The supermarket aims to reduce the CO2 from its cows and sheep, and cut emissions by 186,000 tons, which is the equivalent of 78,000 cars off the road.
Laboratory tests have shown this new high sugar grass can cut methane emissions by 20% per animal, the retailer said.
Asda has teamed up with British Seed Houses to introduce Aber High Sugar Grass (Aber HSG) and Aber clovers to its 13,500 farmers across the UK. Bred and developed in Britain, Aber HSG significantly reduces methane emissions and also minimises bought-in feed costs, one of the biggest farmer financial outlays, improves production efficiencies and animal yields.
In partnership with British Seed Houses, Asda has been trialling the new grass at its dairy, beef and lamb demonstration farms to assess the performance of Aber HSG grasses in a variety of systems. It is also offering its BeefLink, LambLink and DairyLink farmers one free acre bag of high sugar grass seed for every 10 acres purchased which equates to a saving of £55-60 per 10 acres, ensuring significant cost savings.
Pearce Hughes, Asda’s agricultural manager, said: “Our tests show high sugar grass increases yields, reduces bought-in feed costs and saves carbon emissions, making it the perfect formula for the British farming. Our aim is to ensure long-term financial sustainability for our farmers as well as making sure we’re doing our bit for the environment, so this is a natural grass choice for us.
“By introducing Aber HSG to our extensive British farming network we will increase profitability by over £10m in the first year alone, which is money in the pockets of farmers. This programme will also contribute to Walmart’s global goal of removing 20 million tons of greenhouse gases from the supply chain.”
Savings on feed costs come from having higher quality grass that fattens animals alone without having to buy high energy cereals as required with average grasses. Also, high quality silage (conserved pickled grass fed during the winter) is much higher in quality than average silage so again less bought in feed required to balance the ration, the supermarket explained.
Speaking on behalf of British Seed Houses, agricultural director, Paul Billings, said the potential of Aber HSG grasses to boost production on BeefLink, LambLink and DairyLink farms should not be underestimated.
Billings said: “Trials have shown that dairy herds grazing Aber HSG grasses can produce up to six pc more milk per cow over the grazing season, with a 3% improvement in diet digestibility. Beef farm trials have seen daily dry matter intakes increased by a quarter, with 18-35% higher daily liveweight gains and cattle reaching slaughter-weight more quickly.”
Source: Asda
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