Download The impact of pasture kikuyu content on enteric methane emissions

Kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) is already dominant in pastures during summer and autumn in Northland and other coastal locations in the upper North Island (DairyNZ 2019) and is expected to move further south with the warming climate (Kenny 2001). The objective of this project is to determine pasture botanical and chemical composition, in vitro fermentation characteristics and model animal-level methane emissions and nitrogen excretion of extensively and intensively managed pastures in Northland during summer/autumn. Because of the trends in global warming and their effects on pasture composition in parts of New Zealand, there is a need to characterise kikuyu-based pastures and determine the potential methane emissions of animals fed those pastures.