JBS HAS ENTERED A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ANIMAL HUSBANDRY INSTITUTE TO STUDY THE REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GASES IN LIVESTOCK FARMING

The study will measure the potential of food additives for reducing the release of methane

JBS, the world’s second-largest food company, and the Animal Husbandry Institute (IZ) of the Department of Agriculture and Supply of the state of São Paulo formalized on Thursday (July 15) a partnership that will contribute to developing studies into the reduction in of greenhouse gas emissions in the beef supply chain. The project is looking for food additives that enhance the efficiency of the use of nutrients in the animals’ diet, thereby reducing methane emissions and contributing to expanding the sustainability of the beef and milk business.

“JBS’s collaboration with the research into reducing emissions on farms is part of the Company’s Net Zero 2040 commitment to zero the net balance of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, reducing the intensity of its direct emissions and throughout the value chain while offsetting all residual emissions”, contends Renato Costa, CEO of Friboi.

The study is being undertaken by researchers at the new Laboratory for Ruminal Fermentation and Beef Cattle Nutrition of the IZ, inaugurated today. They will monitor, for around six months, the animals of JBS in confinement in Guaiçara (SP). The Company’s participation adds scale to the tests. “It is important to insert technology into the production chain of the world’s largest supplier of animal protein”, adds Renata Helena Branco Arnandes, the researcher responsible for the study.

One of the first additives to be tested are tannins, complex molecules originating in plants. They render the fermentation process in the animals’ diet more efficient, reducing methane gas emissions . The study began in May and will be validated at the laboratory using equipment that simulates the conditions of the animal’s rumen (the part before the stomach), known as the artificial rumen, which enables the transformations that occur in the fermentation process to be monitored while precisely measuring the potential of additives like tannin for reducing emissions.

Support for the investment will come from Fapesp (the Research Support Foundation of the state of São Paulo) and from Silvateam, a supplier of food additives.