Harnessing Satellite Technology for Sustainable Pasture-Based Cattle Farming

The Time2Graze project, a global initiative led by the Global Methane Hub, leverages satellite technology to enhance sustainable pasture-based cattle farming. By utilizing satellite monitoring, farmers can optimize grazing and reduce enteric methane emissions, a significant contributor to climate change. The project involves collaboration among 35 organizations to develop decision support tools and trial sites for effective grazing management.

Key Takeaways:

• The Time2Graze project utilizes satellite technology to monitor pasture levels in Latin America and Africa, providing near-real-time estimates of grassland levels to help farmers graze their cows more efficiently.
• Pasture availability and digestibility impact both milk and meat output, as well as enteric methane emissions, with minor improvements in feed digestibility leading to significant wins for sustainability.
• The project aims to improve grazing management in livestock systems, with a focus on reducing enteric methane emissions, which are responsible for 98% of emissions from systems that include some grazing.
• Three regional decision support tools for farmers will be developed, including one led by the World Resources Institute for tropical and temperate Latin America and Africa.
• Seven country-specific decision support tools with 115 on-farm trial sites are being developed for effective grazing management.
• The project has the potential to reduce methane emissions dramatically in just 10 years, with a 10% improvement in feed digestibility able to reduce methane emissions by up to 20%.

Statistics:

• 80% of methane emissions from livestock come from the Global South, with a focus on Latin America and Africa being key to reducing emissions.
• Reducing methane emissions is the single fastest way to reverse global temperature rises, with methane being 86 times more potent than CO2.
• Sentinel-2 satellites capture biomass data at 10x10 meter resolution every five days, allowing for near-real-time monitoring of pasture biomass.
• The project will provide near-real-time grassland biomass data and integrate it into decision support tools for farmers.

Sources:

• Global Methane Hub
• Santiago Fariña, Global Methane Hub Program Officer for Agriculture-Livestock
• OpenGeoHub
• World Resources Institute
• International Center for Tropical Agriculture
• Uruguay’s National Agriculture Research Institute
• WWF
• National Pasture Watch
• Several universities and research institutes
• Associations of livestock farmers in targeted countries