Move over grassfed and grainfed cattle. A new factory upcycling waste from one of Australia's major crops could lead to more "cottonfed" beef, and a byproduct from the process could find its way into your fish and chips.
Seed that is not used to plant cotton has long been converted to cattle feed, particularly during droughts, but the nutritional quality can vary depending on how much it is processed.
A new, $20 million cottonseed "meat" factory in southern Queensland has developed high-protein feed pellets that have similar fat and energy levels to traditional grain through a "zero waste" process that also makes cooking oil.
It means more producers can access a cheaper feed product without losing quality, potentially putting more "cottonfed" beef on consumer plates, while also solving a waste issue for both the feed and cotton industry.
Fifty million tonnes of cottonseed is produced worldwide each year, but only 1 per cent is planted to grow cotton, creating an opportunity to value add.
To feed cottonseed to animals it has to dehulled — split into its component parts — creating a meal, also referred to as a "meat", that animals can eat and a byproduct, the extracted oil, which is often discarded.
The plant at Mort & Co's Grassdale Feedlot on the Darling Downs will come online in the next two months, producing an oil that can be refined and used in cooking.
Communications manager Marita Ramia said the company, as Australia's largest private feedlot, was attempting to create a circular economy to ensure the operation's environmental and economic sustainability.
"We care about where we're headed in the future and how we can sustainably continue to grow the feedlotting business, it also means making sure we are sustainable in many other areas," she said.
"It started with that idea of dehulling the cotton seed and now taking the oil from the cottonseed meat is is another step in ensuring there is no waste product at Grassdale."
"The next generation is very interested … the people that we're employing are saying to us, 'What are you doing? What are you contributing environmentally?'"
Two rural powerhouses
Southern Queensland is home to a significant portion of Australia's cattle feedlots, where animals are fattened before being processed for both domestic and international meat markets.
It is also one of the most productive cotton-growing regions in the country.
Marrying the two together is the stuff of integrated supply-chain dreams, creating a cheaper feed source for livestock from an otherwise unused cotton byproduct, while ensuring the process does not create more waste.
Project manager Cameron Walker said there was growing market interest in both the meal and the oil.
"I think predominantly we have looked at cottonseed for the hulls, the fibre, and the meat has been a byproduct," he said.
"Now we're looking to process the meats into de-oiled cottonseed 'meat' and high-quality cottonseed oil.
"Both are valuable … the oil for fish-and-chip-shop-style frying oil and the 'meat' is a great source of protein for many stock feeds."
Mr Walker said the environmental goals would also help the factory's profit goals.
"The project has to stand on its own two feet commercially," he said.
"Part of sustainability is both business growth and expansion stability.
"The project will be a new revenue stream for us."
Sustainable lifecycle
Mort & Co still considered itself fundamentally a feedlotting business, but commodities analyst Matt Dalgleish said markets increasingly expected companies to take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products.
"We do need to think of the whole lifecycle of the product we're producing and what the inputs are that come into that product and the lifecycle of those as well," he said.
"I don't think we can afford to carry on just being as wasteful as we've been in past generations.
"We've got to pay more attention to what we use."
He said with rising costs for traditional feed sources like grain, it made sense for producers to address both their input costs, and environmental outputs.
"It's a really good opportunity to look at other alternatives and to demonstrate that the red meat sector and agriculture more broadly can be a solution to climate change," he said.
"There's still room for improvement, but … when we're talking about the industry, we need to continue to focus on … the things we're doing in technological advancements, sustainability.
"The fact that we're feeding the planet, I think it's a thing to be proud of."
