Senate committee hears proposal to study commercial seaweed feed for methane reduction

Senate Bill 208, sponsored by Senator David Brock Smith, would direct the Oregon Department of Agriculture in partnership with Oregon State University to study the potential for commercial seaweed production to be processed as a livestock feed additive to reduce cattle methane emissions. The staff summary said the bill would appropriate $250,000 from the general fund to OSU for research and would require ODA to present the study to an appropriate legislative committee by Sept. 15, 2027.

Senator Brock Smith said the study would build on federal and academic work already underway. He told the committee that OSU had received about $1 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to begin research and that UC Davis and other institutions have studied seaweed strains that reduced methane in cattle. Brock Smith said Oregon already grows dulse on the coast in tank systems for food markets and asked whether dulse or other locally grown seaweeds might have similar methane-reduction properties as strains found in Australia.

Witnesses were not present to oppose or supplement the sponsor's comments; the sponsor said the additional state funds and the state's participation would signal Oregon's commitment and could create economic opportunities if research supports commercial-scale production. The bill as summarized declares an emergency and would be effective upon passage.

Ending

The committee took testimony from the sponsor and closed the public hearing. The staff summary and sponsor remarks indicated further technical questions about whether Oregon-grown strains would match results observed elsewhere and whether existing federal funding would be sufficient to complete the work; no final committee action was recorded in the transcript.