A large-scale commercial trial has been launched in Australia to test methane reduction in grass-fed cattle. Led by industry partners, the project will evaluate Sea Forest’s seaweed-based SeaFeed supplement under real grazing conditions.
Australia’s largest retailer, Woolworths, has partnered with Sea Forest and industry collaborators to launch a multi-year, commercial-scale trial aimed at reducing methane emissions and improving productivity in grass-fed cattle. The project will exclusively use Sea Forest’s, SeaFeed, using water delivery technology developed by Direct Injection Technologies and is supported by major Australian beef processor, Teys Australia.
While cattle being fed grain fed diets are relatively easy to manage with methane-inhibiting feed additives, finding effective and reliable ways to deliver emissions reduction to cattle during the earlier stages of their life on grass has always been a bigger challenge. The shared ambition of the initiative is to significantly reduce methane emissions and unlock additional productivity across the beef value chain and support the broad adoption of SeaFeed by the Australian beef industry.
The partners will conduct a commercial-scale trial at a cattle property in New South Wales, testing both water-delivered and dry-lick formulations of SeaFeed, with the water-delivered formulation administered via DIT dosing technology.
“Partnering in the grassfed trial would help validate animal performance outcomes delivered in addition to the established emissions reduction and supports the scalable adoption of a science-based solution for producers and retailers,” said Sam Elsom, Sea Forest Founder and Chief Executive.
Backed by investment from all four partners, the trial reflects their strong belief in the potential of innovation in science to deliver material environmental and commercial benefits, Woolworths said in a statement.
Justin Nolan, Woolworths Meat Division Director, expressed: “The project was an exciting industry initiative, and represented investment in real innovation to prove out a scalable, science-based and commercially viable solution that can help lower supply chain emissions while delivering productivity benefits for producers.”
As the processing partner, Teys Australia will provide supply-chain expertise to support commercial uptake, while DIT AgTech and Sea Forest will manage dosing technology and supplement supply.
Charlie Hollingworth, Teys Australia Chief Operating Officer, noted: “The partnership was about proving, at commercial scale, that lowering methane in grassfed systems can go hand-in-hand with productivity – with independent verification and best-practice animal welfare across the value chain.”
DIT AgTech CEO Mark Peart said his company’s uDOSE water-delivery platform was built for extensive grazing systems, ensuring consistent intake and enabling independently verified methane abatement.
Importantly, the partners are also committed to sharing key learnings and outcomes with the broader industry as the program progresses.
