Coles is trialling a new feed supplement that is claimed to greatly reduce methane emissions from beef cattle.
Partnering with Mort & Co Grassdale Feedlot in Queensland, the retailer is assisting in “Australia’s largest” commercial feedlot trial of feed supplement, Bovaer. DSM, the developer of Bovaer, is a partner in the trial, too.
9800 cattle will form part of the trial, and Coles will provide grading data to be analysed. Specialised cattle veterinarians and researchers Bovine Dynamics will produce a research paper outlining the findings of the study to be then published in a scientific peer-reviewed journal.
The cattle will be fed at Mort & Co Grassdale Feedlot and processed at the Teys Australia Beenleigh processing plant.
Coles Chief Executive Commercial & Express Leah Weckert says the trial is one way that Coles is working with suppliers to innovate for better sustainability outcomes.
“When we set out our Together to Zero emissions ambition in our Sustainability Strategy, we knew that working with our supplier partners and stakeholders would be key to achieving this,” she says.
“This trial is going to give us a wealth of data and knowledge to help us understand how we can reduce emissions in one part of our supply chain, while continuing to deliver quality meat to our customers.
“We hope the Bovaer feed supplement trial will open up a new opportunity for emissions reduction, and that it will provide an affordable, commercially viable option to one day be rolled out at scale around the country.”
Mort & Co CEO Stephen O’Brien says his company approached Coles to partner with them in this trial because it believed Bovaer had significant research and science behind it to make it worthy of a trial of this size.
“We’re confident that the final outcome will be a game changer for our industry, providing us with scientifically proven results that will hopefully allow us to roll this out across a larger cohort of cattle and certainly change our environmental footprint,” he says.
“The Australian red meat and livestock industry goal is to be carbon neutral by 2030, and we look forward to working with Coles to lead the way.”
