Source: PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF COLBY COLLEGE, THE submitted to NRP
COAST TO COW TO CONSUMER: MARINE ALGAE USE TO ENHANCE MILK PRODUCTION, MITIGATE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, AND RECOVER NUTRIENTS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1027577
Grant No.
2021-69012-35919
Cumulative Award Amt.
$10,000,000.00
Proposal No.
2021-05683
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2021
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2026
Grant Year
2021
Program Code
[A9201]- Sustainable Agricultural Systems
Recipient Organization
PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF COLBY COLLEGE, THE
4120 MAYFLOWER HL
WATERVILLE,ME 049018841
Performing Department
Environmental Studies
Non Technical Summary
As the Earth warms and its population grows, pressure is mounting to optimize our food production and decrease its impact on the planet. This newly funded project aims to sustainably intensify U.S. dairy production by developing algae-based feed supplements for cattle. These additives are intended to improve feed efficiencies and milk yields, and can also reduce environmental impacts of dairy production by recapturing nutrients and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Recent research has shown that certain seaweed feed additives reduce a cow's methane 'burps' during digestion, and seaweed production has a lower carbon footprint than that of certain land crops. Microscopic algae can offer similar benefits, and would provide a uniquely scalable solution for states far from the coast. With either approach, algae production for livestock feed additives presents a unique opportunity to facilitate rural prosperity for dairy and algae farmers, and spur economic development from coast to coast.The multi-disciplinary team's laboratory experiments and field trials to test candidate scalable algae species will be paired with supply chain, economic impact, and life cycle assessments. Our goal is to balance safe, nutritious, value-added milk production with environmental, economic, and social sustainability. This holistic approach will allow the researchers to optimize algal feed additives and assess their impact on animals, farms, communities, and the planet. An integrated outreach and education program will engage dairy producers, aquaculture farmers, feed suppliers, industry stakeholders, students at every academic level, policymakers, and the general public to amplify the research program's impact.
Animal Health Component
40%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
40%
Developmental
10%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1020199200010%
6015230301010%
4035310202010%
3023410101010%
3055230102010%
8036099301010%
1320499106010%
3083410110310%
3153499102010%
3073799100010%
Knowledge Area
601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management; 302 - Nutrient Utilization in Animals; 403 - Waste Disposal, Recycling, and Reuse; 102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships; 803 - Sociological and Technological Change Affecting Individuals, Families, and Communities; 132 - Weather and Climate; 305 - Animal Physiological Processes; 308 - Improved Animal Products (Before Harvest); 307 - Animal Management Systems; 315 - Animal Welfare/Well-Being and Protection;

Subject Of Investigation
3499 - Dairy cattle, general/other; 5230 - Feed and feed additives; 5310 - Machinery and equipment; 6099 - People and communities, general/other; 0199 - Soil and land, general; 0499 - Atmosphere, general/other; 3410 - Dairy cattle, live animal; 3799 - Cultured aquatic animals, general/other;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 1060 - Biology (whole systems); 1103 - Other microbiology; 1010 - Nutrition and metabolism; 1000 - Biochemistry and biophysics; 2000 - Chemistry; 3010 - Economics; 1020 - Physiology;
Goals / Objectives
The long-term goals of our program are to increase profitability of dairy and algae production and stimulate rural economic development by improving efficiencies in milk production and quality, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) and ammonia emissions, recycling nutrients through algae production, and minimizing risks to food safety. The objectives of our program are to:Demonstrate empirically the nutritional and environmental (dis)advantages of incorporating optimized algal blends in diets of dairy cattle and impacts on milk production and quality.Investigate the potential socioeconomic consequences of more closely linked algae and dairy production industries through life cycle assessment (LCA) and economic impact evaluation.Engage industry (dairy farmers, feed companies, and aquaculturists) and educate students (undergraduate and K-12) to remove roadblocks for incorporating algal products into dairy production systems at multiple scales.
Project Methods
General Scientific MethodsOur approach is to integrate a mixed model of empirical benchtop assays and animal trials with biogeochemical modeling of nutrient cycling, milk production rates and quality, socioeconomic impact analyses, stakeholder engagement, and education opportunities. A life cycle assessment (LCA) serves as a guiding framework for project output.Activity 1.1: Quantifying production potential of US algae species through supply chain and network transportation analyses.Activity 1.2: Evaluating candidate algae using lab-based analytics and assays to determine their elemental composition, nutritional value, and enteric methane suppression potential under various growth and processing conditions. In vitro assays for volatile fatty acid and methane generation will be paired with 16S rRNA gene presence for relative abundance and a quantitative PCR for absolute abundance of methanogens in simulated batch and continually fed rumen systems.Activity 1.3: Six total in vivo feeding trials across three partner institutions (UNH, UVM, and Miner Institute) evaluate changes to milk production and quality induced by algae-based feed supplements in comparison to positive (e.g., 3NOP) and negative (e.g., no supplement) controls. Experiments vary in basal diet and whether macro- or micro-algae feed supplements are applied. In all in vivo trials, response variables include various standard animal health and performance metrics necessary to achieve GRAS certification; methane emissions are measured using the C-Lock GreenFEED systems.Activity 1.4: Assessment of algae-supplemented diet on manure quality and subsequent impacts to natural resources, including for biomethane production potential in anaerobic digestion (AD) systems and on dairy barn floors, and nutrient recycling through reuse in microalgae photobioreactors or as manure-based fertilizer in crop production. Methods include pilot scale AD systems coupled to photobioreactors for the former, and soil incubation tests to inform Manure DeNitrification-DeComposition (DNDC) modeling for the latter.Activity 2.1: Evaluate farmer knowledge, understanding and input using interviews, surveys, and focus groups for both the dairy and algae-based sectors, working with the third-party evaluation program (see below) to quantify knowledge transfer.Activity 2.2: Supply chain analysis of transaction costs, value chain frameworks, and willingness to form partnerships to determine scenarios of profitability for feed suppliers, dairy, and algae producers.Activity 2.3: Economic impact analysis including censusing of the rapidly evolving seaweed and microalgae sectors using Impact Analysis for Planning modeling and a transportation network analysis to understand connectivity among communities and sectors.Activity 2.4: Life cycle assessment (LCA). The goal of the LCA is to compare the full range of environmental impacts assignable to products and services by quantifying all inputs and outputs of material flows and assessing how each affects the environment. An LCA is completed in four steps: scoping, inventory, impact assessment, and interpretation. A preliminary LCA focuses on the Northeast US and four production scenarios and our functional unit is one gallon of milk corrected for fat content. Both the Manure DNDC and Integrated Farm System Model will be used. Initial models will be based on literature for sensitivity analyses, and this version will be updated with data-driven mechanistic models developed in Activities 1.1-2.3.EffortsWe deliver science-based knowledge to people through both formal and informal educational programs including the following:Stakeholder workshops and professional meetings at Bigelow Laboratory, Miner Institute, and Cornell Cooperative ExtensionFarmer training programs at Miner Institute and Wolfe's Neck CenterDemonstration of vertical integration of microalgae production in photobioreactors in closed-loop system using nutrient supplementation from anaerobic digestorsOpen source data platforms like Open TEAM (Technology Ecosystem for Agricultural Management)Four undergraduate courses with curricula designed around the content of this research program: Environmental & Natural Resource Economics; Science & Future of Food Security; Problems in Environmental Science; Marketing in AgricultureUndergraduate and high school experiential learning opportunitiesOnline teaching resourcesProfessional short courses developed through the Algae AcademyEvaluationProgress and outcomes will be evaluated in collaboration with Kansas State University's Office of Educational Innovation and Evaluation (OEIE). Evaluation is based on the project logic model detailing activities, outputs, and outcomes. OEIE has provided external evaluation for over 40 USDA-funded projects and adheres to the American Evaluation Associations Guiding Principles for Evaluators and Program Evaluation Standards of the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. Progress toward objectives will be assessed using a timeline checklist of milestones, document review, and analysis of completion/outputs for each objective. OEIE will assist the project team with developing protocols to assess outcomes (see Activity 2.1 and 3.2) and will administer a survey to collect perceptions and perspectives of project stakeholders including advisory board members and target audiences. Formative evaluation will enable midcourse alterations to strengthen management over the project's lifespan and improve success. Summative evaluation will assess and document overall project impact and outcomes. Evaluation activity summaries and final report will be submitted to the project team.This project will collect both qualitative and quantitative primary survey and review data describing the project objectives, project directors and collaborators and their affiliated institutions, outcomes, publications, and investments in a digital format.Key Milestones"Kick-off" and subsequent all-hands meetings, activity teams' meetings, leadership meetings, and advisory board engagement to effectively manage the research program and communicate about progress on objectives and development of outputs.Early and final versions of the LCAComprehensive series of in vitro assays and constituent analyses of algae to identify best candidates for animal trialsSource sufficient micro- and macro-algae biomass and process effectively to conduct feeding trialsExecution of 6 in vivo feeding trialsConducting at least 8 sets of interviews, workshops, and focus groups with dairy farmers, aspiring and current algae producers and processors, and feed suppliersDevelopment and installation of the prototype microalgae photobioreactor (built at Bigelow Laboratory) to be integrated into the demonstration anaerobic digestor system at Cornell Cooperative Extension

Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:This list has been expanded from project initiation, check boxes were addressed directly in Year 3: Dairy production, distribution, and processing industry Dairy consumers (e.g., retailers, food service industry, other major end-users) Algae producers, harvesters, processors, distributors Animal feed producers and distributors Animal supplement producers and distributors Aquaculture regulatory bodies (from municipal to federal) General public Policy makers (e.g., USDA-NOAA Working Group on Research for Farming of Kelp and Seagrass, Maine Climate Council) Voluntary carbon market brokers Lab testing facilities for feed and food quality Aquaculture investors Veterinarians and Dairy Nutritionists Academics Feed and dairy regulatory bodies (e.g., FDA, NOSB, MOFGA) State-wide and federal carbon budgeting efforts Wild-capture fisheries industries seeking diversification (e.g., the Maine lobster industry) We have also grown our advisory board, which now includes: Juan Tricarico, DMI Erik Whittaker, Poulin Grain Jenifer Tilton Flood, Flood Brothers Farm Eliza Harrison, Oceans Rainforest Bri Warner, Atlantic SeaFarms Changes/Problems:Our project had two major problems in the second year of our award, each of which caused unexpected delays, deviations from the research schedule, and significant impacts on the rate of expenditure - even into year three. Despite these challenges, we still achieved important milestones and have set a new promising course for Coast-Cow-Consumer (C3) that has led to even deeper engagement with critical stakeholders. 1) Transition of a coPD: The first major change was that a co-PD, Sabrina Greenwood, left her position at the University of Vermont (UVM) to move to Australia and become a Principal Research Scientist with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia's National Science agency. This shift, while wonderful for Dr. Greenwood's career progress, meant that our C3 team had to navigate reallocating funds from UVM to the William H. Miner Institute to conduct the remaining macro- and micro-algae animal feeding trials for years two and three of the award (Miner is already slated to do trials in year 4). This reallocation was achieved by simply reducing the obligation of funds to UVM commensurate with the expenditures that were explicit to Greenwoods activities, and increasing the obligated amounts to Miner Institute. Concomitantly, we needed to reposition the two PhD students Greenwood had been advising and related equipment (e.g., the GreenFeed System) to ensure continuity in progress towards project goals. Gift Omoruyi will remain a Ph.D. graduating from UVM, but she is now directly supervised by Sarah Morrison at the Miner Institute, and will conduct her research on the Miner Institute premises. Wil Sims has transferred his degree process to the University of New Hampshire (UNH), where he is now supervised by Andre Brito. Each student will still have access to travel funds and materials and supplies as needed to execute their research activities and complete their degrees. These changes required investment of time and additional resources of the C3 administrative team to execute, and have set each student back in their respective graduation timeline. The entire C3 team - science and admin - is working hard to ensure these students feel supported as they navigate this hiccup. 