It is not only New Zealand dairy farmers looking at ways to reduce on-farm emissions as US dairy producers turn to technology and economic incentives for methane reduction.
The advances are paving the way for the country’s dairy farmers to make meaningful progress in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the sector, according to a new Rabobank report.
Within the report, called A Reduced-Methane Future for Dairy: Meaningful Progress That’s Economically Sustainable, it cited manure and ruminant emissions from belching as the two main sources of emissions from dairy cattle.
Manure can be mitigated using anaerobic digesters that capture the biogas from manure pits or lagoons.
“The relatively recent ability to clean and upgrade the emissions captured in these digesters and turn it into biogas or renewable natural gas is driving a boom in investment and development,” the report says.
“The primary economic incentive for these projects is the value of the low-carbon fuel standard credits that are generated by virtue of the renewable nature of the fuel.”
Cow belches, the report says, can be reduced through feed additives and supplements that impact the digestion process with the cow.
Methane makes up nearly 10% of GHG emissions in the US and agriculture accounts for nearly 40% of total methane emissions in the US.
According to the report, methane digester technology is well established and continues to evolve and improve, while feed additives to reduce enteric emissions are quickly developing, and progress is being made towards regulatory approval and scalability.
Anaerobic digesters have been in existence for two decades on US farms, generating heat and electricity.
However, developments allowing this technology to further clean the biogas captured by the digester and turn it into renewable natural gas was driving their expansion.
The report says US dairy brands are in a good position to reduce emissions within their supply chains through methane digesters, feed additives or both.
Milk could also get premiums where methane reductions are achieved to meet carbon reductions and to incentivise and pay for on-farm adoption of these practices.
However, eventually farms that choose not to implement GHG-reducing technologies where possible, may have trouble finding a favourable market for milk.
Rabobank head of sustainable business development Blake Holgate says while the US and NZ dairy industries have different regulatory policies, available incentives and infrastructure, it showed there was common ground as both had farmers looking at ways to reduce GHG emissions in an economically sustainable way.
Holgate says while the developments related to anaerobic digesters had minimal relevance to NZ because of the lack of market incentives in the US, developments related to feed additives were of more significance.
“The active ingredients in these feed additives that aim to reduce enteric methane emissions range from synthetics to seaweed, garlic and lemongrass, and trials are showing some promise,” Holgate says.
“For example, trials of the 3-Nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP) synthetic supplement developed by Dutch company Royal DSM, (marketed under Bovaer) are showing emissions can be reduced by up to 25%.
“3-NOP is expected to be approved for use in the EU in 2021 and is currently going through early investigational studies in the US.”
The success of the Bovaer trials had caught Fonterra’s eye and in January it announced it was teaming up with Royal DSM and will be trialling the product in New Zealand.
