Mitigating Methane Emissions in Grazing Beef Cattle with a Seaweed-based Feed Additive: Implications for Climate-smart Agriculture

The ruminant livestock sector considerably contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions. This study investigates the effectiveness of pelleted bromoform-containing seaweed () (Brominata) as an enteric methane (CH) inhibitor in grazing beef cattle. The primary objective was to assess the impact of this antimethanogenic additive on enteric CH emissions under real-world farm conditions. Twenty-four beef steers, crossbreeds of Wagyu and Angus, with an average liveweight of 399 ± 21.7 kg, were allocated to two treatment groups: Control and Brominata. These animals underwent regular weigh-ins every 14 d, and measurements of CH, carbon dioxide (CO), and hydrogen (H) emissions were conducted using the GreenFeed system. Statistical analysis was conducted using SAS 9.4, wherein the model incorporated fixed effects for treatment, time, their interaction, and a covariate, while accounting for animal variations as a random effect within each phase. Three phases of bromoform intake were identified: a 3-wk ramp-up phase, a 3-wk optimal phase, and a 2-wk decreasing phase. No differences were observed between the weekly initial and final liveweight, average daily gain, and predicted dry matter intake. During optimal and decreasing phases, average enteric CH emissions were significantly reduced in steers that received Brominata supplementation compared to those without supplementation (115 vs. 185 g/d, respectively). Additionally, both groups had similar CO emissions (6.8 vs. 7.2 kg/d), while H emissions were lower in the control group (3.4 vs. 1.8 g/d). The findings suggest that pelleted bromoform-containing feed additive has the potential to reduce enteric CH emissions from grazing beef cattle.