2) FDA Policy Changes: The second major challenge revolves around anticipated changes in FDA policies and procedures. Historically, those researching seaweed as livestock feed additives have focused solely on commercially produced dried, milled seaweeds already listed by the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). In these cases, AAFCO has approved dried kelp from the families Laminariaceae and Fucaceae, and other brown algal families, as well as a limited number of red and green seaweed species, for use as ingredients in livestock feed. Presumably, seaweeds are added to livestock feed to provide minerals and trace elements that are nutritionally important. However, in order to conduct research on novel seaweed species (e.g., Asparagopsis taxiformis), or seaweeds prepared in a new fashion for more cost-effective shelf stability and added value (e.g., fermentation of sugar kelp), and for a new purpose that is not nutritional in nature (e.g., to suppress enteric methane emissions) in milk-producing animals, research teams must seek a Food Use Authorization (FUA) with FDA to ensure that the milk is safe to enter the food system, or seek self-determination as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). It was only through close partnerships with our advisory team members - and NutraSteward in particular - that we became fully cognizant of the intricacies of this process. Peer-reviewed literature does not report whether FUAs were obtained during the course of research activities, and this is a terrible oversight for transparency in the scientific community. In April 2023, the C3 team submitted a FUA for an anticipated feed trial with fermented, "boosted" (with bioactive ingredient) sugar kelp at UNH scheduled to start in Fall 2023, to ensure sufficient time (~6 months) for review and discussions with FDA officials. Although we are using an AAFCO approved seaweed species, our novel feed additive is prepared using new protocols, and for a currently unapproved mode of action: targeted changes to the rumen microbiome, namely reducing methanogen populations and activity. During the course of reviewing our application, and others, FDA made the decision that feed additives that change livestock rumen function and/or the microbial community composition cannot be categorized as a nutritional feed ingredient, and must be categorized as a drug, despite not combating a specific disease. This categorization forced our FUA application down an arduous, lengthy (~10 years), and extremely cost-prohibitive (>$500K) review process. While we can seek exemptions for the fees, this lengthens the research timeline considerably and beyond the scope of the USDA funded C3 research program. ? Historically, other academic research institutions have navigated these hurdles by either resorting to disposing of milk produced during the trial, or seeking state-level exemptions to allow research to continue and the milk to enter the food system. These state level exemptions have, by-and-large, ceased because of a general recognition that bulk milk and/or milk components are routinely shipped across state geographic boundaries to processors nationwide. This means the only pathway currently available to conduct research on novel feed additives is to dispose of milk. Milk "dumping" is expensive to the research farm managers for several reasons: the price of the tossed milk needs to be recompensed, the labor involved in separating milk produced from the research animals from the bulk tank is considerable, the potential for reduced future quotas is debilitating, and the public perception of milk dumping is potentially damaging to the reputation of the research institute. There also could be environmental implications to milk dumping, and proper disposal of milk may be necessary to minimize impact to local water sources or soils. UNH and Miner Institute are willing to entertain this option, provided we can obtain additional funds from interested milk processors or we can conduct dosing trials on heifers and dry cows. Miner Institute was willing to conduct a limited trial (only 3 cows) for the time-being to strengthen evidence of safety of the feed additive for our pending FUA. While not statistically conclusive, the data gained from this preliminary trial were invaluable for designing our upcoming trials. Currently, we are navigating conducting feed trials at UNH, and have procured additional funds from Lactalis American Group, Inc. In the interim, the Innovative Feed Enhancement and Economic Development (IFEED) Act (H.R. 6687 and S. 1842) has been introduced in the senate and house over the course of 2023 and describes a zootechnical categorization of feed additives that is more suitable for anti-methanogenic supplements, and would, in theory, follow the similar shorter and less cost-prohibitive pathway as nutritional feed ingredients. By summer 2024, the entire Maine delegation had co-sponsored the IFEED Act, and it became attached to the Appropriations Bill. It is possible that the new language will be available before our next in vivo trial at UNH, but we are, as stated above, moving forward with a milk dumping option unless and until we can seek a FUA via the zootechnical pathway. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Early Career Scientist Travel Awards: Rolled out in 2024 in response to results from Y2 survey of C3 team, these funding dollars are made available to support conference travel for C3 members who qualify as Early Career Scientists. Awards are granted on a per-request basis for travel to scientific conferences where abstracts have been accepted and are reviewed by the C3 Leadership Council, with a maximum of $2500 domestic or $4000 international travel support per request. The intent is to facilitate networking and outreach opportunities. Four have been granted in 2024. First Friday Research Forum: What: An hour time-slot in which project members convene to discuss related research topics from any branch of the transdisciplinary program. Typical format could be a 40-minute seminar style presentation, followed by moderated Q&A, or a series of shorter 15-minute presentations, or a recent journal article discussion. Why: To learn more about our collective research capacity, particularly in the early phases of the research program. To help us each peek outside of our silos. Later content may shift to suit our project needs, and include invited guest speakers as we move along. Who: The entire C3 project membership is invited to attend. Presenters will be identified by the First Friday Forum Coordinator who will also introduce speakers and mediate Q&A, unless a guest speaker has been invited by an alternative host; Zoom recordings posted to our YouTuber channel by project coordinator. Where: Recorded and live Zoom (link is provided in calendar invite) When: First Friday afternoon of every month, 1pm EST, recording made available the following week. List of topics and speakers in Year 3 of the award (*guest speakers): 11/03/2023 Nichole Price, Dana O'Brien* - Algae as livestock feed: Coast-Cow-Consumer updates and relevance of Innovative FEED Act 12/01/2023 Gordon Doore, Julia George, Coco Ma, Megan Miller, Parth Parth, Akshaya Venkateshwaran, Haley Wims, Zoky Zhou - Fall 2023 Undergraduate Intern Presentations 01/05/2024 Mehedi Khandakar - Walkthrough of animal trial logistics 02/02/2024 Erik Whittaker* - Q&A with a feed producer and distributor 05/03/2024 Isabella Kuhr, Coco Ma, Micah Margolis, Megan Miller, Ella Weldy - Spring 2024 Undergraduate Intern Presentations 06/07/2024 Steve Archer, Stylianos Siontas* - Methane Sensing: Introduction to a NSF-Convergence Accelerator project 08/02/2024 Kara Kugelmeyer, Dave Boku, Liam McGoldrick - C3 Data Repository Demonstration Field Trips for team members: Tour of Maine seaweed farm (Jaclyn Robidoux, Marine Extension Associate) for 20 Colby College undergraduate students enrolled in EC231 Environmental Economics course, April 26 2024 Tours during Year 3 In-person Annual Retreat (May 21-24, 2024; 32 C3 participants): Tour of Spartan Sea Farms (hosted by Ken Sparta, Freeport, ME), May 22, 2024 Tour of Atlantic Sea Farms processing facility (hosted by Kiera Foti, Brand Manager; Casey Ballin, Director of Operations & Sustainability, Biddeford, ME), May 22, 2024 Tour of Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center at the University of New Hampshire (hosted by Jon Whitehouse, Farm Manager, Durham, NH), May 23, 2024 Tour of Jere A. Chase Ocean Engineering Lab at the University of New Hampshire (hosted by David Fresriksson, Professor in Ocean Engineering, Durham, NH), May 23, 2024 Expert-led discussions: Breakout session discussions during third annual in-person retreat (May, 2024) on project focal points including a) publication potential for current and future datasets, with an emphasis of identifying primary authorship opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers and b) project needs, identifying areas where the group can allocate resources to support research efforts Topical Lightning Talk Session: consisting of 18 presenters, including work from undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers during in-person retreat Student trainings: Coast-Cow-Consumer Leadership Council Training and Service for graduate student (G. Omoruyi) Undergraduate intern mentorship for qPCR assay development during on-site stay at Bigelow Laboratory (E. Weldy) Professional Development: CV Writing Workshop for Early Career Science C3 project members, organized by Leadership liaison G. Omoruyi and hosted by PI B. Twining. October 6, 2023 Training on Techniques for Design to Data Analysis: A Case Study Using GreenFeed, Sponsored by C-Lock and the USDA National Animal Nutrition Program. Training offered at the Annual American Dairy Science Association meeting, attended by a PI and a graduate student - June 16, 2024 Modeling Workshop using Integrated Farm System Model for Early Career Science C3 project members, organized by Leadership liaison G. Omoruyi and hosted by postdoctoral researcher K. Almeida. July 19, 2024 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?WORKSHOPS, PUBLIC SPEAKING, FARMER DAYS, STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT Panel and presentation from Price, N. titled "Dig Deeper with World Wildlife Fund on Seaweed Farming" at Wolfe's Neck Center, ME, 09/20/2023 Cornell Nutrition Conference - 10/19/2023 workshop from Price, N., Quigley, C., Shippey, E., Archer, S., Brito, A., Rogers, S., Welsh, R., Powers, S., Morrison, S., Dierenfeld, E., titled, "Algae as livestock feed: Coast-Cow-Consumer updates" Stonyfield Annual Producer Meeting - 10/26/2023 hosted at UNH with tours from Brito, A. Price, Quigley "What the Innovative FEED Act means for Maine and New England" virtual education webinar Nov 3, 2023 - various stakeholders from dairy processors and producers to aquaculturists Dairy Day in Chazy, NY - 11/30/2023 public forum presentation from Omoruyi, G. titled "The USDA Coast-Cow-Consumer Project (C3)" at the W.H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute Presentation from Morrison, S. titled "Feeding Strategies for Methane Reduction on Farm" for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oneida County Large Dairy Herd Group, January 2024 Cornell Cooperative Extension Western New York Dairy Day - 02/01/2024 public forum presentation from Morrison, S. titled "Feeding Strategies for Methane Reduction on Farm" Presentation from Morrison, S. titled "Cows and Methane" for Point au Rouche Climate Crew, February 2024 Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance - 02/06/2024 workshop from Price, N., Quigley, C., Shippey, E., Archer, S., Brito, A., Rogers, S., Welsh, R., Powers, S., Morrison, S., Dierenfeld, E., titled "Algae as livestock feed: Coast-Cow- Consumer updates" Colby Liberal Arts Symposium - 05/02/2024 10 presentations from EC231 students advised by J. Meredith, PhD. Each presentation discussed independent student research related to the project, open to the public and attended by project members Goodman, L., Harrington, L., London, J. May 2, 2024. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, "Consumer WTP for methane suppression" (presentation) Banaitis, R., Bates, A., Block, A. May 2, 2024. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, "Consumer WTP for methane suppression" (presentation) Booth, A., Darby, E., Regan, S. May 2, 2024. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, "Social License to Operate for Seaweed Aquaculture" (presentation) Freeman, S., Goldstein, S., Hyde, A. May 2, 2024. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, "Social License to Operate for Seaweed Aquaculture" (presentation) Crawford, K., Heberlig, M., Welsh, J. May 2, 2024. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, "Coastal Community Wellbeing and Working Waterfronts" (presentation) Elippert, M., Ju, J., McGrath, E., Weltzin, T. May 2, 2024. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, "Coastal Community Wellbeing and Working Waterfronts" (presentation) Jang, Y., Rook, K., Somaya, H. May 2, 2024. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, "Coastal Community Wellbeing and Working Waterfronts" (presentation) Goday, T., Goetze, V., Mortell, J., Warren. A. May 2, 2024. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, "Seaweed Supply Chain Infrastructure Comparison" (presentation) Dev, S., Illick, K., Lee, I., May 2, 2024. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, "Seaweed Supply Chain Infrastructure Comparison" (presentation) Anusbigian, G., McClimon, Z., Ransom, C., Truong, D. May 2, 2024. