UK dairy farmers are being offered a free methane-reducing feed supplement for six months if they share farm data.
Agri-tech company Mootral, which is a joint Anglo-Swiss venture, wants to use the data to show how the product can help reduce emissions produced by cattle and lower the carbon footprint of milk.
The programme is open to non-organic British dairy farmers with over 150 lactating cows and there is a survey to be completed before the end end of the year to verify eligibility.
In return for a free six-month supply of the supplement, farmers will provide food, milk production and health data, which Mootral will use anonymously to validate the benefits of its product.
Mootral aims to feed 5,000 cows in the UK with its supplement over the next 12 months.
The product is already being trialled by the Towers family at Brades Farm in Lancashire, who have reduced methane emissions from enteric fermentation by 30 per cent.
Its herd of Holstein Friesian and Jersey cows have been fed the pellet made from garlic and citrus fruits since 2018.
The pellet reduces the ability of the cow’s stomach to produce methane by disrupting enzymes in the gut and can be added to the total missed ration or distributed to the milking parlour.
LSL News.