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By Lucy Craymer
PALMERSTON NORTH, NEW ZEALAND, Oct 11 (Reuters) – More than a dozen calves wait at a research farm in New Zealand to be fed Kowbucha, a punnily named probiotic that studies show reduces burps — or methane emissions.
The regular feeds are part of a series of trials being carried out by New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra FCG.NZ since 2021 to gauge how effective the probiotic is in reducing methane emissions. New Zealand has pledged to cut biogenic methane emissions by 10% on 2017 levels by 2030 and by up to 47% by 2050.
“Probiotics are great because they’re a really natural solution,” Bassett told Reuters. “Whatever we do, it has to be something that’s easy for the farmer to use, has to be cost effective, and we have to ensure that it’s good for the cow and doesn’t have any effect on the milk.”
Fonterra said it did not yet have any pricing information for the sachets.
As well as the early optimism around Kowbucha, AgResearch scientists said in December they had successfully bred low-methane producing sheep, while a product called EcoPond that almost eradicates methane in farm sewage has been on sale since late 2021.
“The easiest way to reduce emissions is to reduce production or have less animals basically, so that’s a real challenge when we’re trying to also produce food and keep our export returns at the level that we want them,” said ANZ agricultural economist Susan Kilsby.
While pricing farm emissions is not universally popular, many believe it is the push farmers need to reduce them.
Mike Manning, general manager of innovation and strategy at agricultural cooperative Ravensdown, said farmers have been slow to adopt its EcoPond technology without financial incentives.
The system cuts up to 99% of the methane emitted from the manure-sludge left behind in a dairy shed after milking.
“People go ‘well, I might wait until I have a price of methane then I have a financial driver’,” Manning added.
New Zealand’s government said in May it would spend NZ$380 million ($213.22 million) on research over four years to counter agricultural emissions.
A lot of research is already under way.
If such breeding were to be carried out on a national level, it could reduce New Zealand’s methane emissions by up to 1%, said AgResearch.
For Fonterra, research also remains key as it aims to cap farm emissions at 2015 levels. In addition to Kowbucha, it is also trialling other feed additives and seaweed.
“It’s definitely important for us to be leading in this space. Our farmers need a solution and New Zealand needs a solution,” said Bassett.
($1 = 1.7822 New Zealand dollars)
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
((Lucy.Craymer@thomsonreuters.com;))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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