To address the climate crisis, the conversation must go beyond carbon. Methane (CH4) is the second most abundant greenhouse gas (GHG) after carbon dioxide (CO2). It is shorter lived, but is 28 times more potent than CO2

The US and Canada alone have 105 million cows that emit 4% of GHGs.

Carbon emissions from an average passenger vehicle, are equivalent to two belching cows, in a 12 month period.

Governments and industry are searching for a solution, with significant pent up demand, not just for GHG reduction but also for feedstock diversification and price stability as climate change affects the predictability of growing food and feed on land.

Studies have indicated that seaweed, as a natural solution, can produce four wins:

       ✓  Reduce methane emissions

       ✓  Improve feed conversion, decreasing land requirements for feed

       ✓  Improve animal health

       ✓  Diversify feedstock production of a climate-resilient, climate negative crop

With funding from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), we are establishing a scientific process to identify the compounds in seaweeds that could be used as feed.

Processing seaweed for the agrifeed trials began on July 22, in Comox on Vancouver Island. The team, led by Dr. Spencer Serin, the Principal Investigator of the agriscience project, dried 6 tonnes of previously frozen sugar kelp. The processed material was shipped to Bakerview EcoDairy in Abbotsford, B.C., where over the next 6 months, our research team will evaluate the effectiveness of our cultivated seaweed as a feed supplement.