Tasmanian farmer takes part in Fonterra seaweed trial to reduce herd emissions
A Tasmanian farmer is putting a new-age seafood fodder diet to the test, in order to reduce his dairy herd’s methane emissions.
TO paraphrase a well-worn joke — cattle have always been on a ‘see-food diet’ — when they see food, they eat it.
But a seaweed diet? One Tasmanian farmer is putting it to the test, all in the name of methane emissions reduction.
Research conducted in recent years by the CSIRO, James Cook University as well as Meat and Livestock Australia has identified asparagopsis seaweed as an effective feed supplement to reduce emissions.
Tasmanian farmer Richard Gardner is conducting a large scale trial of asparagopsis seaweed, co-ordinated by Fonterra and Sydney-based business Sea Forest.
Mr Gardner operates a dairy farm at Tunbridge, 100 kilometres north of Hobart.
His farm was chosen because Tasmania has a suitable climate to grow asparagopsis seaweed and has a long-established flexible feeding and milking system.
“We have done lot of work on carbon auditing and found that our farm business is a significant emitter of greenhouse gases, particularly methane from livestock,” Mr Gardner said.
“Asparagopsis seaweed looks like the first viable option we have had to achieve major emission reductions, and it could potentially be a big part of the future sustainability of our industry.”
Research trials have suggested that when asparagopsis is fed to livestock in small amounts, it not only reduces methane emissions but may also support production.
As part of the trial, Fonterra will monitor milk production and quality to see if milk output is boosted.
“The dairy and livestock industries have got some challenges to address in terms of climate change and we want to make sure we’re doing our bit,” Fonterra sustainability manager Jack Holden said.
“Collectively we must continue to address climate change and find ways to manage and mitigate animal emissions, and this trial is just one of several initiatives Fonterra has underway to do this.”
Testing led by CSIRO has shown that asparagopsis has the potential to reduce the emissions from livestock by more than 80 per cent.
Farmers only need a small, but regular, amount of this seaweed in their cow feed to significantly reduce a cow’s methane emissions.
Sea Forest founder Sam Elsom said his company’s seaweed supplement paves the way “for the introduction of the first climate-positive meat and dairy products.”
“We’re the first company in the world to cultivate asparagopsis seaweed at scale, and we’re growing this in Triabunna on Tasmania’s east coast, so it’s great to be able to partner with Fonterra locally here,” he said.
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