Grants of between $1 million up to $3 million for the validation and demonstration of solutions to reduce methane emissions from grazing animals at large-scale.
Current status of program
CLOSED
To register your interest in future rounds or discuss alternative grant opportunities please contact us here.
On this page you will find
What is the Methane Emissions Reduction in Livestock Grants Program (MERiL)?
The Methane Emissions Reduction in Livestock (MERiL) program (the Program) contributes to the Australian Governmentโs commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero by 2050. The program also supports the Global Methane Pledge, which is a voluntary commitment to reduce global methane emissions across all sectors by 30 per cent below 2020 levels by 2030.
The results from the MERiL program will support the livestock sector reduce its emissions and will inform updates to the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, potential Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) methods and Climate Active certifications.
MERiL Stage 1 Research Grants, provided $4 million in grants to quantify the abatement potential and productivity impacts from the use of low emission methane-inhibiting livestock feed-supplements and forage feeds. This stage was launched in May 2021 and is now closed for applications.
MERiL Stages 2 and 3, which provide $20 million of grant funding from 2022-23 to 2026-27 launched in February 2022.
Stage 2: Feasibility and Development. The grants are supporting studies that demonstrate the technical and commercial viability and abatement potential for the delivery of low emission feed supplements to grazing animals. This stage is now closed for applications.
Stage 3: Validation and Demonstration. This stage aims to support the development and commercial readiness of solutions to deliver methane-inhibiting livestock feed-supplements to grazing animals at large-scale (beef and dairy cattle, and sheep) and other solutions to reduce methane emissions from grazing animals. Stage 3 has two rounds:
- Stage 3 Round 1 grants are now closed, projects commenced in 2022-23 and will be completed in 2025-26.
- Stage 3 Round 2 is the current funding opportunity, which will build on research from the Stages 1, and 2.
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MERiL level of support
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Grants
- The minimum grant amount is $1 million
- The maximum grant amount is $3 million
- The grant amount will be up to 80% of eligible expenditure
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Co-contribution
- Contributions to your project may be cash or in-kind and may come from you and/or your project partners. Where you provide in-kind contributions, you must calculate the equivalent dollar value. You should use the retail or market price for any goods purchased.
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You are responsible for the remaining eligible and ineligible project costs.
No more than 80% of your total eligible project expenditure can be funded from Commonwealth government grants.
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MERiL important dates
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- This program is currently closed
- Register your interest here with GrantHelper
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MERiL objectives and outcomes
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Objectives:
- fast-track the development and commercial readiness to deliver methane-reducing solutions to grazing animals at large-scale
- validate and demonstrate the impacts, effectiveness and safety of methane-reducing solutions under Australian operational environments
- engage and collaborate with livestock producers to ensure methane-reducing solutions can be adopted in a cost-effective way within common grazing management operations
- leverage co-investment to develop, validate and demonstrate benefits of the methane-reducing solutions.
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Outcomes:
- cost-effective delivery of methane-reducing solutions to grazing animals ready for commercialisation
- improved estimation of the emissions from grazing animals receiving methane-reducing solutions
- increased market interest in and acceptance of methane-reducing solutions for grazing animals.
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Activities eligible for MERiL support
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To be eligible, your project must involve large-scale trials to deliver methane-reducing solutions to grazing animals under Australian operational environments to:
- validate and demonstrate methane emissions reduction
- validate and demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of methane-reducing solutions
- collect data on the methane abatement impacts and provide the data to DCCEEW for informing updates to the Livestock Emissions Framework and to the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
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To be eligible, your project must also:
- involve validation and demonstration activities conducted in Australia
- publish (or have submitted for publishing) outcomes of validation and demonstration activities in a peer-reviewed publication
- involve engagement and collaboration with livestock producers to ensure methane-reducing solutions can be implemented in a cost-effective way within common grazing management operations
- develop a commercialisation plan for how the methane-reducing solution would be scaled up and brought to market
- have at least $1,250,000 in eligible expenditure.
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Eligible activities may include:
- trials to validate and demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of the methane-reducing solution under relevant environments and abatement impacts
- working with livestock producers to plan, design, construct and conduct trials in an Australian operational environment
- preparing, publishing, presenting or otherwise disseminating project data and outcomes to inform stakeholders of the outcomes of project trials.
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Other activities may also be approved.
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Expenditure eligible for MERiL support
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Eligible expenditure may include:
- labour for personnel directly employed for the project activities
- labour on-costs up to 30 per cent of the total eligible labour costs
- staff training that directly supports the achievement of project outcomes
- contract expenditure, i.e. the cost of any agreed project activities that you contract to others. All contractors must have a written contract in place covering the work to be undertaken, prior to starting the relevant project activity
- purchase or hire of equipment directly related to delivering your project, including enteric emissions measurement equipment, computing equipment and software relating to field trials
- project input expenses, such as animals, feed and feed supplements
- construction costs for creating trial sites, including purchasing materials, fencing, planning, construction and maintenance for the duration of the project
- domestic travel (limited to economy fares only) limited to 10 per cent of the total eligible project expenditure, for the cost of accommodation and transportation required to conduct agreed project and collaboration activities in Australia
- the cost of an independent audit of project expenditure up to a maximum of 1 per cent of total eligible project expenditure.
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To be eligible, expenditure must:
- be a direct cost of the project
- be incurred by you for required project audit activities.
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You must incur the project expenditure between the project start and end date for it to be eligible unless stated otherwise.
