CH4 Global makes first commercial sale of methane-reducing cattle feed supplement

CH4 Global has taken the lead in the race to scale up Australia’s seaweed industry, securing the first sale of a methane-reducing cattle feed supplement.

Dr Steve Meller from CH4 Global pictured at Urrbrae Agricultural High School. Picture: Brad Fleet

CH4 Global has taken the lead in the race to scale up Australia’s emerging seaweed industry, securing the first commercial sale of a methane reducing cattle feed supplement.

The US company, led by Adelaide expat Steve Meller, has struck a multi-million dollar agreement to supply its asparagopsis-based product to South Australian meat and animal product processor CirPro - formerly Pirie Meats - which is developing a new $72m abattoir in Port Pirie.

Cattle at CirPro’s supplying feedlot HB Rural will be the first to get a taste of CH4 Global’s seaweed-based supplement, which is expected to feed thousands of cattle by the time CirPro’s new facility opens next year.

Construction is expected to commence later this year.

It’s a major milestone for CH4 Global, which has been growing the asparagopsis armata seaweed strain at sites including Port Lincoln, Kangaroo Island and Yorke Peninsula

Last year the company raised close to $18m in a Series A investment round led by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm DCVC, and later opened a seaweed research and production hub at the South Australian Aquatic Sciences Centre at West Beach.

It claims its seaweed-based supplement can reduce methane emissions by up to 90 per cent when fed to cows, and has ambitions to reach 150 million cattle - 10 per cent of the world’s cow inventory - over the next five years.

That would eliminate the equivalent of a gigatonne of CO2 emissions.

CirPro chief executive Roger Smyth said the first commercial sale was an important step in the industry’s move to more sustainable operations.

“This marks an important milestone towards the goal of a carbon-neutral beef industry in Australia by systemically reducing, not just offsetting, emissions,” he said.

“It represents a win for the beef industry, a win for Australia and a win for the planet.”

The value of the deal was not disclosed, but CH4 Global said it represented a “long-term multi-million dollar commitment, with options to further scale supply”.

CirPro will purchase feed supplement formulated using both marine and tank-grown asparagopsis.

The asparagopsis seaweed strain, which is native to Australian and New Zealand waters, has an active ingredient which disrupts the enzymes in the cow’s stomach that produce methane gas during digestion.

Last year CH4 Global became the first of three companies to secure an Australian licence from FutureFeed, which holds the global IP rights to technology developed by CSIRO, Meat and Livestock Australia and James Cook University.

Perth company SeaStock has been continuing trials along the WA coast since securing a licence in March, while Tasmanian seaweed producer Sea Forest raised $34m from Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, PGA Investments and other investors last year as it expands production across two sites in Swansea and Triabunna, north of Hobart.

FutureFeed, backed by iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest, Woolworths and GrainCorp, is expecting a rich royalty to flow from companies around the world wanting to grow and farm asparagopsis for sale as an animal feed supplement.

The global seaweed market is projected to reach $30bn by 2025, while the Australian Seaweed Institute has forecast the Australian asparagopsis market could be worth $100m by 2025 and $1.5bn by 2040.

FutureFeed senior advisor Cassandra Kelly said the technology developed by CSIRO had “world-changing potential”.

“CH4 Global was one of the first to embrace the world-changing potential of asparagopsis and FutureFeed is delighted to learn of their first commercial sales,” she said.

“We look forward to the realisation of the significant global impact that this incredible technology offers.”

CH4 Global is planning to scale up production across Australia and New Zealand over the next year before rolling out its technology to all corners of the world.

“The only way to impact climate change at scale, with urgency, is to approach it as transformation, not solely product innovation,” Dr Meller said.

“We’ve assembled a team of leaders steeped in open innovation practices in world-class global organisations.”