Producers of beef cattle in a time of changing climate must consider numerous factors. Breeding climate-smart cattle requires animals that are adaptable to shifting environmental conditions, resilient and capable of withstanding extremes, while also producing lower greenhouse gas emissions.
By Michiel Scholtz
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for tackling the effects of climate change on beef cattle in Southern Africa. What works in Europe or North America won’t necessarily suit local conditions.
Experts have identified 14 interventions for making beef production more climate-smart. These focus on three areas: adaptation, mitigation and resilience. The goal is straightforward: raise cattle that keep producing, leave a smaller carbon footprint, and recover quickly when extreme weather strikes.
If these interventions were to be implemented in a coordinated way, they could help Southern Africa achieve sustainable animal production in the era of climate change.
1. Conformation Traits That Matter
Whether cattle are bred or bought, lighter hair colour with darker skin pigmentation is desirable. Body size should be moderate so the animals can dissipate heat more easily. Attention should also be given to larger ears and a longer navel or sheath, as well as a greater skin surface area and longer legs.
The challenge lies in convincing breeders to select for smaller-framed animals with longer legs, as the preference has traditionally been for heavier, stockier cattle. In the past, longer navels and sheaths were also viewed negatively.
Note that a prolapsed sheath should not be confused with a longer sheath. Prolapse remains an undesirable trait and should still be selected against.
2. Use Indigenous or Adapted Genotypes
We in Southern Africa are fortunate to have a wide variety of indigenous and adapted beef cattle breeds. These breeds have been shaped by local conditions over generations, making them hardy, disease-resistant and well suited to tough environments.
Indigenous breeds like the Afrikaner and Nguni as well as the locally developed Bonsmara are especially valuable for food security in the region.
3. Develop Early Warning Systems
Heat stress is one of the biggest threats to beef production in a warming climate. That’s why accurate short-, medium- and long-term forecasts are becoming essential tools for farmers.
If farmers can access reliable 7–14 day forecasts, they can adapt rations and mineral supplements in time, making sure animals get the right cation/anion balance to help counteract heat stress.
Seasonal forecasts, stretching 6–12 months, ahead are just as valuable. They give farmers time to plan, whether by reducing herd size ahead of drought, or arranging alternative feeds such as bush meal (dried and ground woody plants, leaves and pods).
Heat stress doesn’t just affect growth and weight gain – it also hits reproduction. Bull fertility drops sharply in extreme heat and is a common cause of reproductive inefficiency in beef cattle. With the right warnings in place, farmers can plan around this, using multi-bull matings or selecting bulls from tropically adapted genotypes to keep herds productive even in challenging conditions.
Also read: Help cattle cope in the hot summer
4. Consider Alternative Production Systems
The choice of production system in Southern Africa depends largely on management capacity and the production environment. In the commercial farming sector, where management skills are generally strong, terminal crossbreeding using small indigenous cows can boost outputs. These cows are well adapted to the warmer climate and are more efficient, since smaller cows consume less feed than larger ones.
In less developed farming sectors, however, purebred breeding or back-crossing with indigenous or adapted breeds may be more practical and sustainable.
5. Breed for Better Cow–Calf Efficiency
One of the most effective ways to cut the carbon footprint of beef production is to get more out of every animal. If each cow produces more efficiently, fewer greenhouse gases are emitted per kilogram of beef – making productivity itself a powerful climate-smart strategy.
To achieve this, breeding goals need to be adjusted with tough environments in mind. By selecting for animals that thrive under local stressors, farmers can build herds that are both productive and resilient.
6. Carbon Sequestration
When vegetation regrows after being grazed by ruminants, carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere as part of the natural cycle. In other words, carbon dioxide is effectively “drawn” out of the air.
Agriculture is uniquely positioned to do this through soil carbon conservation, carbon sequestration and the careful use of short-rotation grazing systems.
In the Southern African context, protecting and restoring natural resources, together with proper land management, are essential for environmentally friendly and sustainable beef production. The challenge lies in how these practices can be implemented in communal grazing areas.
7. Carbon Footprint Within Resource Environments
In Southern Africa, ruminant meat is produced in feedlots (mainly cattle) as well as by commercial and communal (small-scale) farmers using production systems where grass is the primary feed source. More research is needed to understand the factors that influence methane emissions across these different systems.
It is especially important to determine whether low-input systems generate high greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing evidence suggests that current models are inadequate for estimating emissions from such systems. Dedicated models tailored to low-input conditions therefore need to be developed.
8. Feeding and Grazing
Ration formulation and nutrition play an important role in methane emissions. Feed should be designed to enable animals to produce more protein from less feed, thereby reducing their carbon footprint.
Research priorities include exploring alternative pastures (such as tannin-rich legumes), the use of algae and seaweed, feed additives, and dietary fibre in rations, as well as incorporating indigenous plants.