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, "Carbon/Methane Offset Market Integration" (presentation) Biodiversity Funder Group - 05/14/2024 presentation from Price, N. titled "Farmed kelp as a revenue-generating nature based solution" for Nature-based Solutions: How hard is it to do and does it really pay off? in Rockland, ME Group of Westway Feed Products nutritionists and sales representatives hosted by W.H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute, with an information-sharing session on C3's interest in measuring methane. July 2024. Various tours or webinars hosted by Wolfe's Neck Center that brought guests by C3 related kiosks and posters for interactive Q&A Tour of Carbon Footpath for 55 people in conjunction with the MACD/NACD conference, September 18, 2023 Presentation of Carbon Footpath to 25 people with the Master Gardeners of Cumberland County, October 23, 2023 Presentation of Carbon Footpath to 15 people for the Agroecology Meet Up with Trustees, January 18, 2024 Mock-up presentation of kiosks and presentation to 40 people for Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment All-Staff Retreat, April 10, 2024 Presentation of Carbon Footpath to 6 donors with the Horizon Foundation, May 2, 2024 Presentation and tour of Carbon Footpath to 50 people for the NEASDA Conference, June 4, 2024 Carbon Footpath kiosk stops were officially installed on July 7, 2024, with engagement from more than 20,000 campers since its installment Wolfe's Neck Center electronic communications to over 26,000 engaged recipients, describing and mapping the Carbon Footpath Earned MEDIA Portland Press Herald web article released on 9/22/2023 titled "Kelp connection: Maine studies seaweed's power to slow climate change" https://www.pressherald.com/2023/09/22/seaweed-could-be-added-to-maines-blue-carbon-stock/#:~:text=Nichole%20Price%2C%20a%20senior%20research,continents%2C%20from%20Maine%20to%20China. Bangor Daily News web article released on 12/27/2023 titled "Maine innovation brings sustainability to holiday feasts" https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/12/27/opinion/opinion-contributor/maine-innovation-sustainability-bigelow-laboratory/ UNH Today web coverage on 04/04/2024 titled "Maine Farmers Receptive to Seaweed Feed" https://www.unh.edu/unhtoday/2024/04/maine-farmers-receptive-seaweed-feed WMUR web article released on 04/07/2024 titled "UNH study shows feeding seaweed to dairy cows reduces methane by nearly 14%" https://www.wmur.com/article/unh-study-seaweed-reduces-cow-methane-production/60420698 Morning AgClips web article released on 04/07/2024 titled "Maine Farmers Receptive to Seaweed Feed" https://www.morningagclips.com/maine-farmers-receptive-to-seaweed-feed/ Boston Globe article released on 07/11/2024 titled "Leaky pipes, cow burp, food scraps, and clay: In methane reducing innovation, New England leads the way" https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/07/11/science/new-england-methane-reduction/ Vital Signs web article released on 07/17/2024 titled "Searching for a seaweed to combat cow burps" https://vitalsigns.edf.org/story/searching-seaweed-combat-cow-burps Choices Magazine web article released on 08/23/2024 titled "Machine Learning (ML) Platforms Can Contradict Dairy Scientists and Feed Firm Websites Regarding Dairy Cattle Performance from Feeding Seaweed Supplements" https://www.choicesmagazine.org/choices-magazine/submitted-articles/machine-learning-ml-platforms-can-contradict-dairy-scientists-and-feed-firm-websites-regarding-dairy-cattle-performance-from-feeding-seaweed-supplements What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In line with our initial timeline and schedule of milestones submitted with the original proposal, year 4 of the Coast-Cow-Consumer research program will focus heavily on animal feeding trials to assess efficacy, safety and downstream environmental impacts, various model parameterizations, and polishing outreach materials. Considerable efforts are underway to conduct two techno economic analyses in parallel: one for macro-algae additives and one for microalgae additives. Each operates under the premise that ocean-derived additives are a cost-effective replacement for mined or chemically generated elements and bioactives that farmers are already willing to pay for, in addition to supplying a methane-reducing effect. Alongside the C3 team research endeavors, we are continuing to recruit additional advisory panel members, particularly from the small pool of companies in the US that are generating microalgae food and feed products, to help guide our efforts. Long awaited animal feeding trials with our truly novel algal feed additives will finally be underway in Year 4, still hampered by the requirement to dump milk. Please see the Challenges/Problems section to understand the current policy and regulatory limitations C3 is experiencing; should legislation pass early in 2025, we have filed appropriate paperwork with FDA to exempt our additive and allow milk produced during the trials to enter the food system. These animal trials will be conducted at both the University of New Hampshire and the Miner Institute, NY. A limitation we encountered in year 3 on stability of the additive once mixed with a total mixed ration has putatively been resolved with a relatively simple encapsulation technique, which may also extend longevity of the impact of the additive in the rumen. Each trial will be executed with an eye to reporting upon any and all toxicity or residue issues with the milk produced (we don't anticipate any), dynamics of bioactive potency between feedings, and any impacts to manure performance in anaerobic digester systems. Trials are designed specifically to further support our goal of achieving FDA approvals of safety and efficacy for candidate additives before the end of the Coast-Cow-Consumer research project. By the end of year 3, our C3 team that is focused on life cycle assessment development had refined the base model for dairy farms across the US and within specific regions using comprehensive quantitative analyses of peer-reviewed LCAs, expanded to include an additional more comprehensive review of ocean-farming of seaweed, and used an updated Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM), which will include nutrient flows and impacts to rumen performance. In year 4, our next endeavor is to add more complexity to this base model via direct inclusion of details from our in vitro assays to treatment-driven changes in the rumen microbiome, and use outputs from a rumen-specific community model as inputs for the modified IFSM. Influence on production of volatile fatty acids and methane, resultant shifts in feed efficiencies, the exact mode of action of the bioactive on methanogens, and any delays in impacts to methanogens or the possibility of adaptation of these bacteria to bioactive compounds, etc., and how to use encapsulation to regulate these dynamics continues to be an active area of research for our C3 group, and for others working in this research space. Our newly developed quantitative PCR primer probes for methanogens will shed light on the rumen model development, as well. In year 4, we anticipate deepening engagement with our ever-growing advisory panel and interested stakeholders more directly in several manners: We expect to start publishing a Coast-Cow-Consumer Newsletter (quarterly or semi-annually), we will redesign the project webpage, We will release a professional 9-minute video (with related teasers and sizzle reels) on our webpage and with the World Wildlife Fund, to be timed with an anticipated article to be released from Inside Climate News We will engage the advisory panel with this years in-person Annual Retreat

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Obj 1 Activities GC/MS Purge & Trap equipment has a detection limit is 100x lower for testing halogenated compounds Tested considerably smaller inclusion rates of sugar kelp (down to 0.1%), and used chemical processes post harvest to 'boost' bromoform concentration, and tested efficacy. Cataloged 50 strains of microalgae and discovered 3 strains with detectable bromoform. Tested wax and oil mixes to enhance shelf stability. Conducted 3-4 Biomethane Potential (BMP) experiments with the algal additives. Operated two prototype photobioreactors connected to prototype anaerobic digestion system to recycle effluent and CO2 Executed animal feeding trial at UNH (15 mid lactation cows, with milk disposal). Data Elemental content and halogenated compound concentrations in macro- and microalgae following processing, in as-fed additive products, in TMR, and in milk and manure. CH4 emissions and VFAs from in vitro assays From in vivo trial: Dry matter intake; Milk yield and milk composition (fat, protein, lactose); Feed efficiency & preference; Body weight and body condition score; Enteric gas emissions (CH4, H2) as production, intensity, and yield Gene copy # of methanogens in biomethane potential experiments using new qPCR primers and protocols Growth rates of microalgae in prototype bioreactors Results "Boosted" fermented seaweeds reduced enteric CH4 emissions in vitro, but a larger & longer animal trial indicated stability issues and effective dose issues once mixed with TMR, which spurred robust benchtop efforts to 'encapsulate' the additive in oils and waxes. No residues of halogenated compounds were detected in milk at lowest effective dosing BMP results indicated manure exhibits temporary CH4 production inhibition, but no significant effect on manure biodegradability. Microalgae growth rates are enhanced by anaerobic digester (AD) effluent; filters for H2S removal are required as a pre-treatment to use biogas as a carbon source for microalgae. Key outcomes Microalgae uptake of CO2 in the photobioreactors yields higher value biogas; Yields of bioactive compounds in microalgae need to be enhanced. Seaweed supplements did not generate residues in milk, but may infrequently appear in manure Rinsing and fermenting seaweeds reduces I and enhances bromoform, but a 'wet' product is challenging for farmers to work with, to package, and distribute. Stability once mixed in TMR and longevity of impact to the rumen is challenging Obj 2 Activities Surveyed 122 dairy nutritionists, and perceptions of dairy farmers' willingness to pay for algae supplements Interviewed 8 individual dairy feed suppliers Continued development of C3 data repository Developed a georeferenced database ME and AK marine docks with market access Designed and pre-tested a 'social license to operate' survey for US coastal residents at Waterville, ME Farmer's Market (30 people) Quantitative review of 15 relevant macroalgae Life Cycle Assessments and 33 relevant microalgae LCAs Quantitative review of over 25 relevant dairy farm LCAs to establish a baseline Developed an IFSM model of the Miner Dairy Farm Data Database of seaweed feed additive firm claims; time series on algae as feed supplement in popular press Data censusing interviews with Early Career Scientists to refine the C3 data repository GPS coordinates of seaweed aquaculture sites, state of proximal working waterfront infrastructure, and local municipal socioeconomic indices Willingness to pay metrics from extensive surveys compiled Design estimates of scaled Asparagopsis taxiformis photobioreactor land-based cultivation systems to support LCA scenarios to compare with ocean-grown kelp Farm scale IFSM model covering the years 2019 to 2021 at Miner Institute. Results 86% of surveyed dairy nutritionists believe algae feed supplements reduce CH4, and enhance immune function, maintain rumen function, improve feed utilization, and are a source of vitamins, minerals, iodine, selenium, and prebiotics. Feed suppliers perceived micromineral supplementation, reducing somatic cell count, reducing CH4 emissions, and reducing use of manmade mineral supplements as benefits of algal feeds. Barriers included price, volume needs of mills, supply inconsistencies, and lack of investment from the industry. 3 unique data entries in repository Seaweed aquaculture only significantly shifts income diversity in coastal Maine if prices of bulk biomass seaweed rises 50% and production expands 100% Willingness to pay for CH4-free milk is driven by parents/environmentally conscious consumers. Preliminary baseline dairy carbon footprint analyses show that enteric fermentation contributes 43% and manure management contributes 26% CH4 emissions. Reducing enteric fermentation by 42% reduces the overall farm carbon footprint by 19%. Preliminary seaweed cultivation LCA indicates that the drying stage contributes the greatest to potential environmental impacts Miner Institute dairy farm emitted, on average, 2,359 metric tons of CO2eq/year from animal emissions Key outcomes? Dairy farmers will apply a new additive if recommended by a trusted advisor (nutritionist) and it generates ROI in the form of reduced veterinary costs, access to carbon markets, and/or increased milk yield or quality. Detailed ReadMe and consistent keyword terminology for cross-referencing experiments and data types will make the C3 Team database more user-friendly. More comprehensive understanding of LCA outcomes for algae ocean aquaculture and land-based photobioreactors, dairy farms, and the influence of scope on outputs The IFSM is a robust tool to estimate the environmental impact of dairy farms, but it is not sufficiently sensitive to the inclusion of feed additives in the diets. Obj 3 Activities Developed ES494 Research Experience in Environmental Science at Colby; 12 undergraduate students. Included trips to Bigelow and Wolfe's Neck Center. 60 Colby students participated in research in EC231 Environmental Economics, students ranged from sophomores to seniors; 2 undergraduate posters and 3 presentations 11 environmental engineering students at Clarkson University participated in CE491: Senior Design; 1 integrated design report and 1 presentation at the U.S. EPA P3 conference in Washington D.C. Jan Plan short course at Colby (13 students) JP297Dj Ocean Forecasting: AI, Ecology, and Data Justice on the Seas 20 undergraduates participated in C3 experiential learning internships; each student presented results at First Friday Seminar Series Distributed new trifold for coastal residents while pre-testing survey at 4 Maine farmers markets Installed 10 informational kiosks related to this project on a two mile public access hiking trail (the Carbon Footpath, CFP) at Wolfe's Neck Center Cornell Cooperative Extension shares updates with local Dairy producers on the project Data Surveys on undergraduate student intern and student experiences 1 Masters' thesis filed Informal public feedback on outreach materials Tracking numbers of summer visitor numbers to Wolfe's Neck Center and Carbon Footpath, and on-line visitation to website(s) (986 users in Y3) Continued data entry on publications and events to the C3 website, social media channels, and dashboard Results ~85 undergraduates affiliated with C3 in year 2; 88% of surveyed students report that they are now more likely to pursue additional opportunities to advance their education/career Thousands of general public reached through earned media, interactive learning features at Wolfe's Neck Center and Cornell Cooperative Extension, and targeted public speaking events 2,362 views of related YouTube content as of Dec 4, 2024 - with new videos to be released in Year 4 Key outcomes We are building our stakeholder group that will be engaged in outreach activities coinciding with initiation of the feeding trials Students are really energized by this solutions-based research project!

Publications

  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Arndt, K.A.�, Reyes, D.C.*, Quigley, C., Brito, A.F., Price, N., & Contosta, A.R. (2023). Seaweed supplementation to organic dairy cows may reduce climate impact of manure in pasture soils during a laboratory incubation, Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment, published online
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Schutt, E.*, Francolini, R.*, Price, N., Olson, Z., & Byron, C. (2023). Supporting ecosystem services of habitat and biodiversity in temperate seaweed (Saccharina spp.) farms. Marine Environmental Research 191(106162) doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106162, published
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Fujita, R., Augyte, S., Bender, J., Brittingham, P., Buschmann, A.H., Chalfin, M., Collins, J., Davis, K.A., Gallagher, J.B., Gentry, R., et al. (2023). Seaweed blue carbon: Ready? Or Not? Marine Policy 155: 105747 doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105747
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Almeida, K. V., Jordan, E., Erickson, P. S., and Brito, A.F. (2023). "Evaluating taste preference of different sources of Ascophyllum nodosum meal in dairy heifers." Journal of Dairy Science Communications
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2024 Citation: Moen, A.*, Conner, D. (2024). Stakeholder Opinions of Seaweed Supplements for Dairy Cows. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems.
