Digestibility Impact

Highly digestible rations not only improve direct on-farm profitability, but they can also play a role in meeting sustainability goals for producers and processors.

• Reduced feed needs per hundredweight translate into fewer acres and inputs required, which means a reduced greenhouse gas footprint.
• Highly digestible feeds reduce the enteric methane production in the animal.
• Fecal material that has higher levels of digestible components is more effective for use in methane digesters.
• Testing by Agrovive Biologicals and Fementrics Laboratories have shown total GHG reductions from fecal materials of 10%, with an 18% reduction in methane and a 21% reduction in CO₂.
• Testing can be performed as part of a producer’s routine forage ration analysis that would quantify GHG reduction to determine a Carbon Intensity Score or Volume of Carbon validation.

As consumers, processors*, and regulators** demand reductions in GHG emissions and improved sustainability practices from livestock and dairy producers, the technologies involved in Seed2Rumen, Leaf2Rumen, and Graze2Rumen can play a key role in helping producers keep pace with market demands.

*    Nestlè and others have established a target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and recognize that 95% of their carbon footprint comes from their value chains! That includes the farmers who produce the 12 million tonnes of milk Nestlè uses in its production each year.

**  California dairies are already mandated to reduce their methane emissions by 40% by 2030. New York state dairies will also have to reduce methane emissions to meet outstanding regulations.