Why this Australian seaweed farmer is setting his sights on Europe
London | Sea Forest, the emissions-busting Tasmanian start-up making cattle feed out of seaweed, is on the cusp of an international push into the British and European markets, according to founder Sam Elsom.
The fashion designer turned seaweed farmer has been in Britain and Europe this week talking to potential customers, who are hoping Sea Forest’s product will ease the looming squeeze on their farms.
Sam Elsom in the Sea Forest lab. Adam Gibson
The Netherlands plans to spend almost €1.5 billion ($2.5 billion) to shut down 3000 farms, while in Ireland there are reportedly plans to cull 200,000 dairy cows, as European governments frantically try to cut greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.
“These are very extreme measures, that are putting a lot of pressure on the industry. They’re under a very real threat of limits on their production, even declining production, as a result of reduced livestock numbers,” Mr Elsom told The Australian Financial Review in London.
“So we come along with a solution which enables farmers to get on with more or less business as usual, and also protect food security, as well as helping the governments to meet their emissions reduction targets. It’s very exciting.”
Macquarie-backed Sea Forest is growing asparagopsis seaweed on a 1800-hectare marine lease north of Hobart. Asparagopsis has been shown to cut methane emissions, in the form of burps and farts from cattle and sheep, when added in small amounts to feed rations.
Asparagopsis can reduce methane emissions from cows’ burps and farts by up to 90 per cent. Adam Gibson
Britain and Europe represent potentially lucrative terrain for Sea Forest. For starters, there are more cows: 86 million, compared with 26 million Down Under. Also, governments and the industry are more seized with urgency on cutting methane emissions.
Most importantly, in Australia cattle largely graze freely on large tracts of land. But in space-starved Europe they are in controlled feeding environments, making it easier to ensure they all get the right amount of asparagopsis.
“Whilst we’re working on solutions, like lick blocks and others, that can fit into those extensive grazing systems, we have a solution that works when we have controlled feeding environments. So certainly, there’s that addressable market,” Mr Elsom said.
The first of Sea Forest’s overseas markets could be Britain, where the government’s net-zero plan “anticipates entry of high efficacy methane-suppressing products to the UK market from 2025”, and pledges to explore their use on cattle farms “at pace”.
“We’ve been actively engaged in trials that would then lead to commercialisation,” Mr Elsom said. “And we’ve been talking to a number of groups for about 12 months now. But we’re getting to the sticky end of those negotiations, where we expect to be entering the market within the next 12 months.”
The trials are being conducted with the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute and Queen’s University Belfast, with the final results expected later this month.
“We have to run a trial before we then do any commercialisation,” Mr Elsom said. “In the UK, there is a distinctly different diet, you’ve got slightly different breeds. So we just need that assurance from a methane validation standpoint, but we’ve never really expected the results to differ that much from what we get in Australia.”
A display of the Earthshot Prize finalists on Piccadilly Circus, London, with Sam Elsom fourth from right.
Initially Sea Forest would service the European market from Australia, but it hopes eventually to have a presence in the region.
“Our commercial intentions are to always have supply close to where we have offtake, to reduce the carbon footprint of the product itself. And so in time, you might expect that we’d have facilities over here,” Mr Elsom said.
But he insisted the company would remain proudly Australian. “One thing we’ve been really vocal about is that this is really exciting Australian science, developing a new industry for Australia that could also be assisting Australian agriculture to take the leadership role in decarbonisation globally.”
Sea Forest could gain extra leverage in its European push from having been one of 15 organisations shortlisted for the prestigious Earthshot Prize, from more than 1100 nominees.
The five winning finalists, who will be announced at an awards ceremony in Singapore on November 7, will receive £1 million ($1.9 million) and a boost to their global recognition.
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