FIGHTING FLATULENCE WITH FLORA

BY YANGYANG LAI

Every Californian dreads the Harris Ranch by Interstate 5. For miles–before the ranch even comes into sight and long after it passes–all that fills the air is the abominable stench of cow manure. Personally, several family trips to Disneyland were plagued by this scent and the subsequent complaints of it. Aside from the horrid smell that lingers in the car, exacerbated by the broiling 105º weather and inching traffic, the ranch generates a far more harmful and perhaps surprising externality. As the largest beef producer in the Western United States, Harris Ranch houses more than 100,000 cattle at a time and produces up to 150 million pounds of beef per year.

Such a prevailing business generates a taxing social expense. The digestive processes of cows produce an abundance of methane and the sheer number of cattle at the ranch has boosted Central California to the second-worst methane hotspot in the country.1 As methane emissions are the primary contributor to ground-level ozone, they play a direct role in increased global warming levels. Harris Ranch, a massive emitter of methane, should strive to limit its contributions. The ranch can facilitate an extraordinary reduction of methane emissions by adopting an adjusted livestock feed for their cattle that contains one to two percent Australian red seaweed.

Incorporating seaweed within cattle feed has proven to reduce digestive methane emissions by up to 90 percent. Seaweed-based cattle diets substantially progress sustainable farming initiatives, reduce operational feed costs for the ranch, and promote cattle health, thereby making cattle products healthier for consumption. The adoption of adjusted livestock feed would prove beneficial to all stakeholders affected by Harris Ranch: owners, suppliers, animals, consumers, and the surrounding community.

Methane causes extreme harm to both humans and the environment. The most troubling aspect of methane emissions lies in its seaweed-based potency. The gas remains in the atmosphere for around 12 years but traps heat very effectively–200 times more effectively than carbon dioxide. 2 Methane also imposes adverse health effects on humans. According to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, the inhalation of methane worsens bronchitis, triggers asthma, and permanently damages lung tissue.3 The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that exposure to the gas causes 1 million premature deaths per year.4 Furthermore, the Environmental Defense Fund urges that, “cutting methane emissions is the fastest opportunity we have to slow the rate of global warming.”5

Efforts to tackle methane emissions must start in the most dominant methane-emitting industry: agriculture. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concludes that the digestive processes of livestock create the largest source of methane emissions in the country.6 The University of California at Davis (UC Davis) finds that a single cow belches 220 pounds of methane yearly;7 consequently, the number of cows at Harris Ranch releases more than 22 million pounds of methane into the atmosphere every year.

When cows and other domesticated ruminants convert carbohydrates into molecules to absorb in their bloodstream, they release methane as a digestive byproduct. 8 There are several proposals in place to curb this effect, including the vaccination of cows against methane-producing gut microbes, which targets their digestive systems directly. However, the notion of feeding cows a more easily digestible diet, thus drastically reducing the amount of methane they release, remains the most sustainable, cost-effective, and plausible solution.

The key to this solution lies in Asparagopsis taxiformis, a type of red seaweed native to tropical environments of the Southern Hemisphere. Research conducted at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and James Cook University in 2014 showed that altering a cow’s diet to contain one to two percent of seaweed reduced its methane emissions by almost 99 percent.9 Though this data was collected in a laboratory, a trial conducted on live dairy cattle by scientists at UC Davis found “up to a 60 percent reduction in methane emissions by using 1 percent of seaweed in the [cows’] diet.”10 The addition of a minuscule amount of seaweed to cattle feed exhibits monumental improvements. According to Dr. Michael Battaglia, a research director at CSIRO, “the seaweed produces a compound called bromoform, or CHBr3, which prevents methane production by reacting with vitamin B12 at the last step in the cows’ digestive process.”11

The seaweed’s role in the drastic reduction of methane emerged as a scientific breakthrough. As a result of several promising trials, the Swedish company Volta Factory began commercial production of taxiformis in 2020.12 They have subsequently developed Volta Seafeed, a seaweed-based cow feed that, when administered to cows at a daily dose of 100 grams, reduces up to 90 percent of their methane emissions. In fact, Volta’s 2021 pilot feeding test in partnership with Swedish family farm Tre Bönder resulted in 81 percent less methane emission from the cattle. As demonstrated by Volta’s operational and commercial success, the adoption of seaweed-based cattle feed proves to be feasible and rewarding.

The inclusion of A. taxiformis within cattle feed would also save Harris Ranch a drastic amount of operational feed costs. As a part of their research into the seaweed, Professors Ermias Kebreab and Brianna Roque of UC Davis found that the cattle in their study converted food to energy and growth almost 20 percent more efficiently than regular cattle, therefore reducing the amount of feed necessary per cow. Additionally, they noted that these cattle consumed less feed overall and calculated that “a producer finishing 1,000 head of beef cattle could reduce feed costs by $87,320.”13 Essentially, the hydrogen diverted away from methane production will instead generate nutrients for cattle health and growth.

