Cattle Emissions Licked with Aussie Seaweed.
Olsson’s, Australia’s oldest family-owned and operated salt and lick block manufacturer, have partnered with Sea Forest to create the world’s first lick block that cuts methane emissions in cattle.
Made with Sea Forest SeaFeed, and Olsson’s wealth of experience in producing nutritional lick blocks, “Low & Grow” is a simple solution for pioneering farmers looking to reduce enteric methane in grazing cattle.
“We’ve been at the forefront of multi-nutrient blocks in Australia since 1949,” said Murray Olsson, operations manager of Olsson Industries. “We’ve always strived to innovate, and we’ve never ignored our responsibility to the environment. So, getting to work with Sea Forest on a globally significant product like this was exciting. We want to make sure the future of farming is secure, in addition to providing better nutrients for livestock. ‘Low & Grow’ is the first lick block supplement of its kind for pasture fed ruminants.”
The key ingredient in “Low & Grow” blocks is SeaFeed, made in Australia and based on Asparagopsis, the native seaweed that Sea Forest farms in Tasmania. SeaFeed contains compounds that overcome the enzymes in the gut that produce methane during the final stages of digestion.
The milestone of fusing SeaFeed with lick blocks was made possible by the MERiL grant program (Methane Emissions Reduction in Livestock), a multimillion-dollar initiative by the Federal Government, under the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
SeaFeed is backed by over 30 peer-reviewed studies showing substantial methane abatement rates.
“Our team has been working with Olsson’s on this project for over two years,” said Professor Rocky de Nys, Chief Scientific Officer at Sea Forest. “We tested many formulations to optimise nutritional supplementation and efficacy in reducing methane. It’s exciting to have this new delivery method for SeaFeed and there’s no better partner than Olsson’s to get it out in paddocks across the country.”