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2024 Citation: OKeefe, S.*, Welsh, R., Oppong, M.*, Fitzgerald, R.*, Conner, D., Tynan, M.*, Price, N. and Quigley, C. (2024). Machine Learning (ML) Platforms Can Contradict Dairy Scientists and Feed Firm Websites Regarding Dairy Cattle Performance from Feeding Seaweed Supplements. Choices.
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2024 Citation: Johnston, K.R., Reyes, D.C., Klobucher, K.N., Stahl, T.C., Price, N.N., Erickson, P.S., and Brito, A.F. Prepartum supplementation of Ascophyllum nodosum meal or ethylenediamine dihydroiodide: Effects on colostrum yield and growth and health of dairy calves. Journal of Dairy Science.
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Duarte, C. M., Delgado-Huertas, A., Marti, E., Gasser, B., San Martin, I., Cousteau, A., Price, N. N., ... & Masque, P. (2023). Carbon burial in sediments below seaweed farms. bioRxiv, 2023-01.
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2024 Citation: Duarte, C. M., Dr Antonio Delgado-Huertas , Dr Elisa Marti , Dr Beat Gasser , Mr Isidro San Martin , Ms Alexandra Cousteau , Mr Fritz Neumeyer , Ms Megan Reilly-Cayten , Mr Joshua Boyce , Dr Tomohiro Kuwae , Dr Masakazu Hori , Dr Toshihiro Miyajima , Dr Nichole Price , Dr Suzanne Arnold , Dr Aurora Ricart , Mr Simon Davis , Dr Noumie Surugau , Mr Al-Jeria Abdul , Professor Jiaping Wu , Professor Xi Xiao , Professor Ik Kyo Chung , Professor Chang Geun Choi , Professor Calvyn F.A. Sondakx , Dr Hatim Albasri , Professor Dorte Krause-Jensen , Dr Annette Bruhn , Dr Teis Boderskov , Dr Kasper Hancke , Mr Jon Funderud , Dr Ana R. Borrero-Santiago , Mr Fred Pascal , Mr Paul Joanne , Dr Lantoasinoro Ranivoarivelo , Mr William T. Collins , Ms Jennifer Clark , Dr Juan Fermin Gutierrez , Dr Ricardo Riquelme , Dr Marcela Avila , Professor Peter Macreadie , Professor Pere Masque. Carbon Burial in Sediments below Seaweed Farms Matches that of Blue Carbon Habitats Nature Climate Change
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2024 Citation: Bentley, A.* (2024). What do dairy nutritionists think about algae supplements? Hoards Dairyman.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Tynan, M.K.*, Welsh, R., Fitzgerald, R.*, Greenwood, S., Conner, D., Price, N., Quigley, C., Moen, A.* August 2-6, 2023. Dairy Nutritionists Perspectives on the Efficacy of Feeding Algae Feed Supplements to Dairy Cattle. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Rural Sociological Society in Burlington, VT
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Welsh, R. September 9, 2023. Coast-Cow-Consumer Project: Algae as a Livestock Feed to Reduce Methane Emissions (presentation). Guest Lecture in FST 302: Food, Environment & Climate at Syracuse University.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Moen, Autumn and Conner, David, "Stakeholder Opinions of Seaweed Supplements for Dairy Cows" (2024). Food Systems Master's Project Reports. 36. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fsmpr/36
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Omoruyi, G.*, Morrison, S. Y., Posman, K., Carr, B., Iacono, G., Blossom, H.� , Archer, S., and Price, N. May 21-22, 2024. Assessing Bromoform Residue In Milk Produced From Dairy Cows Fed 1% Of Dietary Dry Matter As Processed Seaweed (Saccharina latissima)  a preliminary study (presentation). University of California Davis State of the Science Summit; Feed Strategies to Reduce Enteric Emissions.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Price, N. July 30, 2024. Coast-Cow-Consumer: Algae nutrition and application in livestock diets. Comparative Nutrition Society 2024 Symposium.
  • Type: Other Status: Under Review Year Published: 2024 Citation: Congressionally Requested Report: Price, N. N., Rexroad, C., Quigley, C., Stamieszkin, K., Langton, R., & Sipler, R. (2024). Farming Seagrasses and Seaweeds: Responsible Restoration & Revenue Generation. Congressionally requested Report.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Maine State Requested Report: Arnold, S., Dickson, S., and Fernandez, I., Reilly-Moman, J., & Contosta, A., Price, N.N., Record, N., et al. MCC STS. (2024). Scientific Assessment of Climate Change and Its Effects in Maine - 2024 Update. A Report by the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (STS) of the Maine Climate Council (MCC). Augusta, Maine. 268 pp.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Maine State Requested Report: Tenth Biennial Report on Progress toward Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goals, June 2024, Bureau of Air Quality Maine Department of Environmental Protection; N.N. Price co-authored farmed seaweed blue carbon methodology
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Almeida, K. V., Darby, H. M., Morrison, S., Price, N. N., Contosta, A. R. and Brito, A. F. October 24, 2024. Environmental performance of dairy farms using the Integrated Farm System Model. International Research Symposium on Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Mitigation From Research to Implementation. Berlin, Germany.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Price, N. July 9-11, 2024. Developing Novel Techniques to Accurately Track Sequestered Carbons Final Destination. Advancing Ocean CDR Summit Boston MA, Invited Talk.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Summary Report: July 11, 2024. Algae as Livestock Feed: The Coast to Cow to Consumer Project - Engaging Nutritionists, Veterinarians, and Feed and Additive Manufacturers to Inform Future Research. Seatone Report from CNC/NEAFA conference.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Meredith, J. July 15, 2024. The capacity of seaweed aquaculture to diversify rural livelihoods on the coast of Maine. International Institute for Fisheries Economics & Trade Conference.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Blossom, H.� July 30, 2024. Harnessing Microalgae: Unlocking Nutritional Benefits for Dairy Cows. Comparative Nutrition Society 2024 Symposium.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Honisch, B. July 30, 2024. Evaluating Gulf of Maine macroalgae as a source of nutrient minerals for animal feed. Comparative Nutrition Society 2024 Symposium.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Posman, K. July 30, 2024. Investigating the transformation of the antimethanogenic feed additive bromoform in rumen fluid, using short term in vitro incubations. Comparative Nutrition Society 2024 Symposium.


Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:This list has been expanded from project initiation, check boxes were addressed directly in Year 2 (those marked with o will be approached in Year 3): x Dairy production, distribution, and processing industry x Dairy consumers (e.g., retailers, food service industry, other major end-users) x Algae producers, harvesters, processors, distributors x Animal feed, supplement producers and distributors x Aquaculture regulatory bodies (from municipal to federal) x General public x Policy makers (e.g., USDA-NOAA Working Group on Research for Farming of Kelp and Seagrass, Maine Climate Council) o Carbon market/offset certifiers and consultants x Lab testing facilities for feed and food quality x Aquaculture investors x Veterinarians and Dairy Nutritionists x Academics x Feed and dairy regulatory bodies (e.g., FDA, NOSB, MOFGA) x State-wide and federal carbon budgeting efforts x Wild-capture fisheries industries seeking diversification (e.g., the Maine lobster industry) x K-5 students x Undergraduate students x Undergraduate courses x Dairy and livestock focused Extension organizationx x Algae growing, processing, biorefinery, and packaging equipment manufacturers x Dairy and feed cooperatives, grain firms, supplement firms o Milk Stabilization Price Program administrators Changes/Problems:Our project had two major problems in the second year of our award, each of which caused unexpected delays, deviations from the research schedule, and significant impacts on the rate of expenditure. Despite these challenges, we still achieved important milestones and have set a new promising course for Coast-Cow-Consumer (C3) that has led to even deeper engagement with critical stakeholders. 1) Transition of a coPD: The first major change was that a co-PD, Sabrina Greenwood, left her position at the University of Vermont (UVM) to move to Australia and become a Principal Research Scientist with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia's National Science agency. This shift, while wonderful for Dr. Greenwood's career progress, meant that our C3 team had to navigate reallocating funds from UVM to the William H. Miner Institute to conduct the remaining macro- and micro-algae animal feeding trials for years two and three of the award (Miner is already slated to do trials in year 4). This reallocation was achieved by simply reducing the obligation of funds to UVM commensurate with the expenditures that were explicit to Greenwoods activities, and increasing the obligated amounts to Miner Institute. Concomitantly, we needed to reposition the two PhD students Greenwood had been advising and related equipment (e.g., the GreenFeed System) to ensure continuity in progress towards project goals. Gift Omoruyi will remain a Ph.D. graduating from UVM, but she is now directly supervised by Sarah Morrison at the Miner Institute, and will conduct her research on the Miner Institute premises. Wil Sims has transferred his degree process to the University of New Hampshire (UNH), where he is now supervised by Andre Brito. Each student will still have access to travel funds and materials and supplies as needed to execute their research activities and complete their degrees. These changes required investment of time and additional resources of the C3 administrative team to execute, and have set each student back in their respective graduation timeline. The entire C3 team - science and admin - is working hard to ensure these students feel supported as they navigate this hiccup. 2) FDA Policy Changes: The second major challenge revolves around anticipated changes in FDA policies and procedures. Historically, those researching seaweed as livestock feed additives have focused solely on commercially produced dried, milled seaweeds already listed by the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). In these cases, AAFCO has approved dried kelp from the families Laminariaceae and Fucaceae, and other brown algal families, as well as a limited number of red and green seaweed species for use as ingredients in livestock feed. Presumably, seaweeds are added to livestock feed to provide minerals and trace elements that are nutritionally important. However, in order to conduct research on novel seaweed species (e.g., Asparagopsis taxiformis), or seaweeds prepared in a new fashion for more cost-effective shelf stability and added value (e.g., fermentation of sugar kelp), and for a new purpose that is not nutritional in nature (e.g., to suppress enteric methane emissions) in milk-producing animals, research teams must seek a Food Use Authorization (FUA) with FDA to ensure that the milk is safe to enter the food system, or seek self-determination as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). It was only through close partnerships with our advisory team members - and NutraSteward in particular - that we became fully cognizant of the intricacies of this process. Peer-reviewed literature does not report whether FUAs were obtained, and this is a terrible oversight for transparency in the scientific community. In April 2023, the C3 team submitted a FUA for an anticipated feed trial with fermented, "boosted" (with bioactive ingredient) sugar kelp at UNH scheduled to start in Fall 2023, to ensure sufficient time (~6 months) for review and discussions with FDA officials. Although we are using an AAFCO approved seaweed species, our novel feed additive is prepared using new protocols, and for a currently unapproved mode of action: targeted changes to the rumen microbiome, namely reducing methanogen populations and activity. During the course of reviewing our application, and others, FDA made the decision that feed additives that change livestock rumen function and/or the microbial community composition cannot be categorized as a nutritional feed ingredient, and must be categorized as a drug, despite not combating a specific disease. This categorization forced our FUA application down an arduous, lengthy (~10 years), and extremely cost-prohibitive (~$500K) review process. While we can seek exemptions for the fees, this lengthens the research timeline considerably and beyond the scope of the USDA funded C3 research program. Historically, other academic research institutions have navigated these hurdles by either resorting to disposing of milk produced during the trial, or seeking state-level exemptions to allow research to continue and the milk to enter the food system. These state level exemptions have, by-and-large, ceased because of a general recognition that bulk milk and/or milk components are routinely shipped across state geographic boundaries to processors nationwide. This means the only pathway currently available to conduct research on novel feed additives is to dispose of milk. Milk "dumping" is expensive to the research farm managers for several reasons: the price of the tossed milk needs to be recompensed, the labor involved in separating milk produced from the research animals from the bulk tank is considerable, the potential for reduced future quotas is debilitating, and the public perception of milk dumping is potentially damaging to the reputation of the research institute. There also could be environmental implications to milk dumping, and proper disposal of milk may be necessary to minimize impact to local water sources or soils. UVM is unwilling to entertain this option. Miner Institute was willing to conduct a limited trial (only 3 cows) for the time-being to strengthen evidence of safety of the feed additive for our pending FUA. While not statistically conclusive, the data gained from this preliminary trial were invaluable for designing our upcoming trials. Currently, we are navigating these options with UNH, and seeking additional funds from Lactalis American Group, Inc. to cover the additional costs of milk dumping in order to proceed with a full-size feeding trial anticipated in February/March 2024. In the interim, the IFEED Act has been introduced in the senate (S.1842) over the summer and describes a zootechnical categorization of feed additives that is more suitable for anti-methanogenic supplements, and would, in theory, follow the similar shorter and less cost-prohibitive pathway as nutritional feed ingredients. A sister bill was just introduced in the House in early December. It is possible that the new language will be available before our next in vivo trial at UNH, but we are, as stated above, moving forward with a milk dumping option unless and until we can seek a FUA via the zootechnical pathway. