Methane reducing feed supplement on the cusp of widespread take-up

Meat and Livestock Australia says the game-changing asparagopsis feed supplement is nearing a price point that will pave the way for broad industry take-up.

Methane reducing feed additives for cattle, sheep and goats are on the cusp of widespread commercial availability, according to the marketing body responsible for Australia’s $68 billion red meat industry.

Meat and Livestock Australia’s managing director Jason Strong said feed supplements that reduce methane emissions in ruminant animals are close to being competitively priced for broad scale industry take-up.

“I think they’re pretty close. It’s really the value equation. There’s an economic argument for using them now (and) I think we’re on the cusp of that commercial (reality),” Mr Strong said.

“I think it will be driven by commercial operators. The supplement manufacturers will start seeing it as a point of difference.”

Five years ago, MLA shocked producers when it announced it would pursue a goal of carbon neutrality by 2030, using 2005 levels as a baseline to align with the Paris Agreement.

The goal was to tackle the gases belched and farted by Australia’s 24 million cattle, which accounts for about 11 per cent of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

Already, the industry’s emissions have fallen 58 per cent since the target was set. That reduction has been based on greenhouse emissions linked to the Australian red meat sector according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Australian National Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

Mr Strong said with about 40 per cent to go to reach the target within eight years, the organisation was focused on methane reduction and carbon capture to get there.

“Absolutely there’s risks. (But) with the right ambition, the right investment and government policy, carbon neutral is achievable. That is the basis of the goal being set. And we’re working flat out to get there,” he said.

MLA’s self-described “ambitious” goal in-part hinges on the success of an Australian red seaweed product called asparagopsis as a methane reducing feed supplement and a synthetic version produced by Dutch company Royal DSM called Bovaer.

When a small amount of either product is included as a daily feed supplement, it has been shown to reduce methane emissions in ruminant animals by between 60 and 90 per cent.

Australia’s seaweed farming industry is expanding rapidly, with three companies now issued licences to grow, farm and harvest asparagopsis seaweed.

But industry take-up so far has been slower than expected, with some blaming the cost as a barrier, and the difficulty of including it in the diets of cattle outside of a feedlot setting.

Many trials are underway, including by dairy giant Fonterra, Stockyard Beef and AACo, but few have progressed beyond the experimental phase.

CH4 Australia general manager Adam Main (right) and CH4 Global chief executive Steve Meller at their asparagopsis seaweed production facility in South Australia. PICTURE: SERENA FINDLAY

South Australia based CH4 Global struck its first commercial sale of asparagopsis to Port Pirie protein producer CirPro - formerly Pirie Meats - in July.

CirPro chief executive Reg Smyth said that while there have been critics about the cost of the supplement, he said it was not prohibitive and would not be borne by meat products alone.

His business includes a feedlot for meat production and a processing facility for making value-added nutraceutical products such as collagen and calcium.

“We don’t see this as a price issue. In the early stages there’s a bit of cost there, but as we develop our full business model it will not be noticeable in the meat price or become a prohibitive aspect. People are looking through a singular lens at what asparagopsis might cost, what they have to look at is the potential of the whole animal,” Mr Smyth said.

Mr Strong said it was only a matter of time before supplement manufacturers developed lick blocks for grazed cattle containing asparagopsis, while a team of researchers from DIT AgTech, Central Queensland University and MLA is developing a drinking water delivery system to circumvent the issue.

But Mr Strong said the target didn’t rest on feed supplements alone.

“I don't think anyone in the industry is putting their eggs into one or two baskets. The Australian government has 10 initiates, asparagopsis is one, Boaver is another, it’s not just asparagopsis … The industry is really motivated. If we are unsuccessful it won’t be because we haven’t thrown everything at it.”