Farmers will soon be able to breed low methane sheep through a "world first" genetics programme. Beef and Lamb New Zealand has added low methane production to the list of traits breeders can target when choosing rams. Farmers already use several "breeding values" (BV) to select animals with characteristics they want to strengthen in their flocks, including meat yield and lamb survival rate. With the addition of a methane BV, they could also breed animals that produced less of the agricultural greenhouse gas. King Country stud breeder Russell Proffit said his commercial farmer clients had already shown interest in ... (full story)