A NANTWICH agricultural student has been rewarded for an essay suggesting how to breed cattle for a more sustainable future.

Reaseheath College student Mike Kay, 20, researched how methane emissions from cattle could affect climate change and suggested how genetic breeding could alleviate some of the problem.

His 2,500 word assignment earned him second place in a national competition run by the British Cattle Breeders Club.

He received a certificate and cash prize in front of 150 delegates at the club’s annual conference in Telford last last week.

The conference title was ‘Intelligent breeding – we owe it to the next generation’ and encouraged lively discussion among industry experts and delegates as to how cattle can be bred to achieve different goals.

Mike was supported in writing his essay by lecturer Graham Ashford and course manager Jane Richardson.

Mike said: “I set out to show how to breed the ultimate beef suckler cow which would have a lower impact on the environment.

"I suggested breeding cattle with hybrid vigour that finished faster and responded well to concentrate feeding.

“I came to the conclusion that in the future there is likely to be a shift to more intensive farming of cattle and that they will spend more time indoors.

"But one of my key findings was that although emissions from cattle do add to global warming, it is nowhere near as much as that from industrial processes."