A NEW project is set to support livestock producers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve profitability, with the development of a digital dashboard to display estimates of emissions, primarily from methane, and emissions intensity of growing cattle.

The new dashboard, which is set to be piloted during spring this year, will provide producers with an essential tool for proactive livestock management.

Optiweigh in-field weighing systems will play a role in estimating methane emissions and emissions intensity of growing cattle

NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development research leader Dr Warwick Badgery said by estimating emission intensity from average daily weight gain data provided by in-field weighing systems provider Optiweigh’s walk-over-weighing units, combined with other farm management information, it aims to support decision-making.

“The tool will enable producers to make informed decisions such as moving animals between paddocks, providing supplementary feed, implementing livestock health interventions, or culling underperforming animals—all with the goal of reducing livestock emissions and enhancing farm profitability,” Dr Badgery said.

“This project provides an innovative and practical solution for producers to understand and manage their livestock’s emissions, an important step in both reducing environmental impact and improving the efficiency of their operations.

“By equipping producers with practical tools that allows them to make real-time, data-driven decisions.”

A key part of the project involves a grazing trial at Glen Innes, which will validate the GHG emissions predicted by the dashboard. This trial is a collaborative effort with the Low Methane Beef project.

NSW DPIRD research officer, grazing efficiency, Dr Flavio Alvarenga, said thw trial will compare the dashboard’s estimates with other established methods of determining methane emissions, including direct measurements from Greenfeed methane measurement units.

The trial will also incorporate feed intake measurements using eGrazor collars, which can quantify feed intake by a grazing animal based on their time spent grazing, Dr Alvarenga said.

Since feed intake strongly correlates with methane production, these measurements will help verify the dashboard’s accuracy.

”This project represents a significant step toward equipping Australian producers with the tools to address GHG emissions in a practical and profitable way,” Dr Badgery said.

The dashboard is being developed under the Primary Industries Productivity and Abatement Program (PIPAP), with collaboration from the NSW DPIRD On-Farm Carbon Advice project.

Source: NSW DPIRD