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? First Friday Research Forum: What: An hour time-slot in which project members convene to discuss related research topics from any branch of the transdisciplinary program. Typical format could be a 40-minute seminar style presentation, followed by moderated Q&A, or a series of shorter 15-minute presentations, or a recent journal article discussion. Why: To learn more about our collective research capacity, particularly in the early phases of the research program. To help us each peek outside of our silos. Later content may shift to suit our project needs, and include invited guest speakers as we move along. Who: The entire C3 project membership is invited to attend. Presenters will be identified by the First Friday Forum Coordinator who will also introduce speakers and mediate Q&A, unless a guest speaker has been invited by an alternative host; Zoom recordings posted to our YouTuber channel by project coordinator. Where: Recorded and live Zoom (link is provided in calendar invite) When: First Friday afternoon of every month, 1pm EST, recording made available the following week. List of topics and speakers in Year 2 of the award (*guest speakers): 10/07/2022 Michael Donihue - Applied economics of the C3 project 11/04/2022 Kara Kugelmeyer - Live demonstration of Mendeley as a C3 resource 12/02/2022 Susan Powers, Shane Rogers, Avery Paradis - Life Cycle Assessment for the C3 project 01/06/2023 Struan Coleman* - Quantifying baseline costs and cataloging potential optimization strategies for kelp aquaculture carbon dioxide removal 02/03/2023 Kristen Davis* - The MacroAlgae Cultivation MODeling System (MACMODS): A numerical tool to support the future of seaweed farming - farm design, siting, and environmental feedbacks 03/04/2023 Richard Kersbergen - Dairy farm feeding systems...every farm is a little unique 04/07/2023 David Conner, Rick Welsh, Jennifer Meredith - Social Science and C3: methods and tools for engagement and analysis 05/05/2023 Julia George, Joey Barrett, Jue Wang, Luis Baez, Kendall Schenck - Spring 2023 Undergraduate Intern Presentations 06/02/2023 Hannah Blossom - The wonders of microalgae and their vast potential 08/04/2023 Julie Decker* - The Alaska Mariculture Initiative Field Trips for team members: Tour of North American Kelp manufacturing facility (Samantha deGroff, Marketing & Project Coordinator and Darren Hayes, Research Director, Waldoboro, ME) for ~40 Colby undergraduate students (Econ and Env. Sciences) to see liquid extraction and drying processes, April 6, 2023 Tour of the Wolfe's Neck Farm (Freeport, ME). Tour of dairy operations with a focus on C3 involvement for 15 Colby College undergraduate students enrolled in an ES270 Applied Ecology course, March 30, 2023 Tour of Flood Brothers Farm, LLC (Jenni Tilton Flood, Clinton, ME). Tour of robotic milking parlor, dairy barn, and manure lagoons. Select participants from Colby College and Bigelow Laboratory attended, including a postdoc and 3 undergraduate students, June 13, 2023 Tours during Year 2 In person Annual Retreat (July 18-21, 2023; 32 C3 participants): Tour of Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County (hosted by Stefan Grimberg, Co-PD and Malorie Jordan, Dairy Educator, Canton, NY), July 19, 2023 Tour of Poulin Grain feed mill (hosted by Dave Barton, Mill Manager, Canton, NY), July 19, 2023 Tour of Stauffer Farm anaerobic digester (hosted by Jon Curry, LF BioEnergy Director of Operations, North Lawrence, NY), July 20, 2023 Tour of W.H. Miner Institute (hosted by Sarah Morrison, Co-PD, Chazy, NY), July 20, 2023 Expert-led discussions Breakout session discussions during second annual in-person retreat (July, 2023) on project focal points including a) elemental analyses, b) data flow across disciplines, c) approaches to query socioeconomic data, d) frequently asked questions about the project, e) extension and education initiatives Topical Poster Session consisting of 12 presentations from undergraduate, graduate and PhD students during in-person retreat Graduate Student Trainings Coast-Cow-Consumer Leadership Council Training and Service (Diana Reyes Gomez, Gift Omoruyi) Graduate student training with GaBi LCA software rep. GreenFeed online training - February 14,2023 (UVM GreenFeed online training with C-Lock Inc with Chris Dieball) GreenFeed System Training for cows in Miner Institute herd, December 2022 and July 2023 (Gift Omoruyi, Hannah Jones, Jered Green) Autumn Moen (MS candidate, UVM) gained experience interviewing and coding qualitative data, 2022-2023 Michelle Tynan completed her MS degree Alex Burt, May-July 2023, Elemental Composition of Microalgae for Use as a Food Supplement for Dairy Cows, undergraduate internship training Avery Paradis (MS student), Rebekah Shaummann (BS student), and Seyed Mohammadali Molayzahedi (PhD Student) received one-on-one mentoring with Prof. Susan Powers and Prof. Shane Rogers Philip Hekeler (MS Student) received one-on-one mentoring with Prof. Stefan Grimberg Professional Development UC Davis 2023 State of the Science Summit: Feed Strategies to Reduce Enteric Emissions - May 2-3, 2023 (Nichole Price, PD; Steve Archer, co-pD; Susan Powers, co-PD; Shane Rogers, co-PD; Avery Paradis, graduate student; Seyed Mohammadali Molayzahedi graduate student) Multi-day workshop on development of carbon credits for Bigelow Laboratory staff members, hosted by TREES Consulting - November 7-10, 2022 Training in Algal Culturing Techniques and Microalgae Mass Culturing Techniques courses (https://ncma.bigelow.org/training-courses) at Bigelow Laboratory National Center for Marine Microbiota and Algae for a postdoc, a master's student, and an undergraduate intern. - April 16-21, 2023 and April 23-25, 2023, respectively How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Workshops, Public Speaking, Farmer Days, Stakeholder Engagement Hakai Magazine kelp farming dialogue and subsequent session with early career ocean professionals (ECOPs) on 04/11/2023; 1,039 registered ahead of the event; 463 participants joined the Zoom; 31 watched live on YouTube; 81 participants also joined the ECOP session University of New England Marine Science Alumni Panel on 11/02/2022 - Elena Shippey on C3 project and research goals; 20 undergraduate marine science student attendees Maine Fishermen's Forum in Rockport, ME - 03/03/2023 representation from Michael Donihue, PhD, via Maine Seaweed Council at Trade Show tabling event; distributed trifold resource on project (see other products) National Seaweed Symposium in Portland, ME - 04/26/2023 project representation at Seaweed Showcase tabling event; distributed printed C3 trifolds and handouts of the newly developed macroalgal primer, and presented poster "Coast to Cow to Consumer: Marine algae use to enhance milk production, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and recover nutrients" Approximately 100 5th/6th graders from the Canton middle school have visited the CCE Learning farm to learn about anaerobic digestion of farm and food waste and the growth of microalgae. In addition to the middle school students 75 students (K-12) have participated in tours directly at the CCE farm Bigelow Laboratory Café Sci in East Boothbay, ME - 08/15/2023 public forum presentation from Nichole Price, PhD, titled "Coast-Cow-Consumer: Using Algae to Reduce the Dairy Carbon Hoofprint and Promote Rural Prosperity", 150 attendees in person, 193 views on YouTube Meredith, April 2023, 8 student presentations at Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, discussed independent student research related to the project, open to public Huo, G., Lane, J., Mitchell, C., & Gallo, T. April 27, 2023. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, Seaweed Harvest Supply Chain Comparison (presentation) Wims, H., Wong, E., & Kronenwetter, S. April 27, 2023. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, Dairy Consumers' WTP for Methane Suppression (presentation) Kane, J., Mayer, E. Merkle, C., & Bassett, S. April 27, 2023. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, Social License to Operate for Seaweed Aquaculture (presentation) English, N., Frykman, O., Nelson, L., & Barrett, J. April 27, 2023. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, Coastal Community Wellbeing and Working Waterfronts (presentation) Rapperport, B., Shelton, S., Wennrich, J., & Gramaglia, S. April 27, 2023. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, Coastal Community Wellbeing and Working Waterfronts (presentation) Lobon, L., Niemiec, B., & Hazzard, S. April 27, 2023. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, Coastal Community Wellbeing and Working Waterfronts (presentation) Rubin, G., Swann, S., & Goodman-Leong, J. April 27, 2023. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, Dairy Consumers' WTP for Methane Suppression (presentation) Hunter, B., Premtaj, C., Thors, R., Hapward, C. April 27, 2023. Colby Liberal Arts Symposium, Seaweed Harvest Supply Chain Comparison (presentation) Various tours or webinars hosted by Wolfe's Neck Center that brought guests by C3 related kiosks and posters for interactive Q&A Pasture walk for 10 participants of the New England Grazing Network, May 8, 2023 Pasture walk for 10 participants at UMaine Extension, July 7, 2023 Farm tour for 30 participants from the RISD School of design, July 20, 2023 Farm tour for 10 interns of the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, August 2, 2023 OpenTEAM in-depth learning series/webinar when linkages to C3 program discussed on June 15, 2023, 52 participants Wolfe's Neck Center electronic communications through newsletters distributed to over 65 OpenTEAM organizations and more than 250 professionals, describing C3 activities. Tynan, M.K*. December 2, 2022. Northeast Dairy Magazine "Will the Dairy and Seaweed Industries in the Northeast Work Together to Reach Net-Zero?" (publication)(NIFA Acknowledged) George, J., Hekeler, P.*, & Grimberg, S. February 6-8, 2023. Annual Meeting of the New York Water Environment Association Does Kelp in the Cow's Food Ration Impact the Cow's Manure Biodegradability? (presentation)(NIFA acknowledged) Earned MEDIA NPR MPBN Maine Calling radio panel with Nichole Price on 9/7/2022 titled "Maine's role in the future of the global seaweed industry" https://www.mainepublic.org/show/maine-calling/2022-09-07/maines-role-in-the-future-of-the-global-seaweed-industry Country Folks web article released on 9/23/2022 titled "Looking to the seas for feed" https://countryfolks.com/looking-to-the-seas-for-feed/ News Center Maine web article release on 9/26/2022 titled "Kelp could play a crucial role in trapping carbon emissions from our atmosphere" https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/special-reports/maines-changing-climate/kelp-farm-carbon-emissions/97-15831fc6-6c6a-447f-bb8e-479c74a065ad WAGM television feature on 10/25/2022 titled "Maine sustainable dairy product one of 15 awarded funds by USDA" https://www.wagmtv.com/2021/10/25/maine-sustainable-dairy-project-one-15-awarded-funds-by-usda/ The Science Writer web article released on 12/15/2022 titled "The Seaweed Solution: A climate change treatment for coastal Maine?" https://www.thesciencewriter.org/resilience-stories/seaweed-solution-for-coastal-maine Investable Oceans web coverage on 12/23/2023 amplifying Syracuse University News press release titled "Can Kelp Help? Research Examines Dairy Farmer, Dairy Nutritionist Attitudes on Adding Feed Additive to Cut Methane Emissions" https://www.investableoceans.com/blogs/insights/can-kelp-help-research-examines-dairy-farmer-dairy-nutritionist-attitudes-on-adding-feed-additive-to-cut-methane-emissions Aquaculture Research Institute web article release on 03/07/2023 titled "Sustainable Aquaculture in Maine: Research, Innovation, and Workforce Development" https://umaine.edu/aquaculture/2023/03/07/6169/ Maine Science Podcast with Kevin Posman on 04/06/2023 titled "A conversation with Kevin Posman, Senior Research Associate at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences" https://maine-science-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/kevin-posman-biogeochemistry What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In line with our initial timeline and schedule of milestones submitted with the original proposal, year 3 of the Coast-Cow-Consumer research program will shift focus to exploration of microalgae feed additive options. This effort is bifurcated into two efforts that will eventually conjoin as a singular feed additive: microalgae strains identified for nutritional value, and strains identified for their antimethanogenic properties. Limited testing at the bench scale in year 2 has pointed our research efforts in a clear direction of inquiry to tackle in Year 3. Any promising, new strains identified from our in vitro 'bottle herd' can also be examined more deeply for production capacity in our prototype photobioreactors and with key stakeholder partners (e.g., Global Algae). Alongside the C3 team research endeavors, we are continuing to recruit additional