Scientists explore seaweed as sustainable cattle feed option
Cattle are known to eat grass but changing climate conditions are pushing scientists to explore alternative feed options. Rising crop costs and pressure on traditional pastures have encouraged researchers to look at unconventional sources such as seaweed.
A research team led by Wade Abbott from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada studied whether cattle could digest seaweed and how it affects their digestive system. The study was supported by the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan. Seaweed is very different from grass at the molecular level and requires special enzymes for digestion.
The researchers fed seaweed to cattle and observed changes inside their digestive systems. They found that certain bacteria in the gut multiplied quickly. These bacteria helped break down the seaweed, showing that cattle could successfully digest the marine material.
The team described this process as the “latent trait hypothesis.” According to this idea, useful microbes already exist in small numbers in the gut and become active when the right food is introduced. Using advanced techniques, scientists were able to understand how these microbes produce enzymes to digest seaweed.
"We're only beginning to understand the genetic mechanisms that allow gut microbes to process these marine sugars," said Abbott. "If we can map those pathways fully, the applications go well beyond cattle. We're talking about a new framework for sustainable agriculture, one that embraces unconventional feed sources and works with the biology that's already there, waiting to be activated."
The findings, published in a scientific journal, suggest that seaweed has potential health benefits for cattle. It may act as an alternative to antimicrobials and help improve immunity. However, researchers note that seaweed is expensive and cannot replace traditional feed like hay.
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