A WA seaweed farmer is working directly with two of WA’s largest feedlot operations to trial its powdered seaweed in a bid to demonstrate the algae’s methane-reducing abilities.

Fremantle Seaweed farms 32ha of red asparagopsis, which has been shown by CSIRO to reduce climate-change-causing methane emissions from cattle and other ruminant livestock by more than 80 per cent, off the shore of C.Y. O’Connor beach in North Coogee.

Managing director Chris De Cuyper said trials would demonstrate the company’s freeze-dried product would not only significantly reduce methane emissions but save farmers 7 per cent on feed cost.

“The real benefit for the farmer is the productivity increase,” he said.

“The feed cost reduction is worth about 50¢ per cow per day, which fully offsets the cost of our product.”

For the upcoming trial, Fremantle Seaweed aims to feed 60 head of Wagyu cattle of 400 days, which will require just over 1500kg of dried asparagopsis.

It is scheduled to start in late 2026 and will be done in collaboration with Kylagh Cattle and Pardoo Wagyu.

Kylagh Cattle manages about 5000 to 7500 cattle at its high-capacity facility.

Feed cost reduction for a feedlotter of that size would be more than $2500 per day, or nearly $1 million per year.

Mr De Cuyper said farmers will also benefit from the product as a result of the new beef cattle herd management Australian carbon credit unit method which will include beef supplements, including asparagopsis.

The Federal Government announced the new methodology, which was expected to be completed within two years, in April.

“We should be at a point soon where we can incentivise farmers by paying them to use our product,” he said.

Mr De Cuyper said the new ACCU was a huge win for the livestock sector.

“They’ll be leading the curve as far as decarbonisation goes in Australia,” he said.

Mr De Cuyper said Woodside and Santos, which purchase voluntary carbon credits, were interested in the new method.

“The fact that this is supporting cattle farmers makes it a very valuable ACCU,” he said.

“It could be double the current price of an ACCU, because it’s not just your baseline ACCU but has other benefits, particularly if it’s also produced close to the emission source.”

Mr De Cuyper said the company was looking to expand operations off the coast of the Pilbara next to one of Santos’ oil and gas hubs.

He said the operation would include a 3000ha seaweed farm, nearly 100 times larger than the North Coogee site.

“Our 32ha here is great, but that’ll feed about 4000 to 5000 head of cattle, so we’re going to need to do thousands of hectares eventually,” he said.

Mr De Cuyper said the extension would create a “massive” 900,000 carbon credits per year.

“A lot of the carbon funds are getting excited,” he said.