Emissions down, weight gain up with world-first delivery of Bovaer
22 May 2024
A world-first system to deliver Bovaer to backgrounding cattle has shown how the feed additive can reduce methane emissions and increase daily weight gains.
The MLA-supported trial run the University of Queensland used a pellet system to deliver Bovaer to 150 cattle, supplied by the North Australia Pastoral Co.
They were split into three groups – the control group was grazing only, and the other two groups were grazing and also received either an energy pellet or an energy pellet containing Bovaer. Their methane emissions were measured using a GreenFeed system.
The trial showed that in a typical backgrounding period, animals given Bovaer pellets would reach their target weight 28 days faster than energy pellets alone and 54 days faster compared with grazing only. This would amount to a reduction of 340kg of CO2 equivalent per head.
The economics stack up, with the cost of using the additive more than paid-for in the value of methane reductions (based on Australian carbon credit units) and productivity (weight gain) improvements.
