Wednesday, 01 December 2021 06:55

Kowbucha spreads to the farm

Written by Sudesh Kissun

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Fonterra is beginning on-farm trials for Kowbucha.

Fonterra's plan to use probiotics to reduce cow methane emissions is moving to on-farm trials.

The Kobucha project is shifting from the Fonterra Research & Development Centre (FDRC) to the farm.

Kowbucha are potential methane-busting probiotics from the co-op's dairy culture collection stored at FDRC.

Fonterra head of strategy and innovation, Mark Piper, says the project is about making the most of the co-op's people skills and dairy expertise to unlock the potential of these cultures to help ensure New Zealand stays as a leader in sustainable food production.

"The cultures have been selected over decades for their properties in producing different varieties of cheese, yoghurts, sour creams, and for use as health promoting probiotics," Piper exclaims.

"Following analysis of thousands of strains from the collection, specific strains have been identified as those that could potentially reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) production naturally from inside the cow."

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