Arla has joined forces with Morrisons, Tesco and Aldi to tackle methane emissions.
The first of its kind joint initiative will see a collective effort to trial the use of Bovaer, a feed additive that reduces enteric methane emissions from cows on average by 27%.
As part of its FarmAhead Customer Partnership initiative, Arla will work alongside retail partners to highlight how feed additives can be introduced to normal feeding routines.
The project will also involve around 30 of Arla’s farmer owners and aims to provide a better understanding of how these feed additives can be rolled out across a larger group of farmers.
“We know that reducing methane is a big opportunity when it comes to improving our carbon footprint at farm level and feed additives like Bovaer have huge potential in helping us tackle this issue,” said Paul Dover, UK agricultural director at Arla Foods. “Bringing partners together from across the food and grocery industry in this kind of initiative highlights the support there is for British farmers in transitioning to more sustainable farming methods.”
Arla’s Bovaer trial will provide a more practical understanding of how to scale the use of feed additives, how it impacts on farm operations and the opportunity to work more collaboratively with the feed industry.
“We are extremely excited about this new collective way of working alongside our retail partners and the possibilities that feed additives, such as this one, present,” Dover added. “However, rolling them out at scale will not be easy due to the cost involved, so it’s important we understand more about their usage potential and then work together with the industry, government and our partners to support farmers if we want to harness the opportunity they present in driving down emissions.”
The retailers made a joint statement on the trial and said it gave “the ability to address some of the climate challenges facing our food system”.
“It is this collective approach that is really going to make a difference,” the statement went on. “Being involved in using a feed additive is a great way of testing out where we can drive change at scale to bring down emissions.”
“Working on initiatives that help reduce our impact on the environment is something that I am extremely passionate about,” said Arla farmer owner and one of those involved in the trial, Andrew Barraclough. “We know that feed additives have a lot of potential in helping us to reduce emissions, but they can be expensive, which adds to the overall cost in producing milk. Farmers are trying to accelerate the transition to more sustainable dairy farming, but we can’t do it alone.
“It’s why collective initiatives like this between Arla and its customers are so important for farmers – we need the wider industry to come together and support us if we are going to drive change.”
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