(AU ABC) Victoria's First Seaweed Farm Aims To Reduce Livestock Emissions

ABC Rural - Peter Somerville

Asparagopsis armata seaweed harvested from the ocean off Queenscliff.(ABC News: Patrick Rocca)

Key Points In a Victorian first, seaweed is being commercially farmed in Port Phillip The Asparagopsis armata will be fed to cattle to reduce methane emissions Eating just 50 grams per day can reduce emissions and help cattle gain weight faster

In a Victorian-first, seaweed is being farmed to one day reduce methane emissions in cows.

The numbers are impressive.

Feeding a small ration can reduce a cow's methane emissions by 98 per cent.

It is a natural product that is readily available, and it could even help the cattle gain weight faster.

Asparagopsis armata is being farmed in Port Phillip, right on Melbourne's doorstep.

Scientists are working on other uses for the seaweed, but it is the livestock application that is being targeted in Victoria for the time being.

A recent study found that including Asparagopsis in a steer's feedlot ration at a rate of 0.20 per cent of organic matter could reduce its methane emissions by up to 98 per cent.

Seaweed growing on the ocean floor off Queenscliff, viewed through a bathyscope. (ABC Rural: Peter Somerville)

 "We see globally and particularly here in Australia that the use of Asparagopsis as a livestock supplement is a very advanced field," Immersion Group director Scott Elliott said.

"We have a representative body called Future Feed who is  working hand in hand with industry in order to get this into the guts of animals and to reduce methane."

Mr Elliott said other beneficial uses, particularly in human applications, still required many years of research.

An exciting time for Victorian industry
        

Dr Prue Francis, from Deakin University, is excited about the future of seaweed farming in Victoria.(ABC Rural: Peter Somerville)

Researchers note a particular focus on Asparagopsis armata. However, it is not the only species that could have beneficial uses.

Dr Prue Francis, a senior marine science lecturer at Deakin University, said seaweeds could one day also be used in the medicine, beauty and food industries.

"For me, it's really exciting to see what might become, particularly in Victoria," Dr Francis said.

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"There's a lot of great sites along the Victorian coastline.

"In fact, we've got a seaweed biodiversity hotspot along the Victorian coastline.

"So, we're really primed to explore what seaweed spaces we've got to farm and do it at a large scale and look after our food security.

"Seaweed and seaweed farming could potentially meet that food security challenge that we're seeing now in Australia."

Crucial to livestock industry targets Australia's red meat carbon neutral by 2030. The industry has invested in seaweed and has claimed it as a success story. 

Henry Cole seeds Asparagopsis in Port Phillip. It will eventually grow and become a livestock feed additive. (ABC Rural: Peter Somerville)

"It demonstrates that we can actually solve the problem," Meat and Livestock Australia managing director Jason Strong said.

"That we can invest in and discover or find and invent technologies that get us down the path of being carbon neutral by 2030.

This Asparagopsis armata harvested from Port Phillip could one day help reduce the emissions of Australian cattle. (ABC Rural: Peter Somerville)

"It works, and we're not that far off it becoming commercially viable at all," he said.

"There's a number of companies growing and producing the supplement now, initially as a freeze tried product. it's able to be used now, and we expect those companies growing it will have a product in the market very soon."

New challenges Dr Francis said figuring out how to cultivate seaweeds can be challenging.

"Taking it up to farm at a large scale requires research and development trials, so we're certainly getting there. Hopefully, into the future, with more research and more trials, we'll see our knowledge improve further."

Scott Elliot and Henry Cole hope to one day produce commercial quantities of Asparagopsis armata. (ABC Rural: Peter Somerville)

Henry Cole, a diver and offshore operations manager with Immersion Group said they were actually propagating seaweed from the sea floor to their lines.

"Basically, we're just giving it the assistance it needs and structure for it to grow,"  Mr Cole said.

Mr Elliott said there had been false starts along the way, with a lot learned about seaweed production. 

"We're at a stage where our research and development is done," Mr Elliott said.

Links

• Is seaweed the key to reducing methane in burping cattle and sheep, or an over-hyped risky investment?
• Can red seaweed lead to greener climate pastures? Science award finalists think so
• Could seaweed forests help turn the tide in the fight against climate change?
• The remarkable power of Australian kelp - BBC Future
• Can Farming Seaweed Put the Brakes on Climate Change?
• Fighting Climate Change By Farming Kelp - NPR
• From fake meat to cow burps: 5 ways to use seaweed to tackle climate change