<p align="LEFT">In the early 2000s, researchers first became interested in the question of whether there is any natural variation between individual animals in the amount of methane they produce. Initially, PGgRc funded a major programme with the dairy industry initiative BoviQuest to measure&nbsp;emissions from 700 individual dairy cows. This trial showed large differences in emissions between animals.</p>
<p align="LEFT">Subsequent work in sheep, funded by SLMACC, established that some animals naturally produce up to 10% less methane than others. Using New Zealand&rsquo;s strength in breeding sheep, the PGgRc then funded a larger research project that established that methane production is heritable meaning that the difference between low and high emitting animals can be passed through the generations. Having demonstrated feasibility, the work now forms a major ongoing project that is jointly funded by the PGgRc and the NZAGRC to identify genetic markers and rapid measurement techniques that allow these differences to be exploited as part of standard industry breeding programmes. Additional investment through the Government&rsquo;s GRA fund further allowed New Zealand researchers to connect their work with that conducted in other countries, to share experiences with measurement methods and to establish measurement and reporting protocols to increase the global genetic information and allow intercomparisons on low-emissions traits.</p>
<p align="LEFT"><img title="breeding.jpg" src="user/image/large/477/breeding.jpg" alt="breeding.jpg" data-href="" /></p>