Methane is the most significant greenhouse gas (GHG) produced on ruminant livestock farms, typically forming 50% of total emissions, and therefore a major contributor to the farm’s carbon footprint (CFP). DEFRA has stated that methane-reducing feed products are an essential tool to decarbonise agriculture and they plan to incentivise their uptake.

The feed product SilvAir®, developed by Cargill, can make significant inroads into reducing methane emissions in dairy and beef cattle and it is now recognised as a valuable tool in the drive towards net zero milk production, a part of the company’s holistic approach to methane-emission reduction called Reach4Reduction.

Reach4Reduction is a new platform that pulls together services and tools that can be selected to balance efficient production with reduced methane emissions on individual dairy and beef units. It has three pillars: managing on-farm productivity; optimising health and nutrition; and new innovations.

One of those innovations is SilvAir, which is proven to reduce enteric methane production in cows by 10% with no negative impact on performance. This can result in a reduction of approximately 1kg of CO2 equivalent per cow per day.

SilvAir is included on the Belgium Feed Association’s list of technologies to reduce methane emissions and is, therefore, eligible for a government subsidy for both dairy and beef enterprises. In the Netherlands, Friesland Campina lists SilvAir in its list of options that qualify for financial incentives as part of its Foqus planet sustainability scheme.

In the UK and Ireland, SilvAir is already being used on commercial farms and is registered with Cool Farm Tool and Agrecalc farm carbon calculators. Additionally, widescale industry adoption projects are being planned.

Research into SilvAir has extended to 13 dairy and ten beef trials respectively, all published in peer-reviewed journals. These trials have shown that 100g of SilvAir can replace 40g of feed grade urea or 250g of soyabean meal in diets. Also, 100g of the feed product can replace 60g of limestone. It is safe to use and stable in compound feeds at these rates and has been shown to have no adverse effects on intakes, yield, fertility, milk composition or end product quality.

SilvAir is authorised for use in animal feed under EU and UK regulations.

For more information on how SilvAir can reduce your farm’s emissions visit www.provimi.eu/uk-silvair

Article supplied by Cargill.  The British Cattle Breeders Club would like to thank Cargill for their support of the 2024 BCBC Conference 'Green Genes - Revolutionising cattle breeding for a sustainable future'