You must not commence your project until you execute a grant agreement with the Commonwealth.
Expenditure items that are not eligible are:
- project costs that are not directly related to this grant opportunity
- costs of purchasing, leasing, depreciation of, or development of land
- activities, equipment, services or supplies that are already being fully supported through other sources
- routine operational expenses, including communications, accommodation, office computing facilities, printing and stationery, postage, legal and accounting fees and bank charges
- capital expenditure for the purchase of assets not directly related to project activities such as office furniture and equipment, motor vehicles, computers, printers or photocopiers not directly related to the project
- costs to commercially market or advertise your feed-supplement solution
- insurance costs (participants must effect and maintain adequate insurance or similar coverage for any liability arising as a result of its participation in funded activities)
- overseas travel
- costs incurred in the preparation of your grant application or related documentation.
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Other MERiL important details that you will need to know
Organisations eligible for MERiL support
To be eligible you must:
- have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
and be one of the following entities:
- an entity, incorporated in Australia
- an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust
- a co-operative
- a publicly funded research organisation (PFRO) as defined in section 14 of the guidelines
- an Australian state/territory Government agency or body.
Joint applications are acceptable, provided you have a lead organisation who is the main driver of the project and is eligible to apply. For further information on joint applications, refer to section 7.2 of the guidelines.
Applications can only be accepted:
- where you declare that you have or will have relevant intellectual property arrangements in place in order to undertake your project
- where you declare that your project is supported by your board (or chief executive officer or equivalent if there is no board), and that you can complete the project and meet the costs of the project not covered by grant funding
- where you declare that you will collect and provide research data and outputs to DCCEEW, and any nominated third party for the purpose of supporting updates to the livestock emissions framework and to the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory
- where you declare that you will have access to appropriate volumes of the material for methane-reducing solutions to undertake the project activities
- where you declare that your proposed solution is at TRL 4, 5, 6 or 7.
You are not eligible to apply if you are:
- an organisation, or your project partner is an organisation, included on the National Redress Schemeโs website on the list of โInstitutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Schemeโ
- an employer of 100 or more employees that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012)
- an individual
- an unincorporated association
- any organisation not included in section 1 of the guidelines
- a non-corporate Commonwealth entity.
MERiL assessment criteria
1. Feasibility of your methane-reducing solutions for grazing animals (beef and dairy cattle, and sheep) (30 points).ย
- the solution you plan to utilise and how it would operate within common grazing management practices in Australia
- the technical viability of your solution including an assessment of its TRL
- results of previous testing and small-scale trials of the proposed solution and abatement impacts, and any sensitivities or risks identified.
2. Market opportunity of your solution (30 points).
- commercial potential of your solution including market research results and the expected net deployment cost for users
- abatement potential of your solution in Australia including the potential level of uptake, and mitigation efficiency in the different environments and grazing systems
- ability of your delivery-solution to deliver one or more of methane-inhibiting options (if applicable).
3. Capacity, capability and resources to deliver the project (30 points).
- your and your project partners track record managing similar projects and access to personnel with the right skills and experience (including experience with grazing production systems and enteric emissions measurement equipment)
- your access, or future access to any infrastructure, capital equipment (including enteric emissions measurement equipment), inputs required for your methane-reducing solution and intellectual property needed to undertake the project. You should provide supporting documentation to demonstrate this. For example, this could include letters of agreement from a low emissions feed supplement supplier.
4. Impact of grant funding (10 points).
- the amount of co-investment (cash and/or separately in-kind contributions, from your entity, other levels of government or project partners) and any additional investment the grant will leverage and explain how this benefits your project
- how the grant will impact your project scope including the likelihood your project would not proceed without the grant
- the predicted outcomes (environmental/ social/ scientific/ technological) of your proposed solutions.
How do I get the MERiL?
You will need to set up an account to access the online portal.
To apply, you must:
- complete and submit the application through the online portal at portal.business.gov.au
- provide all the information requested
- address all eligibility and assessment criteria
- include all necessary attachments.
Information to prepare for the MERiL application
You must provide the following documents with your application:
- a project plan in line with section 7.1.1 of the guidelines
- a project communication plan in line with section 7.1.1 of the guidelines
- a project budget
- evidence to support your responses to the assessment criteria (where applicable)
- accountant declaration (template provided on business.gov.au and GrantConnect)
- trust deed (where applicable)
- letter of support from project partner/s in line with section 7.2. of the guidelines
Your project plan should demonstrate how you plan to:
- manage the project including scope, implementation methodology and timeframes (you must justify the appropriateness of the proposed sample sizes for the large-scale trials in an operational environment)
- mitigate delivery risks
- secure any required regulatory or other approvals.
Your communication plan should demonstrate how you plan to:
- publish outcomes of your project (including in peer-reviewed publications)
- disseminate information to producers, agricultural advisers or suppliers, and other industry stakeholders.
Joint (consortia) applications – Each letter of support should include:
- details of the project partner
- an overview of how the project partner will work with the lead organisation and any other project partners in the group to successfully complete the project
- an outline of the relevant experience and/or expertise the project partner will bring to the group
- the roles/responsibilities the project partner will undertake, and the resources it will contribute (if any)
- details of a nominated management level contact officer.
You must have a formal arrangement in place with all parties prior to execution of the grant agreement.
Applying for the MERiL
Eligible applicants can submit their applications using the secure online portal for business.gov.au.
Register your interestย here with GrantHelper to explore your alignment with this program and how we can assist you to increase your chances of success.
MERiL resources
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