advisory panel members, particularly from the small pool of companies in the US that are generating microalgae food and feed products, to help guide our efforts. Another major series of activities planned for year 3 are continued animal feeding trials. Please see the Challenges/Problems section to understand the current policy and regulatory limitations C3 is experiencing as we attempt to work with truly novel algal feed additives. Our current approach will be to conduct trials in which we dispose of milk, and we are actively seeking companion funding to support the unanticipated expenses associated with this process. These animal trials will be conducted at both the University of New Hampshire and the Miner Institute, NY. Each trial will be executed with an eye to reporting upon any and all toxicity or residue issues with the milk produced (we don't anticipate any), to further support our pending Food Use Authorization applications pending at FDA. By the end of year 2, our C3 team that is focused on life cycle assessment development had achieved the major milestone of finalizing a draft base model for dairy farms across the US and within specific regions using comprehensive quantitative analyses of peer-reviewed LCAs. In year 3, our next endeavor is to add more complexity to this base model via direct inclusion of the outputs of an updated Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM), which will include nutrient flows and impacts to rumen performance. Our version of the IFSM model will also be used to do sensitivity analysis to determine which variables are most critical for GHG and other emissions estimates. Specifically, we will imbed yet another layer of nuance by incorporating details from our in vitro assays to treatment-driven changes in the rumen microbiome, and use outputs from a rumen-specific community model as inputs for the modified IFSM. Influence on production of volatile fatty acids and methane, resultant shifts in feed efficiencies, the exact mode of action of the bioactive on methanogens, and any delays in impacts to methanogens or the possibility of adaptation of these bacteria to bioactive compounds, etc., continues to be an active area of research for our C3 group, and for others working in this research space. Our newly developed quantitative PCR primer probes for methanogens will shed light on the rumen model development, as well. Finally, we have scheduled an intensive series of targeted interactions with key decision makers in year 3 of the award. We will be presenting preliminary results at a series of in-person or hybrid workshops and convenings where the intended audience is livestock feed company representatives, animal nutritionists, veterinarians, and the like. These already scheduled and advertised convenings will serve three specific purposes: 1) to inform the audience of the latest developments in our research program, 2) to recruit additional advisory panel members or stakeholder partners to C3 and broaden the spectrum of our network beyond the northeast region, and 3) to provide an opportunity for the social scientists and economists affiliated with C3 to conduct surveys, focus groups, and follow-on interviews with willing attendees.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Obj 1 Activities Tested seaweed processing influence on iodine (e.g., fermentation), other trace metals, and enzyme composition Tested bioactive generation using organic oxidants and seaweed substrates to create anti-methane bioactive with organic acids Tested shelf-stability tests of novel additives Soil incubation exps with manure collected during seaweed feeding trial 3-4 Biomethane Potential (BMP) exps with manure from two animal trials Operated two prototype photobioreactors connected to prototype anaerobic digestion system; exps on effluent quantity to fertilize microalgae growth Developed a novel qPCR assay for methanogens Designed and executed two palatability assays for seaweed feeds and dairy cattle Executed a small, three animal feeding trial (with milk disposal) to evaluate if residues appear in milk and/or manure Data Analyses of I, Br, Se, and other micronutrient content of macro- and microalgae following rinsing, blanching, and processing, in as-fed additive products, in TMR, GreenFeed pellet, and in milk and manure As, Pb, and Cd in sugar kelp and rockweed "kelp meal" measured as part of NIST Data Quality Assurance Program Halogenated compound concentrations (e.g., bromoform, dibromoethane, etc.) in TMR, additive, milk, and manure CH4 emissions and VFAs from in vitro trials From in vivo trials: Dry matter intake; Milk yield and milk composition (fat, protein, lactose); Feed efficiency & preference; Body weight and body condition score; Enteric gas emissions (CH4, H2) as production, intensity, and yield Analyzed soil greenhouse gas fluxes (CO2, CH4, N20) and nutrient cycling Gene copy # of methanogens in exp rumen populations Growth rates of microalgae in prototype bioreactors Results Our method of "boosting" fermented seaweeds to enhance bioactive compounds reduced enteric CH4 emissions in vitro and in vivo No residues of halogenated compounds were detected in milk Manure from seaweed-fed cows reduced soil emissions of CO2 but had no effect on CH4 and N2O generation Initial BMP tests indicate no difference in BMP of manure from cows with inclusion of Chondrus, but potentially from boosted kelp Microalgae growth rates and population size doubling times is enhanced by anaerobic digester (AD) effluent Key outcomes Microalgae photobioreactors successful using power and nutrients supplied by a pilot scale AD Seaweed supplements did not have downstream agroecosystem consequences via alteration of manure quality Processing of seaweeds can help reduce I and enhance bioactive compounds. Titration of CBrH3/CBr2H2 concentrations can reduce enteric CH4 emissions without risking residues in milk/manure, but shelf stability is challenging Mode of action and any lag times in effects can be more deeply explored with methanogen qPCR primer sets Obj 2 Activities Interviews of feed suppliers and Maine Milk Pricing regulatory experts to understand the current market for algae-based dairy supplements Surveys of livestock nutritionists to understand hesitations or concerns in recommending seaweed supplements Quantitative review of 25 relevant macroalgae LCAs to compare CO2 generated per kg dry weight seaweed harvested Preliminary 30 in person consumer surveys at Waterville, ME Farmer's Market to finalize and conduct 450 surveys online on general consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for "CH4-free" milk Spatial analysis of permitted seaweed aquaculture lease sites in Alaska and Maine, and Maine coastal community socioeconomic indicators (from U.S. Census Bureau data) Data Summary of seaweed feed additive firm claims from vendor websites; compiled time series on mention of algae as feed supplement in popular press Data censusing interviews with each PI to understand processes, formats, data unit, collection, cleaning etc., to build the C3 data repository Example farm operations data from the Miner Institute was provided for IFSM tool modeling WTP metrics from extensive surveys compiled GPS coordinates of permitted seaweed aquaculture sites, state of proximal working waterfront infrastructure, and socioeconomic indices of local town population Comparative CO2 footprint estimates of scaled Asparagopsis taxiformis photobioreactor land-based cultivation to support LCA scenarios to compare with ocean-grown kelp Results Preliminary LCA indicates that GHG benefits of dietary seaweed supplements (1% dry matter inclusion rate, 80% reduction in GHG) on dairy farms far exceed GHG emissions associated with coastal sugar kelp aquaculture, regardless of how seaweed is processed (dried & milled or fermented) or grown (ocean or land-based) Maine farmers rarely capture a premium on milk pricing, so return on investment into new feed additives will unlikely be realized through milk quality or yield Seaweed aquaculture only significantly shifts income diversity in coastal Maine if prices of bulk biomass seaweed rises 50% and production expands 100% Willingness to pay for CH4-free milk is driven by parents/environmentally conscious consumers. Key outcomes Produced an improved coastal and land-based seaweed aquaculture LCA Conventional farmers will apply a new additive if it is recommended by a trusted advisor (nutritionist) and it generates ROI in the form of reduced veterinary costs, access to carbon markets, and/or increased milk yield or quality Detailed ReadMe and consistent keyword terminology for cross-referencing experiments and data types will be critical to make C3 Team database user-friendly Obj 3 Activities Developed undergraduate curriculum in the Environmental Sciences Dept. at Colby College (9 students, lecture and lab) focused on how cutting edge research informs policy and decision making (ES270 Applied Ecology) Bigelow Laboratory Café Code summer series of coding tutorials for undergraduates summer interns given by Bigelow staff 30 Colby students participated in experiential learning/independent research in EC231 Environmental Economics, students ranged from sophomores to seniors 3 posters were presented at the Colby Undergraduate Student Research Retreat Jan Plan short course (13 students) JP297Dj Ocean Forecasting: AI, Ecology, and Data Justice on the Seas on predicting marine resources (e.g., aquaculture) response to changing climate and influence on social issues like food security and environmental justice 20 undergraduates participated in C3 experiential learning internships across all partnering institutions Distributed two new project goals trifold at engagement events Dozens of speaking engagements, experiential tours, and earned media (see section Vc) Student generated "Story Maps" on milk pricing, coastal community vulnerability, aquaculture leasing Social Network Analyses Data Number of participants in student and outreach activities Surveys on undergraduate student intern experiences Surveys on early career scientist career development needs Number of graduate students filing theses/dissertations and placements in related professional positions Nodes of connection between project participants and across external stakeholders Results ~75 undergraduates affiliated with C3 in year 2; Undergraduate students working on the C3 project have reported gains in research knowledge and skills during their internship. 88% of surveyed students report that they are now more likely to pursue additional opportunities to advance their education/career Thousands of general public reached through earned media, interactive learning features at Wolfe's Neck Center and Cornell Cooperative Extension, and targeted public speaking events Overall, C3 has identified 187 total collaborative relationships, the majority of which were "new" and established due to working on the C3 project (n=113, 60.4%) Key outcomes We are building our stakeholder group that will be engaged in outreach activities coinciding with initiation of the feeding trials Students are really energized by this solutions-based research project!

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Reyes, D.C.*, Meredith, J., Puro, L., Berry, K., Kersbergen, R., Soder, K.J., Quigley, C., Donihue, M., Cox, D., Price, N.N., et al. (2023). Maine organic dairy producers receptiveness to seaweed supplementation and effect of Chondrus crispus on enteric methane emissions in lactating cows. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 10:1153097. doi:10.3389/fvets.2023.1153097
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Wu, J.�, Rogers, S.W, Schaummann, R., & Price, N.(2023) Comparison of multiple macroalgae cultivation systems and end-use strategies of Saccharina latissima and Gracilaria tikvahiae based upon techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment. Sustainability 15 (15), 12072
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Arndt, K.A.�, Reyes, D.C.*, Quigley, C., Brito, A.F., Price, N., & Contosta, A.R. Seaweed supplementation to organic dairy cows may reduce climate impact of manure in pasture soils during a laboratory incubation. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment, 2023, published online https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.12082
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Schutt, E.*, Francolini, R.*, Price, N., Olson, Z., & Byron, C. (2023). Supporting ecosystem services of habitat and biodiversity in temperate seaweed (Saccharina spp.) farms. Marine Environmental Research 191(106162) doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106162
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Fujita, R., Augyte, S., Bender, J., Brittingham, P., Buschmann, A.H., Chalfin, M., Collins, J., Davis, K.A., Gallagher, J.B., Gentry, R., et al. (2023). Seaweed blue carbon: Ready? Or Not? Marine Policy 155: 105747 doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105747
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2023 Citation: Carlos M. Duarte, Antonio Delgado-Huertas, Elisa Marti, Beat Gasser, Isidro San Martin, Alexandra Cousteau, Fritz Neumeyer, Megan Reilly-Cayten, Joshua Boyce, Tomohiro Kuwae, Masakazu Hori,Toshihiro Miyajim, Nichole N. Price, Suzanne Arnold, Aurora M. Ricart, Simon Davis, Noumie Surugau, Al-Jeria Abdul, Jiaping Wu, Xi Xiao, Ik Kyo Chung, Chang Geun Choi, Calvyn F.A. Sondak, Hatim Albasri, Dorte Krause-Jensen, Annette Bruhn, Teis Boderskov, Kasper Hancke, Jon Funderud, Ana R. Borrero-Santiago, Fred Pascal, Paul Joanne, Lanto Ranivoarivelo, William T. Collins, Jennifer Clark, Juan Fermin Gutierrez, Ricardo Riquelme, Marcela Avila, Peter I. Macreadie, and Pere Masque. Carbon Burial in Sediments below Seaweed Farms Nature Climate Change
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Almeida, K. V., E. Jordan, P. S. Erickson, and A. F. Brito. "Evaluating taste preference of different sources of Ascophyllum nodosum meal in dairy heifers." Journal of Dairy Science Communications (2023).
