Rumin8, a company developing next generation feed supplements to reduce methane emissions from livestock, has launched in Perth, Western Australia. Identifying as a climate technology company, Rumin8 expects that its products will have significant benefits for farmers as energy normally lost to methane production is instead converted into higher growth rates.
The company isolates naturally occurring compounds that have anti-methanogenic properties and instead of harvesting and extracting them from plants, reproduces them in a highly efficient, low cost, scalable, and high-quality process that ultimately is fed to livestock.
Their most advanced product reproduces the bioactive contained in red seaweed (Asparagopsis) which has been shown to reduce methane production in livestock rumen by up to 95%, whether in liquid, solid or slow-release dose formats.
Rumin8 Managing Director David Messina said the laboratory results of Rumin8’s lead product replicated the methane reductions of red seaweed (Asparagopsis), but instead of harvesting from the marine ecosystem, the plant’s methane busting bioactive was manufactured and transformed into a stable feed supplement in their laboratories. “This breakthrough provides Rumin8 with the ability to develop scaleable, consistent, cost-effective livestock supplements, which are inspired by nature, but have the potential to decarbonize the global livestock industry while providing productivity benefits,” Mr. Messina said.
“The identification of Asparagopsis’s anti-methanogenic properties was a game changer in terms of reducing methane emissions from ruminants. Rumin8’s product will be produced in a consistent, repeatable, manufacturing process and is expected to be significantly cheaper to produce and provide much more reliable dosing and outcomes,” he said.
Livestock contribute ~6% of global greenhouse gas emissions through methane created during the food digestion process.
Trials of Rumin8’s first product at the University of Western Australia reduced methane production by more than 90% by Day 3, with almost total elimination by Day 5. The trials were also used to identify optimal dosing rates.
Rumin8 is now partnering with the University of Western Australia, University of Melbourne and the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development to assess the repeatability of the laboratory trials in animal trials in 2022.
The Rumin8 board comprises a mix of skills from the agriculture, pharmaceutical and clean technology sector.
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