The operators of a California creamery discovered they could cut the enteric methane emitted on their farm by over half by supplementing the cattle’s diet with red seaweed.
After munching a healthy portion of Asparagopsis taxiformis, cows at the Straus Family Creamery emitted 52% less methane on average during the testing period than when digesting a seaweed-less diet. A methane reduction amounting to as much as 90% was also measured during the trial.
The creamery fed 24 of its cows about a quarter-pound of red seaweed per day in addition to their typical 45-pound diet for 50 days in August and September. The cattle were tested four times per day in the first-of-its-kind commercial trial using red seaweed on a dairy farm to determine its emissions effect.
INTERIOR SETS UP NEW HURDLE FOR OIL AND GAS LEASING WITH EMISSIONS REVIEW
Over seven weeks, the equivalent of five metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions was averted through a reduction in enteric fermentation — a process that causes cow burps.
“We need to install electric vehicle charging stations throughout the country and replace coal plants with cleaner energy. But the Blue Ocean Barns seaweed solution is ready right now, it goes to work on climate change immediately, and it is economical,” said Joan Salwen, the co-founder and CEO of seaweed supplement maker Blue Ocean Barns, whose products were used in the trial.
Albert Straus, the creamery’s founder, said the seaweed will help him establish a net carbon-neutral farm by 2023.
“This model will demonstrate that dairy farming and animals are one of the essential climate change solutions we need while providing high-quality organic food,” Straus said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Agriculture amounted to some 10% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency, and enteric fermentation was responsible for more than a quarter of those emissions.