9. Rumen Manipulation
Diet is widely recognised as the most important driver of rumen microbial diversity. However, research also suggests that host genetics play a significant role in shaping the composition of the rumen microbiota. In fact, studies in ruminants have shown that microbial diversity can differ between breeds.
While much research has focused on how diet influences the rumen microbiome, the links between the microbiome, production traits and breeding stock in beef cattle are still not fully understood.
Certain rumen microorganisms are known to reduce the release of enteric methane. This means that a more favourable rumen microbiome could be established by identifying microbial markers linked to lower methane production and then creating the right conditions for those microbes to thrive. Preliminary studies also suggest that cows may play a role in passing on beneficial microbiota to their calves.
10. Land Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Ruminants largely graze on grassland, trees and shrubs that are not consumed by humans. In contrast, intensively farmed monogastric animals, such as pigs and poultry, rely on feed grown on arable land and can therefore be seen as competing directly with humans for food.
This difference is often cited as a reason to reduce ruminant production: Cutting methane emissions could lead to a faster decrease in the overall concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
It is important to note that ruminants produce methane, which has a relatively short atmospheric lifetime of around 12 years, compared with 100–200 years for carbon dioxide.
11. Herd Management
Improved herd management increases productivity and promotes better herd health, which can reduce the need for antibiotics. Greater production efficiency also lowers the carbon footprint per unit of product. Enhancing pasture management and restoration – through higher-quality grass varieties and rotational grazing – can further contribute to reduced methane emissions.
It is important to note that seasonal and temperature variations influence methane emissions in dairy cattle. There is also evidence that providing shade can help reduce methane emissions during warmer periods. The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) is currently studying the effects of heat stress on milk production, methane emissions, udder health and milk composition in dairy cattle.
12. Resilience to Climate Variability
Genomic selection markers indicate that the Afrikaner and Brahman breeds are well adapted to the South African environment.
TABLE 1 shows the distribution of different genes underlying the selection traits, categorised according to their main functions.
Surprisingly, no genes associated with production were detected in the Afrikaner, even though some breeders selected for production, whereas only 11% were detected in the Brahman. One possible explanation is that, although breeders selected for growth, natural selection increased the frequency of genes for adaptation, enabling the animals to survive and reproduce in South Africa’s harsh environment. Selection for growth rate in a stressful environment may therefore be achieved by enhancing resistance to environmental stress.
13. Breed and Genotypic Plasticity
Plasticity refers to the variation in performance of a breed from year to year. Breeding for less plastic, more climate-resistant genotypes may therefore be important. Plasticity is higher when genetic effects show greater variation between years, and lower when these interaction effects are smaller. Some indigenous beef breeds in South Africa exhibit lower plasticity.
The variation in weaning weight between different crossbred genotypes from year to year is shown in TABLE 2. These results come from the crossbreeding project at the Vaalharts Research Station in the Northern Cape, where Afrikaner, Bonsmara and Nguni cows were mated to Afrikaner, Bonsmara, Nguni, Angus and Simmentaler bulls in all possible combinations.
The results indicate substantial interaction effects between breed and year for weaning weight in the exotic breeds (Angus and Simmentaler). The Afrikaner showed the least interaction, followed by the Nguni. This demonstrates lower plasticity in the indigenous breeds, suggesting greater tolerance to climate change, whereas the European breeds show higher plasticity.
Farmers with sufficient resources can potentially use external inputs to offset environmental variation – for example, by providing supplementary feed in dry years. However, it may be advisable for many commercial farmers, and probably all subsistence farmers, to prioritise breeds that can perform well even under less favourable environmental conditions.
14. Epigenetics
Epigenetics refers to changes in DNA function that occur without altering the DNA sequence. These changes affect gene expression and can influence the appearance and other traits of an animal.
Epigenetic effects have been linked to growth, development, health, reproduction, and environmental adaptation – including improvements in immune response, feed efficiency and growth performance. These modifications are influenced by environmental factors and can be passed on to offspring. In this way, “soft” or epigenetic inheritance provides a more flexible system for fine-tuning the next generation to changing environments compared with the slower response of Mendelian, “hard” inheritance.
Both genetic and epigenetic mechanisms influence gene expression. Further research is needed to determine how epigenetics can be integrated into breeding programmes to optimise performance under changing environmental conditions.
Epigenetics has the potential to revolutionise the livestock industry by offering additional insights for improving animal production efficiency, health and welfare.
Prof Michiel Scholtz is a retired specialist researcher in applied animal breeding at ARC Animal Production in Irene. He is also an affiliated professor in animal breeding at the University of the Free State. This information was part of a presentation at the Beef School held at the recent Thabazimbi Agricultural Show.
