Why Fonterra is feeding seaweed to cows

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Sustainability is still an important issue that hasn't gone away because Covid-19 is "frontline news" says Fonterra CEO for AMENA Kelvin Wickham.

In fact, sustainability is one of the co-op's main concerns, Wickham told The Country Sport Breakfast's Lee Piper.

"Our key customers are very interested in the sustainability of their supply chain because they're interested in the sustainability of the brands on their shelves."

Fonterra had taken some innovative approaches to tackling sustainability, including one that involves seaweed, through a partnership with Sea Forest in Australia.

"They're actually trying seaweed as a supplement feed for herds in Tasmania. Some early work has shown that incorporating that as part of the diet can reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

The seaweed, which is naturally grown in New Zealand and Australia has been shown to reduce emissions by up to 80 per cent, Wickham said.

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"Of course these are early days in trials but it's quite exciting to see the developments and potential farming practices we could employ."

Meanwhile, Fonterra farmers continued to produce some of the most sustainable milk in the world, a key message the co-op was working hard to get out, Wickham said.

"The carbon footprint of New Zealand's on-farm milk supply is less that one third of the global average [and] 30 per cent lower than the greenhouse gas footprint of European and North American milk production."

"So our New Zealand farmers are already producing some of the best milk from a grass-fed non-GMO source and the lowest carbon footprint produced anywhere in the world."