Good for the Animals – Good for the Environment

There are many benefits to using biochar in your livestock system. While biochar has been traditionally known for its benefits to soils, there is an increasing trend towards its use as a feed supplement in livestock. Biochar is also being used for other animal husbandry applications, such as bedding material, with scientific evidence demonstrating that these practices have many benefits for both livestock and soil health.

Evidence points to biochar’s highly adsorbent qualities suppressing intestinal pathogens and improving gut health when used in feed formulas for cattle and other farm animals. The use of biochar has also been shown to increase feed efficiency and weight gain in animals. Healthy farm animal manure can be a useful amendment to build soil organic matter and provide important nutrients for crops.

Biochar promises to improve both nutrient management and reduce odours from manure. When biochar is blended into the solid fraction of manure, it can significantly improve the capture of excess nutrients and reduce odours. In livestock operations, biochar is particularly useful for managing the odours of both manure and flies. Biochar can also bind nutrients from the liquid fraction of manure. Upcycling nutrients from farms by using biochar can create a more valuable and nutrient-dense manure compost product that may be added back to farm fields.

Reducing manure odours through biochar manure composting improves air quality and health for animals. Given that most animal agricultural operations have excess nutrients, using biochar to capture and store nutrients as a compost-fertiliser could be a source of new revenue for farmers, replacing petroleum-based fertilisers.