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Meet Hilda, the calf bred to fight climate change

London: Meet Hilda, the calf bred to fart and burp less, which could accelerate the dairy industry’s journey to net zero emissions.

Born at Crichton Royal Farm, near Dumfries in Scotland, the calf is the first of the UK’s longest-monitored scientific herd conceived using IVF, which researchers said heralded a speedier breeding process to reduce methane emissions.

To breed Hilda, scientists took an egg from an immature cow and transferred it to a surrogate animal for birth.Credit: Phil Wilkinson

Scientists on the project said using the technique, which involved Hilda’s mother’s eggs being fertilised in a lab, meant the next generation of the herd arrived eight months earlier than was previously possible.

With the process to be repeated, scientists at Scotland’s Rural College said it would double the rate of “genetic gain” in the herd, and so speed the process of selecting and breeding more “methane-efficient” animals.

Agriculture accounts for about 12 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, the vast majority of it from livestock methane expelled in belches and flatulence.

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Methane is produced by microbes in the rumen, the largest part of a cow’s stomach, and they are linked to a cow’s genetics. It is an 84 times more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and, although it only persists in the atmosphere for 20 years, legally binding deadlines to cut emissions to net zero by 2050 have made it a target for policymakers.

Professor Richard Dewhurst, from Scotland’s Rural College, said they could now use IVF with six or eight-month-old animals, reducing the generation interval. The egg from the immature cow is transferred to a surrogate animal for birth. Normally, a cow would be two years old when it has its first calf.

“With global consumption of dairy produce continuing to grow, breeding livestock for sustainability is extremely important,” Dewhurst said. “The birth of Hilda is potentially a hugely significant moment for the UK dairy industry.”

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  • Source of information and images “brisbanetimes”

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