A cross-Canada research project will attempt to reduce methane production by finding rumen efficiencies.

Dr. Leluo Guan from the University of British Columbia was recent awarded $7.9 million from the National Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada. She is also the Canada Research Chair in Animal Function Genomics and Microbiome.

Other researchers working with Guan are at the Universities of Alberta, Manitoba and Guelph along with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Canadian bovine genetics company Semex.

The research will focus on the flow of hydrogen in the rumen in both beef and dairy cattle.

The five-year study will look at the rumen microbiome and the methane-creation processes that happen there and aims to find technology and management changes that can make rumen function most efficient. Guan has been conducting research in this area for years.

Data will be examined from more than 10,000 animals across Canada.

The Canadian beef sector has set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent by 2030 and dairy farmers plan to be carbon neutral by 2050.

(CJWW)