The reduction of feed costs for the densely populated Harris Ranch would offer tremendous benefits. Family-owned Harris Ranch prides itself as “one of only a few American beef producers who produce beef exclusively from cattle fed in their own feedlot.” Feed ingredients listed on their website consist of steamed Midwestern corn, alfalfa hay, and various vitamins.14 However, due to droughts, strains on supply chains, and conflicts with Russia (a major exporter of the chemicals used in fertilizer), both corn and hay have recently increased in price. Data gathered from Trading Economics shows that corn prices have hit a 9-year price peak of $8.30 per bushel, a 70 percent increase from prices of $4.83 per bushel in the previous year.15 In June 2021, local Central Californian farmers reported an almost depleted alfalfa hay supply. Perpetual droughts have diminished hay production, causing the price of one ton of hay–enough to feed 400 cows a day–to increase by nearly 40 percent.16

The collective increase in the cost of corn and alfalfa hay directly affects Harris Ranch. As a family-owned business, accommodating the increased prices of cow feed for their vast number of cattle is arduous, and certainly undesirable. The adoption of seaweed-based diets would extensively relieve feed costs not only for Harris Ranch but for all cattle farmers reeling in the wake of widespread price increases. Sustaining the business of Harris Ranch in the long term lies with a decreased reliance on crops such as corn and hay combined with the increased use of seaweed feed, which promotes cattle productivity, increases growth, and reduces costs.

Not only does seaweed-based cattle feed relieve pressures on the environment and reduce operational costs, it additionally provides essential nutrients that introduce a myriad of health benefits for the cattle. Polyunsaturated fatty acids found in seaweed such as omega-3 and omega-6 improve conception rates and reduce pregnancy losses in ruminants.17 Several studies find that, “feeding ruminants seaweed extracts reduce stress and incidence of ketosis,” meaning cows are less likely to display aggressive, uncoordinated, or unproductive behavior. 18,19,20 Moreover, seaweed is commonly known as the best source of base. 23 The ranch has also expanded to foodservice and retail divisions, serving steaks, baked goods, and hospitality to those who elect to visit. All such guests will find themselves consuming healthier, more nutritious seaweed-fed beef.

In light of the United Nations 2021 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow and their proposed Sustainable Development Goals, governmental agencies and the current presidential administration have, for the first time, introduced legislation to limit the emissions of methane. In November 2021, the EPA proposed the Clean Air Act (CAA) to oversee significant reductions in methane emissions in the oil and gas iodine, and cattle consumption of seaweed can produce iodine-rich milk, inadvertently solving the lack of iodine intake, which affects approximately 2 billion people worldwide.21,22

The replacement of just one to two percent of cattle feed with seaweed displays tremendous value for every stakeholder involved. Incorporating seaweed-feed would prove beneficial to the ranch, which would see improved health in their cattle, therefore decreasing issues of stress or unproductivity from their animals. Harris Ranch, which supplies meat to popular fast-food chain InN-Out Burger, supports a massive consumer industries. Furthermore, 110 countries signed the Global Methane Pledge, promising to reduce collective methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030. A huge gap remains in the proposed legislation – agricultural methane. According to the Wall Street Journal, “some environmentalists say the Biden administration is going easy on big agriculture to avoid a bruising political battle with the powerful farm lobby.”24 Federal regulations on agricultural methane emissions raise concerns about increased prices for consumers and limitations on herd size, both harmful to the business of cattle farming. A statement from the White House suggested the “voluntary adoption” of sustainable agricultural practices to meet pledged targets.25

While the government has funded initiatives to expand methane-capturing systems to reduce emissions from cow manure, there exists no current efforts to commercially adjust cattle diets–the biggest contributor to their emissions. 26 With the proven drastic reduction in agricultural methane through red seaweed, along with evidence of reduced feed costs and improved cow health, the farming industry would see benefits on every level through the adoption of seaweed-based cattle feed.

Even though no current legislation regulates agricultural methane emissions, the severe crackdown on methane by governments will likely not spare the industry for long. The aforementioned CAA includes suggestions to issue caps on all methane emissions, including those stemming from livestock production. As a dominant beef producer, Harris Ranch should adopt seaweed-based cattle feed— a move that could spare the ranch from regulations, including a possible reduction of their immense cow population. A seaweed solution might also avoid any political tensions or economic consequences arising from the regulation of agricultural methane emissions. The adoption of seaweed-based feed would additionally reduce production costs and allow Harris Ranch to maintain its cattle population at current levels, thus allowing it to avoid harmful business consequences that regulation might bring.

The adoption of seaweed-based feed will reduce methane production while providing value to the ranch’s owners, farmers, animals, and consumers.

The long-term success of a business heavily depends on its ability to satisfy all contributing and affected stakeholders. Harris Ranch’s adoption of a methanereducing solution will undoubtedly benefit its business in the future. With increased scrutiny on human contributions to climate change, nations around the world are actively moving to investigate harmful businesses. Further, increasing public pressure to accept responsibility ultimately affects a business’s credibility and approval rating.

As an established and dominant business, Harris Ranch has an opportunity to improve