Can dairy’s waste stream power beef’s future? with Daniel Carson

What if one of agriculture’s most controversial “waste problems” is actually its most overlooked opportunity?

Daniel Carson is an entrepreneur based in New Zealand, who wants to transform the beef industry from the ground up by directly addressing the challenge of what happens to non-replacement dairy calves.

Through his startup, Miti, Daniel is building a new model that grows these calves into “young beef” and turns them into value-added protein products. But the product itself is only part of the story. It’s also a demonstration of a new production and supply chain system that’s designed to better align with global demand for lean protein and lower emissions.

Daniel explains how this system leverages existing biological advantages from fast-growing dairy animals, built-in traceability, and shorter production cycles, to create a lower-emissions protein source. But despite strong fundamentals at the farm level, scaling the model runs into a familiar agtech barrier: the cost of infrastructure.

Processing systems, supply chains, and industry incentives are all designed around large, premium carcasses. Therefore, to truly unlock the value potential Daniel believes in, some well-established systems would need to be challenged.

Daniel and Sarah discuss:

• Why “waste streams” like bobby calves represent a major untapped protein opportunity
• How the cost of infrastructure, like processing systems, constrains innovation in agriculture
• Why lean protein, not premium cuts, is the most constrained global beef category
• How emissions, traceability, and data could reshape value in red meat supply chains
• The challenge of driving system change when incumbents are incentivized to maintain the status quo

Useful Links:

• Mīti Turns Dairy Challenge into Award Winning Innovation - Gardiner Foundation
• Miti founder 'blown away' by winning innovation award
• Supplying sustainable beef to McDonalds - Tenacious Ventures
• Tackling enteric emissions series - Tenacious Ventures
• 💡3 reasons why dairy is the new beef - by Janette Barnard

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The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.