Greenfeed System – possible solution for livestock production systems

The GreenFeed System (GF) is measurement technique used for the short-term measurement of emissions from ruminant livestock which I have examined during my literature review for my thesis. The system is being used more and more each year due to a growing demand for such measurement systems. The GF system is a useful technique for grazing and feedlot situations, as it is portable and can be used for spot-sampling of livestock. In my opinion, this is a one of the greatest advantages the GF system has over other emission measurement techniques and makes it a viable solution for measuring emissions from livestock production systems.

The video below shows the design of the GF system which Dr. Patrick Zimmerman has designed and founded C-LOCK, a patented design of GF system. It is a impressive design, which has attracted the attention of many farmers and researchers in many countries across the world.

There are however, some concerns as to the accuracy of measurements from the GF system. I have found some studies, which have found that daily variations between animals and the system being based on animals voluntarily coming to the system means that that lower levels of accuracy are achieved when compared to the respiration chambers (RC) technique. However, the GF system is a less expensive technique compared to the RC technique. There is need for more research into the GF system so that improvements to the system can possibily be developed in future.

Below, I have found some tweets from people who have used the GF system. It seems to be gathering good public interest, as it has been found to work well on farms which have adopted the system for measuring emissions.

Challenge is how to measure emissions from grazing cattle, which reflects most beef cattle in the USA. One system is called "GreenFeed" from the company C-Lock. Was lucky to get an equipment grant to purchase one. Similar concept as a head box – can measure CO2, O2, and CH4 gas pic.twitter.com/YtCqxQTPo8

— Ag of The World (@AGofTheWorld) March 17, 2019

References:

Hristov, A.N., Kebreab, E., Niu, M., Oh, J., Bannink, A., Bayat, A.R., et al. (2018). Symposium review: Uncertainties in enteric methane inventories, measurement techniques, and prediction models. Journal of dairy science 101(7), 6655-6674. doi: 10.3168/jds.2017-13536.

Patra, A.K. (2016). Recent advances in measurement and dietary mitigation of enteric methane emissions in ruminants. Frontiers in veterinary science 3(MAY), 39-39. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2016.00039.

https://www.c-lockinc.com/researchers/products/greenfeed-large-animals