Individual methane recordings in dairy cattle

Summary

In this study options are explored for individual methane recordings of dairy cows on large scale under practical circumstances. In a simulation study based on respiration research data, accuracies of methane measurements based on different sampling strategies are calculated. Scenarios showed that measuring methane (or ratio CH4:CO2) in the milking parlour or concentrate feeders will provide predictions close to the accuracy reached with scenarios based on sampling in cubicles. However under real farm conditions methane emission patterns may be more variable and overall accuracies decline.