CANBERRA: A small dairy in Tasmania is stocking supermarket shelves with what it says is the world’s first branded milk produced by cows fed with a seaweed that makes them emit lower levels of environmentally damaging methane gas.

The livestock industry accounts for around 30 percent of global methane emissions, according to the United Nations. Seaweed and other feed additives for cattle could reduce these greenhouse gas emissions but have yet to be widely adopted due to cost.

Since February, family-owned Tasmanian dairy producer Ashgrove has been feeding around 500 cows — a fifth of its total — an oil containing a seaweed extract that reduces the methane released by a cow’s digestion, said co-owner Richard Bennett.

The cows produce around 10,000 litres of milk a day, a portion of which is bottled as “Eco-Milk” and sold across Tasmania including at Woolworths, Australia’s largest supermarket chain.

“We’re getting about 25pc reduction in methane,” Bennett said. Eco-Milk is a test of whether consumers will pay extra for dairy products that have a lower environmental impact.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2024