughout the herd. Continuous cost-free environmental impact reduction. Carbon credit opportunities from validated emission reductions.
Agscent Air’s competitiveness
Agscent Air GHG provides lab accuracy in field conditions such as:
Consistent correlation of 0.59-0.91 with established methods. Gold standard verification for chamber measurement. Excellent field-based performance over other methane systems. A simple integration of real-world farm situations. Additional productivity measurements when embedded in Optiweigh systems.
Producer benefits
Agscent’s technology offers producers a competitive advantage.
Optimized feed efficiency – Identify high-performance animals and feeding strategies that convert more feed into weight gain. Increased flock productivity – Track growth and emissions in real time, informing you of administrative decisions and increase production per hectare. Maximized ROI with Feed Additives – Verify that supplements provide measurable benefits of emission reductions and weight performance before committing to ongoing costs. Data-Driven Profitability – Which animals and practices drive bottom-benefits by combining methane data with live weight and efficiency metrics?
If cows don’t stay in the lab, Agscent brings accurate methane measurement techniques to the paddock, turning environmental management into ranch and dairy productivity and profitability.
This article is also featured in Animal Health Special Focus Publication.
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