Feed ingredient that reduces methane from dairy cows is approved for U.S. sale
Agriculture is responsible for roughly 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and methane — a short-lived but potent gas — accounts for 40% of agricultural emissions.With FDA approval in hand, Elanco Animal Health said on Tuesday it will sell throughout North America its feed ingredient that reduces methane emissions from lactating dairy cows by 30%, with sales beginning in the third quarter of the year. Farmers could use carbon contracts to offset the cost of the ingredient, “a few cents a gallon of milk,” the company said.
“This monumental announcement has the ability to accelerate the opportunity for climate-neutral dairy farming while creating a new revenue stream for dairy farmers across the country,” said chief executive Jeff Simmons, referring to FDA approval of Bovaer, the feed ingredient.
Agriculture is responsible for roughly 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and methane — a short-lived but potent gas — accounts for 40% of agricultural emissions.
Elanco said it had obtained rights to market the ingredient in Canada and Mexico, as well as in the United States. The product is already available in those nations for use in beef and dairy cattle.
Bovaer suppresses the enzyme that produces methane in a cow’s rumen, the first and largest of the four stomach compartments in cattle. Cattle emit methane by belching and in their manure. Inclusion of one tablespoon of Bovaer per day in feed for a lactating cow “can reduce methane emissions by about 30%, or about 1.2 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions annually,” said the company.
The feed ingredient “costs a few cents a gallon of milk,” said an Elanco official, and “by engaging in voluntary carbon markets and securing USDA and state conservation programming, dairy producers have a scalable sustainability practice with the potential to create an annual return of $20 or more per lactating cow.” U.S. dairy cows produced an average of 7.7 gallons of milk a day in 2023.
