During the Sheep Ireland Industry Meeting, speakers highlighted the latest research to be included in the National Sheep Breeding Improvement Programme’s 2026 Genetic evaluation and €urostars rating.
Eoin Dunne (Teagasc) presented his work on the Collection of Enteric Methane Data in Sheep which is informing the updated methane trait in the €urostar index for 2026.
Why Measure Methane in Sheep?
- To increase efficiency, productivity and profitability in the National Flock.
- To refine Ireland’s inventory values.
- To develop breeding values to select for low emitters to contribute to reaching our national environmental targets.
How Methane is Measured
PACs (Portable Accumulation Chambers) have been used to collect methane records on many farms across the country. The collection of methane measurements using PAC worked as follows:
- Measurements taken for animals on >5 cm good-quality grass
- Removed animals from feed for one hour
- Recorded liveweight
- Measured CH₄, CO₂ and O₂ at 0, 25 & 50 minutes
How this feeds into the 2026 €uroStars Genetic Evaluation
With approximately 19,000 methane records collected to date, results to date show:
- Methane is heritable (18–31%). This indicates a good opportunity for selection of lower emission animals.
- Methane measurements are repeatable (~35%)
- Variation exists both between and within breeds.
An updated methane trait will be introduced to the €uroStars 2026 evaluation. Correlation with other performance traits are positive, meaning it is possible to select for lower methane emissions without negatively affecting key productivity traits.
Click below to view Eoin Dunne’s Presentation:
