Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T16:03:07.188Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A parsimonious software sensor for estimating the individual dynamic pattern of methane emissions from cattle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2018

R. Muñoz-Tamayo*
Affiliation:
UMR Modélisation Systémique Appliquée aux Ruminants, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, 75005Paris, France
J. F. Ramírez Agudelo
Affiliation:
Universidad de Antioquia – UdeA, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Grupo de Investigación en Ciencias Agrarias – GRICA, Ciudadela de Robledo, Carrera 75N° 65·87, Medellín, Colombia
R. J. Dewhurst
Affiliation:
Future Farming Systems, SRUC, West Mains Road, EdinburghEH9 3JG, UK
G. Miller
Affiliation:
Future Farming Systems, SRUC, West Mains Road, EdinburghEH9 3JG, UK
T. Vernon
Affiliation:
Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS), Kings Buildings, EdinburghEH9 3FD, UK
H. Kettle
Affiliation:
Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS), Kings Buildings, EdinburghEH9 3FD, UK
*
Get access

Abstract

Large efforts have been deployed in developing methods to estimate methane emissions from cattle. For large scale applications, accurate and inexpensive methane predictors are required. Within a livestock precision farming context, the objective of this work was to integrate real-time data on animal feeding behaviour with an in silico model for predicting the individual dynamic pattern of methane emission in cattle. The integration of real-time data with a mathematical model to predict variables that are not directly measured constitutes a software sensor. We developed a dynamic parsimonious grey-box model that uses as predictor variables either dry matter intake (DMI) or the intake time (IT). The model is described by ordinary differential equations.

Model building was supported by experimental data of methane emissions from respiration chambers. The data set comes from a study with finishing beef steers (cross-bred Charolais and purebred Luing finishing). Dry matter intake and IT were recorded using feed bins. For research purposes, in this work, our software sensor operated off-line. That is, the predictor variables (DMI, IT) were extracted from the recorded data (rather than from an on-line sensor). A total of 37 individual dynamic patterns of methane production were analyzed. Model performance was assessed by concordance analysis between the predicted methane output and the methane measured in respiration chambers. The model predictors DMI and IT performed similarly with a Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) of 0.78 on average. When predicting the daily methane production, the CCC was 0.99 for both DMI and IT predictors. Consequently, on the basis of concordance analysis, our model performs very well compared with reported literature results for methane proxies and predictive models. As IT measurements are easier to obtain than DMI measurements, this study suggests that a software sensor that integrates our in silico model with a real-time sensor providing accurate IT measurements is a viable solution for predicting methane output in a large scale context.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Appuhamy, JADRN, France, J and Kebreab, E 2016. Models for predicting enteric methane emissions from dairy cows in North America, Europe, and Australia and New Zealand. Global Change Biology 22, 30393056.Google Scholar
Arcidiacono, C, Porto, SMC, Mancino, M and Cascone, G 2017. Development of a threshold-based classifier for real-time recognition of cow feeding and standing behavioural activities from accelerometer data. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 134, 124134.Google Scholar
Bell, M, Craigon, J, Saunders, N, Goodman, J and Garnsworthy, P 2018. Does the diurnal pattern of enteric methane emissions from dairy cows change over time? Animal 22, 16.Google Scholar
Charmley, E, Williams, SRO, Moate, PJ, Hegarty, RS, Herd, RM, Oddy, VH, Reyenga, P, Staunton, KM, Anderson, A and Hannah, MC 2016. A universal equation to predict methane production of forage-fed cattle in Australia. Animal Production Science 56, 169180.Google Scholar
Crompton, LA, Mills, JAN, Reynolds, CK and France, J 2011. Fluctuations in methane emission in response to feeding pattern in lactating dairy cows. In Modelling nutrient digestion and utilisation in farm animals (ed. D Sauvant, J Van Milgen, P Faverdin and NN Friggens), pp. 176180. Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Dochain, D 2003. State and parameter estimation in chemical and biochemical processes: a tutorial. Journal of Process Control 13, 801818.Google Scholar
Doreau, M, Arbre, M, Rochette, Y, Lascoux, C, Eugène, M and Martin, C 2018. Comparison of 3 methods for estimating enteric methane and carbon dioxide emission in nonlactating cows. Journal of Animal Science 96, 15591569.Google Scholar
Friggens, NC, Blanc, F, Berry, DP and Puillet, L 2017. Review: deciphering animal robustness. a synthesis to facilitate its use in livestock breeding and management. Animal 11, 22372251.Google Scholar
Gardiner, TD, Coleman, MD, Innocenti, F, Tompkins, J, Connor, A, Garnsworthy, PC, Moorby, JM, Reynolds, CK, Waterhouse, A and Wills, D 2015. Determination of the absolute accuracy of UK chamber facilities used in measuring methane emissions from livestock. Measurement 66, 272279.Google Scholar
Giger-Reverdin, S, Lebarbier, E, Duvaux-Ponter, C and Desnoyers, M 2012. A new segmentation-clustering method to analyse feeding behaviour of ruminants from within-day cumulative intake patterns. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 83, 109116.Google Scholar
Giger-Reverdin, S, Morand-Fehr, P and Tran, G 2003. Literature survey of the influence of dietary fat composition on methane production in dairy cattle. Livestock Production Science 82, 7379.Google Scholar
Hammond, K, Crompton, LA, Bannink, A, Dijkstra, J, Yanez-Ruiz, DR, O’Kiely, P, Kebreab, E, Eugene, MA, Yu, Z, Shingfield, KJ, Schwarm, A, Hristov, AN and Reynolds, CK 2016. Review of current in vivo measurement techniques for quantifying enteric methane emission from ruminants. Animal Feed Science and Technology 219, 1330.Google Scholar
Hristov, AN, Oh, J, Firkins, JL, Dijkstra, J, Kebreab, E, Waghorn, G, Makkar, HPS, Adesogan, AT, Yang, W, Lee, C, Gerber, PJ, Henderson, B and Tricarico, JM 2013. Special topics—mitigation of methane and nitrous oxide emissions from animal operations: I. A review of enteric methane mitigation options. Journal of Animal Science 91, 50455069.Google Scholar
Huhtanen, P, Ramin, M and Udén, P 2015. Nordic dairy cow model Karoline in predicting methane emissions: 1. Model description and sensitivity analysis. Livestock Science 178, 7180.Google Scholar
Lin, LI 1989. A concordance correlation coefficient to evaluate reproducibility. Biometrics 45, 255268.Google Scholar
Ljung, L 1997. System identification toolbox for use with Matlab. The Mathworks, Inc. Natick, MA, USA.Google Scholar
Martin, C, Morgavi, DP and Doreau, M 2010. Methane mitigation in ruminants: from microbe to the farm scale. Animal 4, 351365.Google Scholar
Mills, JA, Dijkstra, J, Bannink, A, Cammell, SB, Kebreab, E and France, J 2001. A mechanistic model of whole-tract digestion and methanogenesis in the lactating dairy cow: model development, evaluation, and application. Journal of Animal Science 79, 15841597.Google Scholar
Morita, S, Devir, S, Ketelaar-De Lauwere, CC, Smits, AC, Hogeveen, H and Metz, JHM 1996. Effects of concentrate intake on subsequent roughage intake and eating behavior of cows in an automatic milking system. Journal of Dairy Science 79, 15721580.Google Scholar
Muñoz-Tamayo, R, Giger-Reverdin, S and Sauvant, D 2016. Mechanistic modelling of in vitro fermentation by rumen microbiota. Animal Feed Science and Technology 220, 121.Google Scholar
Muñoz-Tamayo, R, Puillet, L, Daniel, JB, Sauvant, D, Martin, O, Taghipoor, M and Blavy, P 2018. Review: to be or not to be an identifiable model. Is this a relevant question in animal science modelling? Animal 12, 701712.Google Scholar
Negussie, E, de Haas, Y, Dehareng, F, Dewhurst, RJ, Dijkstra, J, Gengler, N, Morgavi, DP, Soyeurt, H, van Gastelen, S, Yan, T and Biscarini, F 2017b. Invited review: large-scale indirect measurements for enteric methane emissions in dairy cattle: a review of proxies and their potential for use in management and breeding decisions. Journal of Dairy Science 100, 24332453.Google Scholar
Negussie, E, Lehtinen, J, Mantysaari, P, Bayat, AR, Liinamo, AE, Mantysaari, EA and Lidauer, MH 2017a. Non-invasive individual methane measurement in dairy cows. Animal 11, 890899.Google Scholar
Niu, M, Kebreab, E, Hristov, AN, Oh, J, Arndt, C, Bannink, A, Bayat, AR, Brito, AF, Boland, T, Casper, D, Crompton, LA, Dijkstra, J, Eugène, MA, Garnsworthy, PC, Haque, MN, Hellwing, ALF, Huhtanen, P, Kreuzer, M, Kuhla, B, Lund, P, Madsen, J, Martin, C, McClelland, SC, McGee, M, Moate, PJ, Muetzel, S, Muñoz, C, O’Kiely, P, Peiren, N, Reynolds, CK, Schwarm, A, Shingfield, KJ, Storlien, TM, Weisbjerg, MR, Yáñez-Ruiz, DR and Yu, Z 2018. Prediction of enteric methane production, yield and intensity in dairy cattle using an intercontinental database. Global Change Biology 24, 33683389.Google Scholar
Olijhoek, DW, Hellwing, ALF, Brask, M, Weisbjerg, MR, Hojberg, O, Larsen, MK, Dijkstra, J, Erlandsen, EJ and Lund, P 2016. Effect of dietary nitrate level on enteric methane production, hydrogen emission, rumen fermentation, and nutrient digestibility in dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 99, 61916205.Google Scholar
Oudshoorn, FW, Cornou, C, Hellwing, ALF, Hansen, HH, Munksgaard, L, Lund, P and Kristensen, T 2013. Estimation of grass intake on pasture for dairy cows using tightly and loosely mounted di- and tri-axial accelerometers combined with bite count. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 99, 227235.Google Scholar
Ramin, M and Huhtanen, P 2013. Development of equations for predicting methane emissions from ruminants. Journal of Dairy Science 96, 24762493.Google Scholar
Renand, G and Maupetit, D 2016. Assessing individual differences in enteric methane emission among beef heifers using the GreenFeed Emission Monitoring system: effect of the length of testing period on precision. Animal Production Science 56, 218223.Google Scholar
Rooke, JA, Wallace, RJ, Duthie, CA, McKain, N, de Souza, SM, Hyslop, JJ, Ross, DW, Waterhouse, T and Roehe, R 2014. Hydrogen and methane emissions from beef cattle and their rumen microbial community vary with diet, time after feeding and genotype. British Journal of Nutrition 112, 398407.Google Scholar
Rutten, CJ, Velthuis, AGJ, Steeneveld, W and Hogeveen, H 2013. Invited review: sensors to support health management on dairy farms. Journal of Dairy Science 96, 19281952.Google Scholar
Sauvant, D, Giger-Reverdin, S, Serment, A and Broudiscou, L 2011. Influences des regimes et de leur fermentation dans le rumen sur la production de methane par les ruminants. Productions Animales 24, 433.Google Scholar
Troy, SM, Duthie, CA, Hyslop, JJ, Roehe, R, Ross, DW, Wallace, RJ, Waterhouse, A and Rooke, JA 2015. Effectiveness of nitrate addition and increased oil content as methane mitigation strategies for beef cattle fed two contrasting basal diets. Journal of Animal Science 93, 18151823.Google Scholar
Vetharaniam, I, Vibart, RE, Hanigan, MD, Janssen, PH, Tavendale, MH and Pacheco, D 2015. A modified version of the Molly rumen model to quantify methane emissions from sheep. Journal of Animal Science 93, 35513563.Google Scholar
Wang, M, Wang, R, Sun, X, Chen, L, Tang, S, Zhou, C, Han, X, Kang, J, Tan, Z and He, Z 2015. A mathematical model to describe the diurnal pattern of enteric methane emissions from non-lactating dairy cows post-feeding. Animal Nutrition 1, 329338.Google Scholar
Wathes, CM, Kristensen, HH, Aerts, JM and Berckmans, D 2008. Is precision livestock farming an engineer’s daydream or nightmare, an animal’s friend or foe, and a farmer’s panacea or pitfall? Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 64, 210.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Muñoz-Tamayo et al. supplementary material

Muñoz-Tamayo et al. supplementary material 1

Download Muñoz-Tamayo et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 332.3 KB