Methane emissions from Swedish sheep production

Sammanfattning: The quantity of methane emissions from sheep depend on several factors, for example, the composition of the diet, feed quality, the age of the animals, time of the day and maybe also breed and sex. A comprising literature review was made about which factors that affect the size of emissions. In addition, a questionnaire was sent to two farms, one with a more intensive production system and another with a more extensive system. Inventories of the two farms were made; the rest of the data needed to conduct the study was taken from literature and other sources. Meat produced at the more intensive farm caused emissions of 0.4 kg of methane per kg of bone free meat and the more extensive farm caused emissions of 0.9 kg methane per kg of bone free meat. The higher emissions on the extensive farm were probably caused by the longer raising period of the lambs and the inclusion of more roughage in the diet of the ewes and lambs.