Tools to help reduce agricultural emissions are in the pipeline but farmers will still need to wait a little longer, AgriZeroNZ chief executive Wayne McNee says.
Speaking on the Federated Farmers Podcast, McNee says the various tools AgriZeroNZ is investing in, ranging from a methane-inhibiting bolus to low-emissions pasture, are underway but not ready yet.
“All of these things are early stage, but some are further ahead than others.
“Some of the technology looks pretty promising and we’re optimistic there’ll be two or three tools farmers will be able to use by 2026/27.”
AgriZeroNZ is a private-public partnership half owned by the New Zealand Government and the other half owned by major agribusiness companies.
With $191 million to invest over its first four years, the partnership aims to deliver tools that work in our pasture-based system without affecting profitability or productivity.
McNee says one of the first products in farmers’ hands could be the low-emissions pasture being developed by ag biotech company BioLumic.
“They treat seeds with ultraviolet light to raise the lipid levels in pastures and other things.
“They’ve done some good work there, and high-lipid pastures should reduce methane per kilo of milksolids.
“There’s still more work to do but that’s one of the ones I see as being available early.”
A methane-inhibiting bolus for ruminant livestock, being developed by Kiwi startup Ruminant BioTech, should also be ready by 2026/27, McNee says.
The bolus sits in the animal’s rumen for up to six months while active ingredients are released slowly, with initial trials showing an up-to-70% reduction for up to six months.
“They’ve still got further research underway here and in Australia, and they’ve still got to get regulatory approval,” McNee says.
“But I think they’re one of the furthest ahead in terms of having it available to some of the market – not necessarily all of it.”
Farmers have for years been hearing that a vaccine is just around the corner, and McNee agrees it’s been a long and complex process.
AgriZeroNZ is trying to push this along by investing in two projects to develop a methane vaccine: the local research which has been underway for more than 15 years, and a US startup ArkeaBio.
“Based on the data we’re seeing at the moment, that ArkeaBio vaccine might be available by 2028. Whether it’ll be available in New Zealand first, that’s a different question.”
The good thing about vaccines is they’re generally cheap to manufacture and relatively easy to use on-farm, with an injection maybe every six months or once a year, he says.
Another potential tool is a probiotic being developed by Hoofprint Biome, which aims to reduce methane emissions by up to 80%.
“They’re just starting their first animal trials, so we’ll know the results of that soon,” McNee says.
“Some of these things work great in the lab but don’t work so well when you put them in the animal, so we’ll find out.”
McNee says AgriZeroNZ’s latest investment is in Agroceutical Products NZ, which is working on a methane inhibitor for cattle from a daffodil extract.
The initial goal is to offer farmers a range of tools that help them meet a 30% reduction, he says.
“We’re not trying to get that 30% methane reduction all in one go. You can try different things and apply them differently.”
Genetics will be one tool in the kit, he says.
For example, LIC and CRV should have a product in the market soon to help dairy farmers breed cows that produce less methane, he says.
“The good thing about genetics is you get that incremental gain over time, and you can add other things on top.
“While some of the products will have a modest effect – genetics is probably about 1% a year of reduction, and the (BioLumic) pasture product might be 10% – farmers should be able to add some of them onto each other because they’re using different ways of affecting the rumen.”
McNee says a big driver for Kiwi farmers to lower emissions is because premium customers, like Tesco, Nestlé and McDonald’s, are demanding it.
“They all have ambitious Scope 3 targets and they are asking New Zealand processors to work with their farmers to reduce emissions.”
If we fail to do so, those premium customers may simply work with farmers in other countries or stop using meat and dairy in their products, he says.
Federated Farmers, New Zealand’s leading independent rural advocacy organisation, has established a news and insights partnership with AgriHQ, the country’s leading rural publisher, to give the farmers of New Zealand a more informed, united and stronger voice. Federated Farmers news and commentary appears each week in its own section of the Farmers Weekly print edition and online.
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