How cow fart pill is saving the planet

The seaweed supplement can slash the methane emissions produced when cows release gas by up to 90 per cent.

CSIRO Towards Net Zero Mission director Michael Battaglia said the FutureFeed pill had just started to go to market with global partners.

The discovery was made almost a decade ago with the help of Meat and Livestock Australia and James Cook University.

“By getting lots of livestock using that we can help them not only reduce their methane but potentially grow faster,” Dr Battaglia said.

“Potentially because the methane they are producing is wasted energy.

“If they can use that to grow they will produce more milk or potentially get to market weight faster.”

If just 10 per cent of global ruminant producers adopted the pill, it would have the same impact as removing 100 million cars from the world‘s roads and could potentially create enough food to feed an additional 23 million people.

Mr Battaglia said Australia’s grain industry was already about the most efficient in the world.

“The work we’ve done with the grain industry has helped us move into the biodiesel market, which is worth about $4bn for Australian farmers,” he said.

The news comes as the CSIRO launches an initial $90m investment into a new initiative that aims to halve the emissions of the steel and agriculture industries by 2035.

FutureFeed was awarded the Food Planet Prize in 2020 for its benefits to the climate and environment and contribution to a new global industry in seaweed farming.