Agolin Joins Forces with Barry-Callebaut to Produce Low Carbon Milk

Agolin and Barry-Callebout combine forces to initiate sustainable dairying by becoming suppliers of low carbon milk.

FREMONT, CA: Agolin SA has joined forces with global chocolate producer Barry Callebaut and Gold Standard (GS), a leading carbon reduction project development and verification provider, to establish a methodology for dairy producers to become low carbon milk suppliers.

Two studies have been conducted, one in the Netherlands and one in the US, including 65 farms and about 15,000 cows in total to develop the methodology for theconcept. The GS methodology confirmed an average reduction of 1,200 metric tonnes (MT) over six months in the Netherlands and a reduction of 500 MT by August of 2020 in the US. When Agolin Ruminant is mixed in dairy and cattle feed at a rate of one gram per head each day for adult animals, it has shown influence on methanogenesis, the production of methane, in the rumen and thereby reduced methane release to the environment by the animal. The product has also been shown to improve animal's feed efficiency, which means that the return on milk and meat per kilogram of feed is better. This improved utilization of resources benefits animals, farmers, and the environment. Methane is known to have a much higher Global Warming Potential and is a significant contributor to the greenhouse gas emissions.

Speaking about the project, Beatrice Zweifel, Technical Director at Agolin said, "We are delighted to be part of this project and to work with Barry Callebaut towards their sustainability goals. The work done through Gold Standard for this project combined with what we already know through many trials on AGOLIN RUMINANT in dairy and beef animals allows us to facilitate sustainable production systems and we look forward to further growing the concept with industry".

Project Partner and Global Chocolate Producer Barry Callebaut is also satisfied as, "I am very pleased that we have been able to develop a methodology with Agolin to credibly quantify and certify CO2 reductions. This closes an important gap and provides a great basis for us to scale up this work with our partners."