Potential breakthrough product for British ruminant livestock farmers

The Dancing with Daffodils project aims to transform the efficiency and sustainability of ruminant livestock farming and is supported by the Department of Farming, Environment and Rural Affairs and Innovate UK, the UK’s national innovation agency.

The project is developing a novel feed additive, using a specific alkaloid extracted from daffodils, which has been shown in the laboratory to achieve exceptional results in methane reduction and protein utilisation in ruminants.

Preliminary data estimates that direct methane emissions from ruminants can be significantly reduced and that feed protein utilisation may be improved by up to 50 per cent. This could potentially increase the productivity of the ruminant sectors and drive multiple environmental benefits.

The consortium is also spearheading the cultivation of daffodils to support the roll-out of this new feed additive and developing a precision on-farm gas analyser to monitor in real-time individual ruminant emissions of methane, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and ammonia.

Wynnstay is well-positioned as the project’s route-to-market for its end-products and the project aligns with the group’s objective of supporting farmers to produce food in a more sustainable way.

Gareth Davies, chief executive of Wynnstay Group, said: “We are delighted to be a consortium partner in the Dancing with Daffodils project, which has the support of Innovate UK and DEFRA. This exciting project has the potential to deliver a breakthrough product for livestock farmers, which will significantly reduce methane emissions and enhance protein utilisation in ruminant animals.

“There are significant environmental benefits and we very much look forward to helping to progress this project to completion and providing the route-to-market for the technology.”