Asparagopsis and RIC, page-3

Today's AFR.


Super seaweed is cattle industry game-changer, GrainCorp boss says

GrainCorp chief executive Robert Spurway says the company’s new joint venture can go a long way towards making cattle industry critics eat their words.

Mr Spurway said a seaweed-based feed additive developed by the CSIRO was a likely game-changer for beef and dairy producers around the world under siege over greenhouse gas emissions.GrainCorp confirmed it was poised to become one of the partners in Future Feeds alongside billionaire Andrew Forrest, supermarket giant Woolworths and a combined AGP Group and Sparklabs Cultiv8 entity.

The heavyweight backing, revealed exclusively by The Australian Financial Review on Sunday, comes after a stampede of interest from investors seeking to buy into the start-up.In the end, the CSIRO allowed Dr Forrest, GrainCorp, Woolworths and AGP-Sparklabs Cultiv8 to buy stakes of about 20 per cent each in Future Feeds for $2.75 million based on their complementary expertise and ability to grow the business.

Future Feeds is the investment vehicle set up by the science and research agency to commercialise a seaweed product found to dramatically cut methane emissions from cattle while improving their growth rates.Although the ink is not yet dry on the investment deal, Mr Spurway said GrainCorp looked forward to bringing its expertise in livestock feed development and animal nutrition to the table.

‘‘What is really exciting for me is that we are with a group of like-minded partners that bring capability and expertise and, in particular, the capability of the world-class scientific expertise from the CSIRO,’’ he said.

‘‘That gives us great confidence about the seaweed product and that it will be a game-changing innovation for the global livestock industry.

’’GrainCorp, the leading east coast accumulator of grain with a vast supply chain across Queensland, NSW and Victoria, is a major supplier to cattle feedlots and dairies.

It is expected to play a central role in distributing the seaweed product in livestock feed, with end users set to pay a royalty to Future Feed.

The product is made from a red seaweed called asparagopsis and only required in small amounts, less than 1 per cent of the total feed in CSIRO trials, to virtually cancel out methane emissions in the form of burps and farts.

The seaweed additive has been shown to work on cattle in feedlots and dairies, which would apply to about 2.6 million head in Australia.

A recent 100-day trial also showed cattle with the seaweed added into their feed grew 20 per cent faster on average than those not given the additive.

And separate research on dairy cattle by Penn State University in the US found methane emissions were cut by 80 per cent with no loss in milk production when asparagopsis was added as 0.5 per cent of total feed.

Mr Spurway, the former head of global operations at dairy giant Fonterra, said the product appeared to have dual benefits for the cattle industry.

‘‘What’s exciting about this innovation is that it has potential to improve productivity and significantly reduce methane emissions,’’ he said.

‘‘The details of where this goes to are yet to be worked out but the purpose of the business is to commercialise use of the seaweed extract in feed. We expect it to become an integral part of feed supply systems over time.’’

Dr Forrest’s private agribusiness, Harvest Road, is set to use the additive at an $80 million feedlot it is building near Moora in Western Australia.

Harvest Road already supplies Woolworths, which as a leading beef retailer could soon start marketing its product as carbon-free.

Harvest Road could also move to grow asparagopsis by acquiring one of the seaweed-farming ventures that have emerged in expectation of heavy demand for the feed additive.

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Ash here.

RIC will be all over this innovation, of course. The cattle industry will be more interested in the +20% animal growth than eliminating burps and farts.

RIC could simply buy aparagopsis to add to its cattle feed or involve itself in upstream developments.

Mauombo's point above is well made: don't be distracted from Novacq. I am surprised we have had no news on RICs prawn feed. The silence is deafening.

Ash