TIA Future Forum: Ensuring a sustainable future for Australia's ruminant livestock

Ruminant livestock account for 14.5 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions as a result of the natural way that they process their food. In a single year, one cow can belch about 100kg of methane.
Scientists around Australia are working hard to find solutions to help abate these livestock methane emissions. This 90-minute webinar discusses some of these possible solutions and challenges that the industry faces as they explore what the future could look like for livestock producers.
Jump to the presentations:
Dr Jo Newton - 0:03:15
Associate Professor Fran Cowley - 0:08:14
Associate Professor Matthew Harrison - 0:35:49
Q&A panel - 0:58:45
Speakers
Associate Professor Matthew Harrison,
Director of the Carbon Storage Partnerships, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
[e-mail]
Matthew Harrison is an Associate Professor at TIA and Director of the Carbon Storage Partnerships. His work focusses on developing sustainable pathways for balancing land-use priorities in food security with those in environmental stewardship. He works with farmers, industry and government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while adapting to climate change in a profitable, inclusive and socially-acceptable way.
Associate Professor Fran Cowley,
Leader of the Ruminant Research Group, University of New England
[e-mail]
Fran Cowley is an Associate Professor in Livestock Production in the School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England (UNE). She is a leader of the UNE Ruminant Research Group. Her research interests range from the systems level of livestock production down to the metabolic level, studying the actions and interactions of nutrients with ruminant physiology. She has conducted research on sheep, dairy and beef cattle, in grazing and grain-fed systems. Currently a main focus for her research is nutritional solutions to methane emissions and carbon footprints of cattle and sheep, utilising the world's largest methane research facility at UNE.
Dr Jo Newton OAM,
Research Scientist Agriculture Victoria and President, Victoria & Tasmanian Branch Australian Association of Animal Sciences
Dr Jo Newton currently works as a Research Scientist for Agriculture Victoria where she uses a multi-disciplinary approach in developing and valuing decision support tools that enable more informed breeding and management decisions on-farm. In 2023 she spent three months on a global study tour exploring the growing use of beef genetics in the dairy herd through the ICAR Brian Wickham Young Person Exchange Program. Jo holds a PhD in animal breeding and genetics from the University of New England, Australia. She also has 15 years’ leadership experience in not-for-profit organisations, particularly in advocacy and support of young people in agriculture. Jo was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2020 for her service to agriculture.
The webinar was presented by TIA in collaboration with the Australian Association of Animal Sciences (AAAS) Vic/Tas branch. To find out more about the AAAS and their upcoming conference, please visit aaas.asn.au. To stay connected with the AAAS please follow them on Twitter/X @AnimalScienceAU or LinkedIn.