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Tynan, M.K., 2023. Why Feed Seaweed? Tacit and Codified Knowledge Networks in the Dairy Industry (Masters Thesis, Syracuse University, Rick Welsh advisor)
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Driemel, A. W. (2023). The Effects Of Processed Seaweed Supplements On Rumen Fermentation And Methane Production In Vitro. (Masters Thesis, University of Vermont, Sabrina Greenwood advisor)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Price, N.N. February 21, 2023. International Seaweed Symposium Developing tools and processes to measure, report, and verify carbon uptake, deposition, and sequestration rates on seaweed farms
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Wu, J.�, Rogers, S.W., Schaummann, R., & Price, N. February 21, 2023. International Seaweed Symposium Seaweed cultivation for nutrient management to supplement to nutrient removal processes in wastewater treatment
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Meredith, J. February 26, 2023. Aquaculture America The capacity of seaweed aquaculture to diversify rural livelihoods on the coast of Maine
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Paradis, A*. March 21, 2023. CNY Air & Waste Management Association 25th Annual Technical Conference Toxicity of Heavy Metals in Supplemented Mixed Dairy Cattle Feed (TOP PRIZE BEST RESEARCH PRES)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Welsh, R., Tynan, M.*, Fitzgerald, R.*, Greenwood, S., Conner, D., Price, N., Quigley, C., & Moen, A*. March 23-27, 2023. Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers Dairy Nutritionists Knowledge of Algae-Based Feed Supplements to Improve Herd Health and Reduce Methanogenesis
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Paradis, A.* & Molayzahedi, S.M*. April 15, 2023. Clarkson University Research and Project Showcase Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Milk Production
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Driemel, A*. April 20, 2023. Masters Thesis Defense in Animal Science, UVM (Greenwood advisor). The effects of processed seaweed supplements on rumen fermentation and methane production in vitro
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Posman, K. April 27, 2023. National Seaweed Symposium Coast to Cow to Consumer: feeding seaweeds to dairy cows to enhance milk production and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Omoruyi, G*. May 5, 2023. Graduate Seminar Presentation to the University of Vermont, Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences An Overview Of Macroalgae Inclusion In Dairy Diets
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Schaummann, R. April 14, 2023. Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Clarkson University (Rogers advisor). Land-based Cultivation of Asparagopsis taxiformis for Antimethanogenic Diet Supplement in US Cattle
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Molayzahedi, S.M*. July 27, 2023. Clarkson University Research and Project Showcase Mitigating climate change impacts of the milk production industry
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: D. C. Reyes, K. R. Johnston, K. V. Almeida, A. Konopka, M. A. Rahman, E. A. Cruz, N. Price, P. E. Erickson, and A. F. Brito June, 2023. American Dairy Science Association Annual Meeting. Animal Health 2 2231 Feeding different iodine sources to transition dairy cows: Effects on production performance and thyroid hormones (won graduate sustainability prize)


Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:This list has been expanded from project initiation, boldedwere addressed directly in Year 1: Dairy production, distribution, and processing industry Dairy consumers (e.g., retailers, food service industry, other major end-users) Algae producers, harvesters, processors, distributors Animal feed, supplement producers and distributors Aquaculture regulatory bodies (from municipal to federal) General public Policy makers (e.g., USDA-NOAA Working Group on Research for Farming of Kelp and Seagrass, Maine Climate Council) Carbon market/offset certifiers and consultants Lab testing facilities for feed and food quality Aquaculture investors Veterinarians and Dairy Nutritionists Academics Feed and dairy regulatory bodies (e.g., FDA, NOSB, MOFGA) State-wide and federal carbon budgeting efforts Wild-capture fisheries industries seeking diversification (e.g., the Maine lobster industry) Algae growing, processing, biorefinery, and packaging equipment manufacturers Dairy and feed cooperatives, grain firms, supplement firms Milk Stabilization Price Program administrators Changes/Problems:TURNOVER As is the case with any project involving a large team of scientists in various career development stages, turnover is to be expected. We have had two key postdocs successfully move on to the next stage in their career: one was involved with the life cycle assessment efforts, the other was leading some of the nutrient recycling work. Replacing these positions has been particularly challenging during this national postdoc shortage (Langin, K., 2022. US labs face severe postdoc shortage. Science, 376(6600), pp.1369-1370). We are considering recruiting graduate students and contracting some work to prevent any significant deviations from the research schedule or project goals. We have also recruited internationally for postdocs and have hired two successfully, but VISA applications have slowed their start dates. We are navigating through replacing postdocs fairly comprehensively thus far, but have also just been notified that a co-project director will be leaving the current position at an American academic institution and moving abroad, making continued collaboration with this project less effective. Processes are underway to ensure that the graduate students remaining in the US and who are affiliated with Coast-Cow-Consumer project remain financially and academically supported. We are considering several scenarios for engaging another investigator that may result in reallocation of funds during year 2. UNEXPECTED OUTCOMES Also as is the case with large research efforts, unexpected outcomes can shift focus on particular objectives. We have long since shied away from the concept of finding a single, "silver bullet" alga that can greatly suppress enteric methane emissions AND be cost-effective and produced at scale; however, we originally were hoping to find several candidates. Our latest research has indicated that the processing and preparation of the algae may actually be the most critical piece - and irrespective of particular species or strains - to 'boost' generation of bioactive compounds, 'rinse' algae of those elements that are naturally accumulated in concentrations approaching toxicity for cows, and shrink the carbon footprint of the algae-base additive production; the proposed processing techniques may also be able to be organic certified. We have refocused efforts on rinsing/blanching and then ensiling/fermenting/pickling the algae with select inoculants to generate a product that meets several needs, and is shelf stable. While we are very excited about this prospect, it has meant that we have had to develop new protocols and invest in new large-scale equipment to start our animal trials a few months later than we'd hoped. TRIPLE PANDEMIC COVID and now the flu, hand-foot-and-mouth, and RSV epidemics in the Northeastern US continue to disrupt the workforce - and particularly those with young children in daycare and school settings; many facilities have intermittently closed due to lack of care providers, teachers, or overall student body. Frankly, I think every team member has been directly impacted at some point during our first year and has undergone extensive absences from work as a result of personal health or family care needs. We continuously try to evaluate overall resource needs and accommodate remote working options as is feasible. Most team members are comfortable with travel and in-person interactions, but we take every precaution (masking, outside meetings when feasible) when engaging in person as is possible and acceptable to the membership. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. First Friday Research Forum: What: An hour time-slot in which project members convene to discuss related research topics from any branch of the transdisciplinary program. Typical format could be a 40-minute seminar style presentation, followed by moderated Q&A, or a series of shorter 15-minute presentations, or a recent journal article discussion. Why: To learn more about our collective research capacity, particularly in the early phases of the research program. To help us each peek outside of our silos. Later content may shift to suit our project needs, and include invited guest speakers as we move along. Who: The entire C3 project membership is invited to attend. Presenters will be identified by the First Friday Forum Coordinator who will also introduce speakers and mediate Q&A, unless a guest speaker has been invited by an alternative host; Zoom recordings posted to our YouTuber channel by project coordinator. Where: Recorded and live Zoom (link is provided in calendar invite) When: First Friday afternoon of every month, 1pm EST, recording made available the following week. List of topics thus far (*guest speakers): 03/04/2022 Jingjing Wu - Life Cycle Assessment contributions 04/01/2022 Mike Lomas - Considerations in the production of microalgae in bioreactors 05/06/2022 Steve Archer, Carmen Cartisano, Gabrielle Iacono, Kevin Posman, Dave Emerson, Nichole Price - Algal bioactives: some case studies, how we analyse their composition and content and test for anti-methane properties 06/03/2022 Joe McFadden*, Sarah Morrison - measuring methane and other gases commercially 07/01/2022 Nick Record - Reproducible Research and Data Management 08/5/2022 Susan Powers, Steve Archer - How to estimate the global warming potential of methane 2. Field Trips for team members Tours of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences (PD Price, East Boothbay, ME), The Wolfe's Neck Center Dairy production facility (Executive Director, David Herring, Brunswick, ME), SOURCE, Inc. seaweed processing facility (Bonnie Tobey - operations manager and President, Maine Seaweed Council, Brunswick, ME) Feed mill Goldstar Feeds (Michele Bennett, Dairy Specialist and Andy Dugan, Vice President) Augusta, ME Jason and Joy Ray of Ray Family Farms, West Gardiner, ME https://rayfamilyfarmsia.com/about-us Misty Meadows Farm Clinton, ME, tour by Rick Kersbergen, owned and operated by John and Belinda Stoughton and Thomas and Kimberly Wright. ?3. ?Expert-led discussions Breakout session discussions during first annual in-person retreat (July, 2022) on: microalgae cultivation on a farm; stakeholder engagement; scaling up - from microscale benchtop to local, regional, and global levels; algae supplements - snake oil or verified feeding strategy access to Dairy and Seaweed extension officers 4. Topical Poster session consisting of 16 presentations from undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D students 5. Training in macroalgae cultivation Postdoc Jingjing stay at Bigelow - lab training and macroalgae cultivation - relevance to LCA scoping Student developed seaweed primer developed for dairy farmers 6. Graduate Student trainings Leadership (Diana Carolina Reyes Gomez) Use of GreenFeed System - grad students at UNH, UVM, and Miner all received professional training from C-Lock Systems Use of continuous fermenters - several master's students and PhDs trained at UVM Postdoc, graduates, and undergraduate students trained on LCA software systems How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?WORKSHOPS, PUBLIC SPEAKING, FARMER DAYS, STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT USDA Agricultural Research Services Interagency Working Group for Farming Seaweeds and Seagrasses stakeholder engagement listening sessions (four, scheduled throughout March 2022) received input from over 178 attendees to collect input on topics to be included in a report to US Congress on the state of seaweed research. https://www.ars.usda.gov/animal-production-and-protection/aquaculture/docs/iwg-farming-seaweeds-and-seagrasses/ Lactalis and Stonyfield - 05/24/2022, presentation from Nichole Price, PhD, on Ensiling Seaweed for Organic Dairy at the Wolfe's Neck Center Orleans Conservation Trust - 08/30/2022 presentation from Charlotte Quigley, PhD, titled "From Coast to Cow: A New Way to Reduce Methane" Northeast Dairy Producers Alliance, 21st Annual Field Day - 10/01/2021 presentations from Andre Brito, PhD., Charlotte Quigley, PhD (https://nodpa.com/p/117/21st-Annual-NODPA-Field-Days-at-the-Mallet-Barn-Wolfes-Neck-Center-Freeport-Maine-September-30--October-1-2021) A. Brito presented animal trial results in the Feeds and Forage with a powerpoint presentation (attached). C. Quigley presented our project as part of the Research Product Spotlights which was an oral presentation, stakeholder Q&A engagement session, and pasture tour. Note: Governor Janet Mills attended briefly MEDIA Colby Magazine Volume 109, Issue 1 released Spring 2022 titled "COLBY, COWS, AND CLIMATE CHANGE" featuring Bigelow Research Technician Gabby Iacono. Colby News article released March 31, 2022 titled "Colby Scientists Seek Solutions to Climate Change in the Belly of a Cow" featuring Bigelow Senior Research Scientist and Colby ES Professor Dr. Nichole Price. Mainebiz story released on 10/08/2021 titled "Maine lab gets $10M to find ways to decrease, um, gas output from cows" CNBC story released on 10/12/2021 titled "Methane from cow is a big contributor to climate change - feeding them seaweed may help" WAGM story released on 10/25/2022 titled "Maine sustainable dairy product one of 15 awarded funds by USDA" Civil Eats story released on 03/16/2022 titled "Can Small Seaweed Farms Help Kelp Scale Up?" Culture story released on 03/16/2022 titled "Cows and Carbon: How a Pinch of Seaweed a Day could Keep the Methane Away" Boston NPR WBUR story released on 04/22/2022 titled "Cow burps drive global warming. Scientists think feeding them seaweed could help" EPA article released on 05/02/2022 titled "AFBF: America's farmers are reducing greenhouse gas emissions" USA Today article released on 08/22/2022 titled "Nugget the cow: Seaweed-munching bovine chews on solution to methane problem" Northeast Aquaculture Conference & Exposition (NACE) on April 27-29, 2022: Center for Seafood Solutions' Nichole Price hosted a field trip of ~20 members of aquaculture industry and the general public to highlight aquaculture research projects and analytical services available at Bigelow Prototype guide posts/kiosks for carbon footpath installed and 'tested' at Wolfe Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment "Using the Ocean and Land to Fight Climate Change": an overview of the Coast Cow Consumer (C3) Project at Wolfe's Neck Center, farm-raised cows on the coast of Maine on the Front lines fighting Climate Change "From the Lab to the Pasture": the step-by-step research that tests seaweed supplements for dairy cows "What's on the Menu?": a review of cow diet make-up and the components of the cow digestive tract, including the methane-producing rumen. