ULES - Ultra Low Emission Sheep

Methane emissions are a major cause of climate change and farmers are coming under pressure to act. Every sector of UK farming is responsible for finding ways to minimise their carbon footprint, including the sheep sector. There's a huge opportunity to use genotyping and selective breeding to drive down methane emissions from sheep. The main goal of this feasibility study is to explore how cutting edge technology can be leveraged to produce sheep with 10-25% lower emissions.

Research on this concept has been done in New Zealand previously, leading researchers to believe that methane emissions are a heritable trait in sheep. This means sheep emissions can be managed quickly and easily throughout flocks by changing their rams.

This project will work towards breeding 'Ultra-Low Emission Sheep' by comparing UK sheep DNA markers with NZ DNA markers for low methane emitting sheep. By using a USA based laboratory for DNA markers and a genetics company in NZ, the first world class breeding program in the UK to drive this technology forward will be developed. Working with international partners will help us produce a global solution to a global problem.

The project will also incorporate in-field methane measurement from Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), who are an industry leader in livestock emissions research. This will provide ground truthing data to confirm the DNA comparison made between the UK and NZ sheep.

In addition, we will look at increasing meat and wool yield further to reduce carbon per kg of meat for no increased inputs. Wool itself stores carbon so increasing wool yield will enable further carbon sequestration - 1.4kg of wool stories 1kg of carbon. The aim: to offer UK farmers the world's lowest carbon and most efficient sheep.