Twiggy Forrest backs methane-busting cattle feed — but the economics don’t quite add up yet
Red seaweed-based feed additives may cut livestock methane, but concerns persist about their economic viability and effect on animal health.
Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest, Woolworths and GrainCorp were quick to embrace a novel feed supplement that promises to reduce methane emissions from livestock by up to 90%. But questions linger about its impact on animal health and whether the economics will stack up for widespread adoption.
In 2016, CSIRO researchers discovered that asparagopsis, a red seaweed containing bromoform, suppresses enzymes that produce methane in the final stage of the animal digestion process. By 2020, Forrest and the two companies had bought into FutureFeed, a CSIRO spin-out venture that licensed eight producers, including CH4 Global, Sea Forest, and SeaStock.
Methane is 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of its global warming potential. Emissions from ruminant animals such as cows, goat, and sheep are the largest anthropogenic source of methane, estimated to account for up to 10% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
Asparagopsis is one of several experimental substances used to inhibit methane production when fed in tiny doses to livestock. Another is 3-NOP, commercially branded as Bovaer, which received Food and Drug Administration approval in the US in April and is currently being trialled on dairy cows in the Netherlands and the UK, with claims of a 30% reduction in methane emissions. Agolin, a blend of essential oils, reportedly reduces methane emissions by a more modest 10%.
