Supermarket giant Tesco is backing a new four month methane-reducing feed supplement trial with a major dairy supplier in the UK.
One of its key competitors, Morrisons, is also supporting the introduction of a seaweed-based livestock feed to help “fast-track lower carbon beef products”.
Agriculture in the UK currently accounts for 10% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions and both Tesco and Morrisons have set ambitious targets to reduce agriculture emissions from its farmer suppliers .
The new Tesco trial will see Grosvenor Farms, one of the original members of the Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group (TSDG), add the supplement Bovaer to the diet of 400 cows.
Grosvenor Farms based in Cheshire is not typical of the average family farm in the UK, it is owned by the Duke of Westminster, who is one of the richest people in the UK.
The commercial farm produces an estimated 32 million litres of milk a year and has an ambition to be “the UK’s leading producer of sustainable milk and cereal grains”.
Methane
Research suggests that the feed supplement Bovaer has been shown to reduce methane emissions by up to 30%.
According to Tesco if the feed supplement was introduced across the whole of Grosvenor Farms dairy operations, it could lead to an overall reduction in farm greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of up to 12%.
The supermarket group has confirmed that if the four-month trial is successful, it intends to “scale up” the use of Bovaer across the TSDG in a bid to reduce emissions.
The group, which is now in its 17th year, includes more than 400 British dairy farmers who are paid on a cost of production+ model for the fresh milk they supply to Tesco.
According to the supermarket group it paid “£40 million above market price over the 2023 calendar year” to its TSDG farmers.
Natalie Smith, head of sustainable agriculture and fisheries at Tesco, said that “leading the transition to a low carbon agriculture sector” is something that the supermarket group is “really passionate about.
According to Mark Roach, managing director, Grosvenor Farms, it already has one of the lowest carbon footprints for milk production in the UK but it believes that commercial and environmental sustainability is “mutually reinforcing”
Roach said that it is pleased to be trialing Bovaer with Tesco “in order to develop a lower-carbon milk supply chain and in doing so support our ambition to be a carbon net zero milk producer by 2030.”
Morrisons
Meanwhile Morrisons is partnering with the Australian environmental technology company, Sea Forest, in a project that aims to reduce GHG emissions from beef cattle.
Sea Forest will work with Myton Food Group, Morrisons’ manufacturing arm, to supply the business with its seaweed-based, livestock methane abating feed, SeaFeed.
According to Sea Forest the compounds contained in its SeaFeed, occur naturally in a native Australian seaweed and “inhibit the bacteria that produce methane in the complex stomachs of cows, sheep and goats”.
Morrisons has outlined that the approval for the process “is being worked through”, but if successful customers should see lower carbon beef products – such as mince, burgers, steaks and joints – on the shelf in Morrisons by 2026.
Sophie Throup, technical and sustainability director at Myton Food Group for Morrisons, said: “As British farming’s biggest direct customer, we are well placed to support the farmers we work with and help them farm more sustainably.
“This partnership supports our ambition to have net zero agriculture emissions by 2030”.
Throup added that once the trial phase is complete and it has approvals in place, the supermarket group can “develop our lower carbon beef products and help support the drive to lower emissions from cattle.”
Morrisons has also highlighted that the new partnership with Sea Forest is the latest step in a research programme it established with Queen’s University, Belfast, that is looking at the use of seaweed to help reduce methane production in cattle.
Professor Sharon Huws, director of research, Queen’s University Belfast, School of Biological Sciences and Institute for Global Food Security (IGF), said: “We are delighted to be working closely with Morrisons and Sea Forest to provide the scientific evidence underpinning the journey towards net zero in the Morrisons beef chain.
“Innovation is at the centre of the IGFS ethos, and this collaboration is an important example of how our research translates into impact for the sector, and indeed for the health of our planet”.
