
The technology developed through this project is low-cost and reproducible, opening up on-farm greenhouse gas measuring and monitoring to a wider range of stakeholders.
This project conducted non-intrusive measurements of a Northumberland dairy herd over a complete seasonal cycle to understand how methane emissions vary for individual cows throughout the year. It used low-cost technologies that enable the emissions to be quantified with no disruption to the cow’s daily routine. A key outcome of the work was to establish transparent and reproducible procedures that will facilitate methane emission measurements to be replicated across the UK.
The research was funded through NICRE’s Research and Innovation Fund.
The technology developed through this project is low-cost and reproducible, opening up on-farm greenhouse gas measuring and monitoring to a wider range of stakeholders.
The data collected throughout 2023 resulted in over 1,300 data entries from 79 days of data collection, with an average of 26 samples taken per day. In total 174 dairy cows had their breath samples analysed, approximately 11 times per cow.
The data collected follows an expected normal distribution. This makes the dataset more straightforward to work with statistically, as many tests and models are based on the assumption of a normal distribution.
At a glance, >1,300 data entries (breath concentration data points) appears to be an impressive data set, however the reality is just 26 (average) recordings per milking and/or 7-10 (average) recordings per cow. Ultimately, this number of measurements results in very low power statistical analysis.
This project demonstrated proof-of-concept that low-cost technology can be installed in a commercial setting and used to collect valuable emissions data. This has helped to create a Newcastle University Research Platform at Nafferton Farm, generating interest from farmers, consultants, commercial companies, local authorities and research institutes.
The data collected through this project has resulted in £1.3million funding from Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to improve on-farm measurements and test data access using 5G, DEFRA-funded research, numerous undergraduate and postgraduate student projects (2023 and 2024) and well-attended farm open days and events. This interest and further funding results in more technology and staff, better quality science and data that can be used to guide policy, farmers and commercial companies.
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