The members of the Performance Recorded Lleyn Breeders (PRLB) are part of the DEFRA funded ‘Breed for CH4nge’ project as part of the Farm Innovation Program. The Lleyn breeders are one of four breeding groups taking part; Innovis, Exlana and Dorset Centurion. The project also involves Haprer Adams University, SRUC, Pilgrims, Waitrose, NSA, Signet/ AHDB and CIEL.

The aim of the project is to breed productive, efficient maternal sheep with a lower carbon footprint to produce a lamb with a lower carbon footprint for the consumer through improving efficiency and health of the animals along with reducing emissions. The project will also develop metrics to reduce the carbon foot print of lamb and provide solutions for sheep farmers across the industry to improve the sheep on their farm. All this is to help achieve a target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Past research has indicated that the majority of the methane associated with lamb, comes from the mature ewes in the breeding flock, so the aim is to identify the most efficient ewes and their methane emissions to find those that produce the most for the least methane. The routes to achieving the methane efficiency are:

• Produce a high quality and nutrient dense product
• Optimise grass and forage usage
• Be healthy and productive
• Produce less methane per kg of feed eaten

To achieve these aims, the project is taking measurements and producing Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) about the ewes productive efficiency (using existing performance recording measurements), health and parasite resistance (IgA blood serum and lamb survival) and methane emissions using Portal Accumulation Chambers (PAC), genomics will be used to create a genomic evaluation to increase the accuracy and reach of the EBVs across the industry. Further measurements in rumen volume, rumen microbiome monitoring and feed intake are being measured by Innovis in their nucleus flock.

A key part of the project is sharing the information with the wider industry from what the findings of the project are and selection information that can be used across the industry. The project is currently in it’s first year, so currently we are taking PAC measurements, IgA, ewe Boddy Condition Score (BCS), DNA samples and performance recording information. By the end of the 3 year project the PRLB members will have recorded:

• 2592 lambs methane PAC
• 5580 genotype sheep
• 1395 FEC individual FEC tests
• 5580 IgA blood serum test
• 81,720 BCS in ewes