Evaluating nutritional quality and methane production from fermentation of pasture forages grown under current and future climate conditions using near-infrared spectroscopy

Isabelle L. Kite; Sally A. Power; Richard G. Meyer; Sabrina A. Meurs; Kristy L. Bailes; Manjunatha H. Chandregowda; Ben D. Moore

doi:10.1071/CP24374

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Next Contents Vol 76(8)

Evaluating nutritional quality and methane production from fermentation of pasture forages grown under current and future climate conditions using near-infrared spectroscopy

Isabelle L. Kite

^A ^* , Sally A. Power ^A , Richard G. Meyer ^B , Sabrina A. Meurs ^B , Kristy L. Bailes ^B , Manjunatha H. Chandregowda ^A and Ben D. Moore ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.

^B Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: i.kite@westernsydney.edu.au

Handling Editor: Brendan Cullen

Crop & Pasture Science 76, CP24374 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP24374

Submitted: 17 December 2024 Accepted: 25 July 2025 Published: 15 August 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Improved pasture nutritional quality and reduced enteric methane production under current and projected climate conditions are essential for the meat and livestock industry. Legumes and herbs could modify the ruminal fermentation process, owing to their high nutritional quality and plant secondary compound content.

Aims

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of climate stress on the nutritional quality and enteric methane (CH₄) production associated with temperate legumes (Medicago sativa, Onobrychis viciifolia, and Biserrula pelecinus), a tropical legume (Desmanthus virgatus) and a temperate herb (Cichorium intybus).

Methods

Plants were grown in large polytunnels at Western Sydney University’s Pastures and Climate Extremes field facility, receiving simulated wet (La Niña) or dry (El Niño) rainfall regimes, under ambient or elevated (+3°C) temperatures. Samples were collected in multiple seasons, freeze dried and analysed using near-infrared spectroscopy to determine nutritional quality and associated methane production, and these results were validated in vitro.

Key results

B. pelecinus reduced CH₄ production (−85%) and C. intybus provided reduced CH₄ emissions intensity. Elevated temperature and lower rainfall (Dry) treatments resulted in lower CH₄ production from B. pelecinus, D. virgatus and C. intybus.

Conclusions

Reductions in predicted CH₄ production from fermentation were observed in multiple species under lower rainfall and elevated temperature treatments, including in the species with the lowest overall in vitro CH₄ production, B. pelecinus.

Implications

The benefits of using legumes and herbs to reduce pasture-based CH₄ emissions and improved nutritional quality are likely to be influenced by future changes in temperature and rainfall regime.

Keywords: climate change, elevated temperatures, enteric methane, methanogenesis, pasture nutritional quality, rainfall, temperate forage, tropical forage.

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