Woolworths Group, Sea Forest, DIT AgTech and Teys Australia have entered a multi year collaboration to trial Sea Forest’s SeaFeed supplement in Australian grass fed cattle.
The initiative aims to reduce methane emissions while assessing potential productivity outcomes across the beef value chain.
SeaFeed is a feed supplement developed using Asparagopsis with demonstrated potential to reduce enteric methane emissions.
uDOSE is DIT AgTech’s water-based dosing technology designed for grazing environments to ensure consistent intake of supplements and feed additives at scale.
Under a formal agreement, the partners will run a commercial scale trial at a cattle property in New South Wales. The trial will test both water delivered and dry lick formulations of SeaFeed, with the water delivered option administered using DIT AgTech’s uDOSE dosing technology.
“Working closely with our partners, our customers trust us to bring the very best fresh Australian beef into our stores and onto their dinner plates every day,” said director, Woolworths meat, Justin Nolan.
“This is an exciting industry initiative, and we’re investing in real innovation to prove out a scalable, science-based and commercially viable solution that can help lower supply chain emissions while delivering productivity benefits for producers.”
The trial is supported by investment from all four organisations. Results will be independently verified against recognised standards to assess environmental and production outcomes.
SeaFeed, which is derived from the seaweed Asparagopsis, has shown methane reduction potential of up to 80 per cent in peer reviewed studies and is already used by Teys Australia. This trial will also examine whether the supplement delivers productivity outcomes for grass fed producers, including weight gain and feed efficiency.
The partners are working together to validate the approach and support broader industry adoption. Teys Australia will provide processing and supply chain expertise, while DIT AgTech and Sea Forest will manage dosing technology and supplement supply.
“With SeaFeed we’re replicating and harnessing the bioactives in Asparagopsis to deliver measurable methane reductions in real-world conditions,” said founder and chief executive officer, Sea Forest, Sam Elsom.
“Partnering on this grass-fed trial helps validate animal performance outcomes delivered in addition to the established emissions reduction and supports the scalable adoption of a science-based solution for producers and retailers.”
The collaboration brings together participants from retail, processing, agricultural technology and feed innovation. The partners have committed to sharing learnings from the trial with the wider industry as it progresses.
“This partnership is about proving, at commercial scale, that lowering methane in grass-fed systems can go hand-in-hand with productivity with independent verification and best-practice animal welfare across the value chain,” said chief operating officer, Teys Australia, Charlie Hollingworth.