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?First, and foremost, we are working our way towards animal trials in year 2. Results from our first year have clearly indicated that drying seaweeds is not a sustainable way forward, and may strip the algae of valuable nutritional components and bioactive compounds. We are having to create - from scratch - fermentation/ensiling techniques and protocols for brown and red seaweeds at production scale to initiate animal trials. This is only feasible through important partnerships established at the time of proposal submission with companies like Atlantic Sea Farms, Ocean's Rainforest, and developing relationships with the Culture Abalone, Vitamin Sea, and the Crop Project. Another unforeseen opportunity is managing the level of stakeholder interest in this research - and discovering how many new companies have emerged purporting to sell algae feed additives. Managing the volume of communications and information gleaned within one-on-one meetings necessitated the development of customized contact reference management software, but we also see it as an opportunity to address our LOGIC MODEL, and evaluate the impact our research has on a developing sector. This team is also capitalizing on newly invigorated discussions of the feed additive claims process and convening of the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine. Currently, changes to the rumen microbiome that result in a reduction of enteric methane emissions is viewed as a 'drug' by the FDA, despite the fact that algae feed additives do not treat a disease; categorization as a nutritive feed supplement is possible, as long as no claims are made about reducing enteric methane, which is counterproductive to dairy sustainability goals. Further, the current policies disfavor US markets on a global scale: Canada, the EU, and several South American countries offer a third, zootechnical claims option for which products like Bovaer (3NOP) have been certified. In year 2, this project team will engage with this policy review process. In addition to FDA policy-makers, other targeted stakeholders for engagement in year 2: Dairy production, distribution, and processing industry Dairy consumers (e.g., retailers, food service industry, other major end-users) Algae producers, harvesters, processors, distributors Animal feed producers and distributors Animal supplement producers and distributors Aquaculture regulatory bodies (from municipal to federal) General public Policy makers (e.g., USDA-NOAA Working Group on Research for Farming of Kelp and Seagrass, Maine Climate Council, FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine) Voluntary Carbon Market brokers Lab testing facilities for feed and food quality Aquaculture investors Veterinarians and Dairy Nutritionists Academics Feed and dairy regulatory bodies (e.g., FDA, NOSB, MOFGA) State-wide and federal carbon budgeting efforts Wild-capture fisheries industries seeking diversification (e.g., the Maine lobster industry) Algae growing, processing, biorefinery, and packaging equipment manufacturers Dairy and feed cooperatives, grain firms, supplement firms Milk Stabilization Price Program administrators Specific actions: With additional funds supplied to us by Organic Valley and Stonyfield, we plan to purchase chopping, rinsing, and blanching equipment and use their new temperature controlled ensiling room at the ASF 27,000 sqft new processing facility in Biddeford, ME to generate treatments for in vivo feeding trials starting spring 2023 ~20 55G drums for each of 4 feeding trials (2 pilots [6 head each], two full scale [40 head each]) with S. latissima and G. tikvahiae Target pH 4, ~7 days, thus far shelf stable for ~6 months Manure collected from each feeding trial described above to continue optimized biogas generation experiments and soil metals inputs estimates Online surveys [target ~200 participants] of working waterfront in Maine for economic impact assessments Dairy supply chain - Surveying dairy nutritionists and feed suppliers at a workshop designed in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund Sustainable Feed Innovations team to be held just before the next annual Cornell Dairy Nutrition Conference Emergent algae-based feed sector analyses using our new customer relationship management software New focus on microalgae (new hires, new goals) to inform prototype bioreactor development, including culture optimization and in vitro batch trials for methane suppression in simulated rumen systems. Our goal is to have the prototype photobioreactor connected to the demonstration anaerobic digestion system at Cornell Cooperative Extension by the time the team meets for its second annual in-person retreat in New York, summer 2023 May need to do 'settling' experiments for anaerobic lagoons to understand how much arsenic settles out of manure & liquid phase before the supernatant is applied as fertilizer Denise Bruesewitz at Colby College is designing an additional Environmental Studies capstone course focusing on Coast-Cow-Consumer topics, and leaning on the First Fridays seminar series.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Obj 1 (Algae characteristics, Milk Quality/Yield) Major activities completed / experiments conducted; 31 interviews with established and new seaweed producers and processors to determine production capacity ~15 U.S. seaweed species and their residues analyzed for bioactives (halogenated compounds, phlorotannins, other), nutritional profile, and mineral content Participated in NIST Quality Assurance program for sugar kelp for nutritional and toxic elements; total phenolic content; and proximates, fiber, and starch. The Coast-Cow-Consumer also supported two New England forage laboratories to participate Coordination with animal health experts to generate a matrix of bovine dietary needs crossed by nutritional constituent availability in seaweeds to identify species that may be hazardous or most promising Simulated rumen batch culture in vitro dosing experiments: 24 with algae for species screening, 36 with various halocarbons to discern mechanism and residence period, 2 with residuals from seaweed processing Simulated rumen continuous culture fermenter in vitro experiments: ~4 independent Latin square trials comparing S. latissima (rinsed, blanched, fresh), C. crispus (dose response), A. nodosum (fresh and extract), and various halocarbons In vivo feeding trials: mid-lactation (C. crispus, dose response, Latin square) and transition period (A. nodosum vs other iodine sources, continuous) at UNH and mid-lactation (C. crispus, continuous) WNC Data collected; gas concentration (CH4, H2, CO2) over at various time points, volatile fatty acids, rumen microbial consortium, bioactive compound concentration in algal supplement, various additional algal analytes, milk yield and quality, urine and feces production, hormone concentrations in blood, body indices, dry matter intake rates, orts Summary statistics and discussion of results; S. latissima > C. crispus > A. nodosum at reducing enteric methane emissions in in vitro rumen batch assays, but none as effective as Asparagopsis species thus far Iodine and selenium concentrations and DCAD imbalance issues need to be carefully managed - iodine concentrations in milk reached, in some cases, 1500 ppm, which exceeds the 500 ppm guideline for human consumption Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized. Bead beating of tissues prior to GCMS and/or very strong base extractions prior to ICPMS required to fully evaluate some nutritional constituents in seaweeds Mechanism of suppression may be specific tannins or complex halogenated compounds not detectable via GCMS, or simply an overall impact to rumen function that also inhibits efficiency. Mode of actions is important to discern likelihood of desired impact Phlorotannin standard curve generated for true concentration estimation - not readily available in literature and may be developed into a methods paper For necessary dosage/inclusion rate to achieve desired minimum methane suppression (~30%), iodine concentration in seaweeds generally exceeds bovine toxicity limits. Seaweeds generally need to be rinsed and blanched to lower iodine content by 50%, or grown in controlled media Residues from seaweed hydrocolloid extraction efforts are devoid of bioactive compounds that inhibit enteric methane emissions, but may still have limited nutritional value Obj 2 (LCA and Supply Chain analyses) Major activities completed / experiments conducted; ~12 possible scenarios identified for LCA Several assays completed to test algae-manure impacts on soil GHG emissions experiments and biogas generation One round of surveys, and several workshops/interviews conducted Data collected; Inventories started for ocean-based and land-based algae cultivation and processing via: drying and milling, freezing, oil immersion, and ensiling Scoping includes: S. latissima & G. tikvahea oceanic farmed seaweed (various scenarios to optimize yield), processed drying, and various end-uses A. taxiformis fed batch culture seaweed, processed lyophilized vs. oil immersion Token fed batch culture marine/brackish microalgae, ensiled Token fed batch culture freshwater microalgae, paste Various waste management: anaerobic digestions vs lagoons Various animal basal diets/animal-to-animal stochasticity as a distribution/sensitivity analyses via Monte Carlo Inventory being built and populated with literature values and directly from research underway Supply chain analyses include cursory willingness to pay assessment among organic dairy farmers Summary statistics and discussion of results; Organic dairy farmers are already feeding seaweed supplements, but their reasons are varied and often not evidence-based, willing to pay ~$0.65 for algal supplements Some conventional farmers are aware of using seaweed to reduce enteric methane emissions, but remain skeptical/uninterested unless other measurable herd health impacts or positive inputs to revenue/bottom line can be identified Conventional farmers also voiced that agriculture not the largest source of GHG emissions that needs to be addressed 4) Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized. While drying and milling can make seaweed shelf stable, it is energetically quite costly. Alternatives are to ensile (ferment) seaweed or develop heat recycling systems for seaweed processing plants. Not only might seaweeds need to be processed to reduce biotoxicity to animals (and humans via milk), but careful consideration of ecotoxicological impacts of bioaccumulation of metals in soils via manure management may need to be monitored A key stakeholder group to engage includes the nutritional consultants, who are the trusted decision makers consulted during diet reformulations Obj 3 (Outreach, Education) Major activities completed / experiments conducted; ~215 undergraduates participated in experiential learning coursework 2 focus groups (NY - 4 conventional dairy farmers, ME - 6 conventional dairy farmers) dozens of seaweed infographic primers distributed to dairy farmers 65 surveys conducted on willingness to pay 6 webinars developed and available on our new YouTube channel 45 surveys of our own team members and interns to determine implementation success 4H programming at Cornell Cooperative Extensive underway Canton Public School Foodwaste Program visited demonstration anaerobic digestion facility Three "Carbon Footpath" kiosks and web interactive (via QR code) in development at Wolfe's Neck Center, with dozens of visitors thus far in testing phase Two additional undergraduate courses in development at Colby College in the Environmental Sciences and Economics departments. Data collected; No. participants, education stage, sector-based interest or experience, baseline knowledge level of algae production and feed products, desire for more information, etc. Summary statistics and discussion of results and Carbon footpath content planning & development and partner expansion via online/multimedia/digital engagement focus Large undergraduate and high school student interest in sustainability and food production General overall satisfaction with research program to date, but desire for more within-team and external communications tools: Coast-Cow-Consumer YouTube Channel, Dashboard, and additional annual in-person retreats in development. 4) Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized. Dairy farmers rely heavily on trusted advisors, such as nutritionists, feed consultants, and veterinarians to reformulate diets. It is these groups to which the new data on the promise (or lack thereof) of algae-based feeds in dairy production must be presented to ensure widespread adoption Student enthusiasm for topic area is palpable and the project offers opportunities for training in the life sciences, economics, policy, and sociology OPEN-Team awarded Climate Smart Commodities funds, and we are thrilled to expand this portal to include decision-making tools about algal supplements to reduce carbon 'hoofprint' of dairy production

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2023 Citation: D.C. Reyes*, J. Meredith, L. Puro, R. Kersbergen, C. Quigley, N. Price, and A.F. Brito (2022) Case Study: Effect of the red seaweed Chondrus crispus on enteric methane emissions and milk yield in dairy cows. Invited and accepted abstract to Research Topic "Natural Phytochemicals to Enhance Animal Productivity and Health Status with Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions" for the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2023 Citation: Michelle K. Tynan*, Marie Claire Bryant, and Rick Welsh. (2022) Preliminary Findings of Northeast Organic and Conventional Dairy Farmers perception of benefits and challenges in feeding algae. In review Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Wu, J.�, Rogers, S.W., Schaummann, R., Higgins, C. and Price, N., (2022). Bioextractive aquaculture as an alternative nutrient management strategy for water resource recovery facilities. Water Research, 212, p.118092.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Brito, A.F. (2022) Effects of Seaweeds on Dairy Production. 2022 Cornell Nutrition Conference Proceedings.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Driemel, A.W., Baker, L.M., Snider, M.A., Posman, K., Quigley, C., Price, N.N. and Greenwood, S.L., (2022). PSVII-8 Effects of processed Saccharina latissima and Ascophyllum nodosum on ruminal fermentation and methane production in continuous culture. Journal of Animal Science, 100(Supplement_3), pp.383-383.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Jin-Ho Yun�, Stephen D. Archer, Nichole Price. (2022) Valorization of waste materials from seaweed industry: An industry survey based biorefinery approach. Accepted, Reviews in Aquaculture
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Ricart, A.M., Krause-Jensen, D., Hancke, K., Price, N.N., Masqu�, P. and Duarte, C.M., (2022). Sinking seaweed in the deep ocean for carbon neutrality is ahead of science and beyond the ethics. Environmental Research Letters, 17(8), p.081003.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Price, N.N. & Brito, A. F. April 14, 2022 Maine Climate and Agriculture Webinar Series The use of seaweed feedstock to reduce methane emissions from cows
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Price, N.N. April 18-21, 2022 USDA Annual SAS-CAP Spring Program Director Meeting Coast-Cow-Consumer Introduction
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Omoruyi, G.* & Sims, W.* June 16, 2022 Maine Seaweed Council Quarterly Meeting Dairy cattle dietary needs and seaweed nutritional profiles
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Driemel, A.*, L. M. Baker, M. A. Snider, K. Posman, C. Quigley, N. N. Price, S. L. Greenwood June 26-30, 2022 American Society of Animal Science  Canadian Society of Animal Science Annual Meeting & Trade Show Effects of processed Saccharina latissima and Ascophyllum nodosum on ruminal fermentation and methane production in continuous culture
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Kayla Johnston July 29, 2022. MastersThesis Defense in Agricultural Sciences, UNH (Brito advisor). Feed iodine source and its effects on cow colostrum production and the growth and metabolism of their calves
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Price, N.N., Archer, S., Rogers, S., Wu J., Honisch, B., Iacono, G., et al. September 7, 2022 Seagriculture USA 2022 Meeting Cost-effective methods for verifying nutrient abatement by farmed seaweeds