Coupling tech herding and emissions measurement technologies to develop sustainable grazing strategies on the shortgrass steppe

Commodities

• Agronomic: grass (misc. perennial)
• Additional Plants: native plants
• Animals: bovine
• Animal Products: meat

Practices

• Animal Production: grazing management
• Education and Training: demonstration, on-farm/ranch research
• Production Systems: agroecosystems

Enteric CH₄ emissions are largely unknown from cattle
grazing extensive rangelands with little to no understanding of
the role vegetation communities play in driving these emissions.
Determining forage-animal-emissions relationships would be
beneficial for ranchers to understand if grazing plans oriented
toward low-emission vegetation communities could mitigate
CH₄ emissions. Our question is “Can virtual fencing
act as a tool for managing individual animal CH₄
emissions?” Steers differing in natal origin will be provided by
1) local short-grass prairie stocker operations within the Crow
Valley Livestock Cooperative, Inc., 2) the USDA ARS Meat Animal
Research Center (mixed-grass prairie in south-central Nebraska),
and 3) the Rouse Beef Improvement Center (high-elevation
mixed-grass prairie area in southeastern Wyoming). Steers will
graze low- and high-productivity rangeland in Colorado (2024).
Technology employed in this project includes Vence (Merck & Co.,
Inc., Rahway, New Jersey) virtual fencing to mediate animal
distribution and GreenFeed (C-Lock, Inc. Rapid City, South
Dakota) to measure individual animal emissions. Using a
producer-created grazing plan, herd distribution mediated by
virtual fencing will aim to match animal demand with forage
availability with concomitant enteric emissions measured for
individual steers. How grazing management decisions affect
emissions will be assessed, and findings will be disseminated to
animal agriculture stakeholders. We will engage with key industry
stakeholders including producers, feedlot operators, and meat
processors through engagement events and extension materials.
Outcomes will be 1) CH₄ emissions (grams/head/day) for
steers grazing low- and high-productivity rangeland and 2) a
determination of the utility of virtual fencing to aid emissions
mitigation.

Research Objectives:

• Evaluate forage-animal-emissions relationships of stocker
  steers from different ranch origins grazing a common summer
  rangeland in the shortgrass steppe of Colorado using advanced
  technologies.
• Grow the resiliency of the beef cattle supply chain by
  improving collaboration between research institutions, government
  organizations, and producers.

Educational Objectives:

• Producers report changes in knowledge, attitudes, skills,
  and/or awareness of GHG emissions, technologies, and
  climate-smart practices as a result of their participation in the
  educational programming provided by this project.