Forget fair-trade coffee beans and cows' milk substitutes, low-emission lattes could be the next big thing to land at your local cafe.
A new study has paved the way for the dairy industry to dramatically slash its methane emissions by feeding cattle with an unlikely additive – a native red seaweed called asparagopsis armata.
While the study provides a clear opportunity for dairy farmers to reduce their carbon footprints, it may also kickstart a profitable new "low emissions" marketing avenue for the industry.
Published in the March edition of the international journal Animal Feed Science and Technology, the study found that pouring seaweed-infused canola oil over feedlots slashed their methane emissions without impacting the quality or quantity of milk produced.
Dr Rob Kinley, chief scientist for FutureFeed – a CSIRO offshoot that holds the intellectual property rights to asparagopsis as a feed additive – said the findings were a "game changer".
"From a regulatory perspective, this study is the first of its kind using this product in the dairy industry," Dr Kinley said.
"It will allow for the sale and use of this product in dairy systems and dairy feeding markets, so that's a first step on the road map to bringing this product to large-scale availability.
"The methane emission reduction is a huge opportunity for the dairy industry."
The asparagopsis seaweed reduces methane emitted from cows because it is rich in bromoform, which inhibits the production of methane in hoofed livestock such as cows, sheep and goats.
Seaweed additive could help cut greenhouse emissions
Multiple studies conducted over the past decade have shown asparagopsis as a feed additive in cattle is capable of cutting methane production by 80 to 98 per cent.
Agriculture is responsible for about a fifth of Victoria's greenhouse emissions, with about 70 per cent of agricultural emissions coming from the methane released by burping livestock.
If the state's agricultural emissions caused by burping livestock were slashed by 80 per cent, it would amount to about nine million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions – about the same as taking 2 million cars off the road.
Immersion Group is the only Victorian company licensed by FutureFeed to farm and sell asparagopsis, which it does in the waters of Portarlington, on Port Phillip Bay near Geelong.
The company's chief executive Scott Elliott said years of setting up the business paid off in 2022 when it achieved its first commercial offshore harvest and attracted a series of high net-worth investors – including some from the mining industry.
Mr Elliot said only a small amount of the seaweed, added to cattle feed, was needed to have an impact.
It is either freeze-dried and sprinkled over the feed or soaked in canola oil which is then poured over the feed.
"We're talking as little as 60 grams of this amazing red seaweed, that when it's applied to a dairy cow, to a steer in a feedlot, it can eliminate upwards of 80, but in some studies 98 per cent of all methane that's produced enterically [in the stomach]," Mr Elliot said.
"The burps stop, the methane stops, and hopefully, climate change with it."
Farmers are starting to trial the red seaweed
Despite the Animal Feed Science and Technology study only having been published recently, some farmers are already launching trials of the asparagopsis product.
Apostle Whey Cheese farmer Luke Benson, who is undertaking a 28-day trial with 10 of his dairy cows, said trying to cut down on emissions was a simple matter of keeping with the times.
"We need to look into the future of farming, and with carbon emissions and the environment, we need to be proactive," Mr Benson said.
"The less of the carbon footprint we have, the more sustainable we'll be into the future.
"If we keep farming the way we are, it might not necessarily be sustainable into the future. So, like every industry, we have to keep ahead of the times and look to the future."
Businesses, including major supermarkets and fast food chains, are already selling "low emissions"-branded products in a marketing move aiming to attract customers concerned with their own carbon footprints.
And while asparagopsis trials are only just starting in the dairy industry, a similar branding exercise is expected to soon follow.
