Kemin Industries, together with its partners Adesco Nutricines (Adesco) and Dow, performed a life cycle assessment of Kemin’s Myco CURB® ES Liquid on stored grains, demonstrating that treatment with this solution is more environmentally sustainable than drying or aerating stored grains.

The companies jointly conducted a gate-to-gate life cycle assessment study to investigate the GHG emissions in CO_2-eq of barley and wheat using three different methods of grain storage: aeration, drying and preservative addition. The study, which began in July 2019, was conducted based on data compiled by Adesco in Ireland during harvest. The extended storage period is applicable to typical Atlantic climate conditions (West North Europe) with a high average rainfall throughout the year and wetter harvests.

“The results from this study demonstrate that drying and aerating grain create a bigger carbon footprint than treating grains with Myco CURB ES Liquid,” said Carmen Coetzee, product manager, Kemin Animal Nutrition and Health – EMENA. “The addition of a mold inhibitor – a preservative based on propionic acid and a synergistic combination of other organic acids, their salts and surfactants – enables a reduction of approximately two to three times the carbon footprint in kilogram CO_2-eq per ton of grain stored, compared to aeration and drying methods, respectively. This information is critical to our customers, who can immediately use these insights to optimize their sustainability impact. For Kemin, this study and its results are a decisive step in defining the life cycle impact assessment of our entire value chain.”

For all the partners involved in this life cycle assessment, external validation was crucial to the study. Blonk Consultants granted certification attesting that the life cycle assessment of this study, in which Myco CURB ES Liquid was used to treat stored grain, met the requirements of ISO 14040 and 14044.

“The results of this groundbreaking life cycle assessment demonstrate that treatment of grain with Myco CURB ES liquid offers the industry an immediate, significant and practical means to reduce the carbon footprint of grain processing and feed production,” said Sean O’Hare, engineering and sustainability manager, Adesco. “Our customers are reassured by recent animal performance studies indicating that using treated grain in their feeds enables them to cut their carbon emissions without loss of feed efficiency or reduced animal performance.”