UNH researchers found a lot of interest among dairy farmers in Maine t supplementing feed with seaweed to reduce their herd’s methane emissions from burps (about 14% reduction). Its combination of small dairy farms open to organic markets and an existing seaweed-farming industry that’s pretty robust by modern standards makes it a very suitable target. You can read the study here.
UNH wrote an article about the researcher, which included an important caveat at the bottom:
The survey also revealed that 93% of the farmers were more concerned about issues like labor shortages, infrastructure problems, rising costs and unstable supply chains, rather than climate change and regulation. This means that farmers would only consider using seaweed in their cows’ diets if it is cost-effective and has additional benefits, while also aligning with existing feeding practices and receiving support from government policies and subsidies.
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