New project to replace soya bean meal with homegrown feed
3rd February 2026
A UK consortium led by McArthur BDC is aiming to support a reduction in dairy sector emissions in excess of 1.5 Mt CO2e annually, with a value approaching £400m, by replacing soya bean meal with innovative homegrown faba bean-based feed ingredients.
The Consortium will bring together crop science, ruminant research experiments and on farm trials, underpinned by an environmental life cycle assessment and economic analysis.
“Methane from dairy cows is a major contributor to agricultural emissions. The InFaba Project will explore whether naturally occurring tannins in UK-grown faba beans could offer a home-grown route to lowering emissions in dairy herds,” said project director, John McArthur, and managing director of McArthur BDC.
Consortium members alongside McArthur BDC are Processors and Growers Research Organisation (PGRO), Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Muller UK & Ireland and Farm Carbon Toolkit.
Collectively, they have secured £1.9M from Defra’s funded Farming Innovation Programme delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, through the Farming Futures R&D Fund: Low Emission Farming Competition.
Two novel faba bean trials
The three-year programme will develop and test two novel faba-based feed ingredients designed to reduce methane output while reducing the UK’s dependence on imported soya bean meal:
- A tannin-rich faba bean co-product from the feed sector will be assessed for its ability to influence rumen fermentation and reduce methane production.
- A heat-treated faba bean, processed to deliver more digestible protein and replace a significant proportion of imported soya bean meal in dairy diets.
Together, these innovations aim to kickstart a homegrown, low-emission protein industry serving the feed industry and, in time, the food industry too.
Increased inclusion of pulses in arable rotations will not only reduce emissions but will also boost soil health, improve water quality and support biodiversity, at the same time as increasing the UK’s food security by reducing our dependence on imported soya bean meal.
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Methane reduction possibilities
“We have ambitious targets for scope 3 emissions reduction and opportunities like this could be a big step in the right direction,” said Phil Scott, retail group manager, Muller UK & Ireland.
“Working with our farms gives us a direct route to test and scale this innovation, based on a 100% natural plant-based product, with the potential to cut emissions without compromising milk quality.”
Methane accounts for 58% of British agriculture’s greenhouse gases emissions and 45% of dairy industry emissions (Defra). Exploratory work, conducted by SRUC, showed that the naturally occurring tannins in a faba bean co-product may alter the fermentation process and reduce methane formation, but little research exists in this area.
“Our role within InFaba will be to combine lab studies with on-farm trials to measure reductions in methane output and improvements in how efficiently cows convert feed into milk,” said dairy nutrition scientist, Professor John Newbold from SRUC.
Homegrown protein industry
UK dairy farming also consumes 15% (AIC) of the UK’s imported soya bean meal; its excellent nutritive properties are offset by a high embedded carbon footprint and links to deforestation and land-use change in South America.
“InFaba combines scientific depth with commercial practicality. The dairy sector needs solutions that work in the real world and deliver impact fast.
“Cutting methane, protecting and enhancing ecosystems and developing our homegrown protein industry are essential to the future of British agriculture. This project is designed to accelerate that transition,” concluded John McArthur.
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