Asda goes greener by cutting animal gases

The focus on global warming has drawn attention to the substantial amounts of greenhouse gas methane produced by grazing animals and the farming industry has already pledged to reduce it as part of its contribution to hitting government targets.

Now the supermarket hopes customers will be more interested in the meat and milk from animals which have produced less gas in the course of digesting their own food, thanks to an slightly altered diet.

Asda says its meat suppliers could cut emissions from their cows and sheep by 20 per cent by reseeding their pastures with high-sugar grasses.

The chain plans to subsidise this process and claims it will save emissions to the equivalent of taking 78,000 cars off the road.

The company says farmers can cut costs and improve yields as well by taking up the offer to plant Aber HSG varieties of grass and clover.

Its announcement yesterday said: “The agricultural sector accounts for over 40 per cent of the nation’s methane emissions – mostly through oral emissions.

“Asda has teamed up with British Seed Houses to introduce Aber High Sugar Grass and Aber clovers to its 13,500 farmers across the UK.

“To encourage uptake, Asda is offering its BeefLink, LambLink and DairyLink farmers one free acre bag of high-sugar grass seed for every 10 acres purchased.”

Methane is known to trap heat in the atmosphere up to 72 times more effectively than carbon dioxide.