Bolus offers methane mitigation
Waikato-based company Ruminant BioTech’s aims to develop a commercially viable bolus to reduce ruminant animal methane emissions has received a $7.8 million injection from the government.
Announced at Fieldays in November, the funding for Ruminant BioTech’s CALM (Cut Agricultural Livestock Methane) programme, will be matched by the company’s investors.
Ruminant BioTech Chief Executive George Reeves said the bolus has the potential to provide every dairy, sheep, and beef farmer in New Zealand with an effective, easy, “set and forget” methane reduction solution that is both highly effective and practical for grass-fed animal farming operations.
“Our slow-release bolus delivers a methane inhibitor at the site of methane production, in the rumen. Preliminary trials achieved 90% methane emissions reduction over 80 days. While these initial results were extremely positive, our goal is to develop a bolus that achieves 70% methane mitigation over six months.
“The aim is for our bolus solution to be suited to every ruminant animal, on every New Zealand farm. There is no other solution currently available anywhere in the world like it. It’s a real game-changer.”
To date, the company’s focus has been on delivering a large cattle bolus for cattle weighing over 300kg.
“Government funding will allow us to accelerate development of our current bolus for large cattle, while also developing bolus solutions for smaller cattle and sheep,” George says.
The company’s research and development programme will focus on fine-tuning the product technology over the next three years, including robust testing to ensure the solution is safe for animals and does not impact on the quality or safety of the food they produce.
Ruminant BioTech’s research team will work closely with farmers, supply chain partners and industry bodies as it furthers product development. If the bolus is broadly adopted, it will have a significant effect in reducing NZ’s net greenhouse gas emissions and help enable the country to achieve its 2030 emissions reduction targets.
The company’s solution is tribromomethane, a naturally occurring organic compound proven to be powerful and highly effective in reducing the amount of methane produced by ruminants. The compound is synthesised to ensure reliable, high-quality and pure supply. The company’s team of scientists has found a way to deliver a controlled release of the active ingredient over a sustained period of time.
The delivery system is a bolus (a capsule designed to sit in the largest stomach of a ruminant animal), which releases a constant, and consistent, dose of active ingredient. This means there are no peaks and troughs in efficacy; the production of methane is constantly suppressed.
The company’s partners are: DairyNZ, Waikato University, EPS Medical, Cognosco and EpiVets. Its funders are Ministry for Primary Industries, AgMardt, NZ Greenhouse Gas Research Centre and its industry collaborators are Grasslands, Beef + Lamb NZ and Fonterra.
