AT a remote and rugged archipelago - about 60 kilometres off the Geraldton coast - harvest of a different kind has been underway.
Grown wild on rope lines, the first 300 kilograms of a native red seaweed was hand-picked from an Abrolhos Island aquaculture farm for Western Australian aquaculture company Seastock last month.
Seastock is harvesting the seaweed - known as asparagopsis - to produce a methane-busting livestock feed supplement immersed in a locally produced canola oil from Alba Edible Oils.
FutureFeed, the global IP holder of the technology behind the seaweed based feed supplement, granted Seastock permission to sell the seaweed earlier this year and already demand is outstripping current capability of supply.
So much so, harvest is set to scale-up to a tonne a month over the next 12 months.
CSIRO researchers found a diet containing 0.2 per cent (20 grams) of asparagopsis could drastically reduce the methane emissions of cattle by up to 98 percent.
It also found there is no impact to the quality, taste or texture of the meat.
The joint aquaculture-agriculture project puts a new spin on the term 'beef and reef', but what exactly does it mean for WA livestock producers?
In summary, the supplement could boost onfarm production and profitability, while helping the red meat industry work towards carbon neutrality by 2030.
But how exactly does it all work?
The seaweed is harvested from existing aquaculture lines, spun to remove the salt water, and then immersed in WA-produced canola oil with Alba Edible Oils as the key supplier.
Seastock managing director Tom Puddy said the oil stablised the material, so the bromoform content could be extracted from the asparagopsis plant.
The bromoform effectively inhibits the production of methane in ruminants, hence its importance.
Mr Puddy said Seastock was fortunate enough to have quality, non-GM canola oil for blending the asparagopsis.
"An analogy the industry now uses is - it is like putting a tea bag into hot water," Mr Puddy said.
"The tea infuses the hot water and the bromoform is the same in the oil."
Within 24 hours of consuming the concentrate, animals start to reduce their methane output and ultimately are no longer using the energy required to produce it.
That energy could instead be used by the cow to put on more condition.
This is called productivity gain, where more meat or dairy could be produced on less - or the same - feed in a shorter time frame.
For example, an intensive farming system may reduce the amount of feed cattle consume from 12kg to 10kg per day, and on a standard ration in a feedlot from 100 days to 80 days.
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Mr Puddy said 20pc less feed was a significant number from a cost point-of-view.
"If you are a beef operation you only really have three levers you can pull," he said.
"You buy your cattle at the lowest cost, sell your cattle at the highest value and then your biggest input or operating costs are your feed - you want to lower the cost of that as much as you can.
"If you can do so by 20pc then that's massive for any operation.
"Further work is being conducted to prove up the productivity gains across a range of beef and dairy operations in Australia."
Already large-scale beef and dairy operators - and even some smaller ones - are wanting to introduce asparagopsis into the supply chain.
Mr Puddy said this was heading in a direction where consumers were given choice when purchasing meat or dairy at supermarkets or restaurants.
He said there would be an option for them to produce meat or dairy products, which have minimal impact on the environment and that have been produced with a lower carbon footprint.
"Consumers already have access to massive amounts of information on their phone," Mr Puddy said.
"They can buzz a QR code on a table anywhere and find out what has gone into that supply chain and what impact it may have from a carbon emission point-of-view.
"We think the demand for this sort of transparency will only get stronger as we go forward."
Mr Puddy said it was a great opportunity for farmers to introduce another sustainable practice into their farming systems.
"I always say it is one tool in the toolbox, which farmers can have a look at using to reduce their impact on the environment," he said.
"Similar to a graingrower using minimal till, reducing fertiliser inputs or chemical costs."
Currently, Seastock is selling the asparagopsis oil for $50 per kilogram.
However, as the company is able to scale up and refine its production and extraction methods this is expected to reduce in price
As well as harvesting at the Abrolhos Islands, Seastock is looking at ways to duplicate the plant's final life cycle stages through onshore tank cultivation.
The onshore cultivation process is currently being set-up at a Fremantle harbour warehouse.
Mr Puddy said seeds would be collected from wild asparagopsis and induced to hatch seedlings.
Using renewable energy - or a bio-reactor - to constantly manage heat and light in the tanks, Mr Puddy said the seaweed could then be grown 24 hours a day, seven days a week in order to meet demand.
He said further research was underway, where seedlings could be grown out, attached onto ropes and taken back out to the Abrolhos.
"Our marine science partners are Flinders University and we have been working with their marine research team to work out the inducing and grow out method onshore," Mr Puddy said.
"It gives us a sense of supply security, where we have lines in the water and tanks producing the product on shore.
"We will compare those two methods over time, to see which is more economical."
Asparagopsis has a three-month life cycle, where it grows and matures, before dropping off rope lines in the ocean.
Mr Puddy said tests were done at various stages of the plant's life cycle to work out when the bromoform was at optimum level.
He said producing the highest amount of natural bromoform was key.
"Whether it is on the lines or in the tanks - that's what we are trying to achieve," Mr Puddy said.
"We have seen some encouraging results, as levels are quite high at the Abrolhos due to the natural and pristine environment there.
"It grows naturally there and we haven't introduced it to the local ecosystem.
"We are trying to understand why this is and at what stage does the bromoform level peak, before it dies off into its second life-cycle stage."
Seastock is currently one of only three Future Feed-licensed seaweed growers in Australia and one of only six internationally.
The company will focus on sampling, cultivation and growth trials across multiple coastline sites from the Kimberley and South Coast, while undergoing further capital raising.
Mr Puddy said the opportunity had bridged aquaculture and agriculture.
"There is a great symbiotic relationship - the canola is produced by local WA farmers and is crushed locally, the seaweed grows naturally off the WA coast, then is placed into the canola oil and finally the material is sent back out to beef producers," he said.
"It is going between grain, seafood and back into the meat or protein industry.
"I can't think of many other opportunities in agriculture where these are all linked together."
More information: Go to seastock.com.au
See Methane-busting supplement turning into a game-changer on pages 18-19
