Calls to Boycott Dairy Products From Cows Given Anti-Methane Supplement Grow in UK
Bonus: The FDA approved the use of the supplement Bovaer in lactating cows in May of 2024.
Methane from livestock is part of the biogenic carbon cycle, a natural process that recycles carbon between the atmosphere, plants, and animals.
Plants absorb the life-essential gas carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, converting it into carbohydrates like cellulose. Cattle and other ruminants consume these plants, digesting the cellulose through fermentation within their digestive tracts. Cattle burp methane (or release it as flatulence), releasing the carbon back into the atmosphere.
After about 12 years, this methane breaks down and converts back to CO2. Plants then reabsorb this CO2, restarting the cycle.
This cycle has worked well for many millions of years. However, eco-activists have begun targeting dairy farms and cattle ranches by asserting that methane, like C02, is a dangerous greenhouse gas that causes climate catastrophes.
This has led to a number of companies developing new cattle feeds to reduce bovine emissions. One of them is Bovaer, which was developed by Elanco Animal Health. The feed ingredient powder claims to reduce methane emissions from dairy cattle by almost 30% and works by suppressing a cow’s ability to produce methane during digestion.
Now it is being reported that Arla Foods is facing calls for a boycott of its products in the United Kingdom, including fresh milk, after announcing a new project to trial this feed additive on its farms.
The company, which owns the UK’s largest dairy cooperative, revealed on November 26 that it is partnering with major British retailers such as Morrisons, Aldi, and Tesco to trial Bovaer, a methane-reducing product. While Arla claims the initiative will help British farmers transition to more sustainable practices, the trial has sparked significant backlash from environmental and health advocates.
Bovaer is designed to reduce enteric methane emissions from cows by 27% on average. It works by suppressing an enzyme in the cow’s stomach that produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. However, critics argue that the long-term effects of the additive on animal health and the environment are unknown.
Investigating the specific safety issues related to 3-NOP, the Italian Journal of Animal Science offered this assessment:
Despite the promising effects of 3-NOP, further studies are required to assess carry-over of the compound into animal products and food safety concern when the products are consumed by human.
After the abuse of science by “experts” to push the covid vaccines, people are unwilling to accept being the guinea pigs when new substances are introduced into their food supplies or bodies.
People are boycotting Arla and turning to local farmers, Dairy farmers, butchers, local businesses for food, milk and eggs etc…amazing to see people questioning what ingredients are in certain foods and supporting local businesses.
Fuck the big corporate poisonous moneymaking… pic.twitter.com/HxOZyq3VLM
— The Yorkshire Lass (@real_shirelass) December 1, 2024
But the news gets better. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) completed its review of Bovaer in May 2024, determining that the product meets safety and efficacy requirements for use in lactating dairy cows. And it accelerated the process to do so.
And carbon credits were the bribe.
FDA approval of Bovaer comes months after the agency announced steps to accelerate the process to bring animal feed additives to market, overhauling a regulatory system that startups say was mired down by long, multiyear delays.
Elanco says it researched and developed Bovaer for more than 10 years, and the product is already available in more than 55 countries including the European Union. Canada moved to approve the product earlier this year.
Dairy farmers who use Elanco’s supplements can also earn additional revenue through a partnership with Athian, which operates a marketplace for dairy farmers to sell carbon credits. Farms can use Elanco’s digital tool UpLook to quantify emissions reductions and then easily certify carbon credits on Athian’s platform.
Bovaer is only one supplement being tried.
Asparagopsis taxiformis is a red seaweed has been found to reduce methane yield by up to 55% in dairy cattle and up to 98% in beef cattle. It contains bromoform, a natural methane inhibitor…but one with its own set of long-term health effects.
More natural supplements include a blend of plant extracts, including wild carrot and coriander seed oil, which has been shown to reduce methane intensity by 11% in dairy cows. A proprietary mix of garlic and citrus extracts can result in methane reductions of up to 38% when fed consistently.
However, the market for such feeds assumes that there is a problem. Again, there is no “climate crisis” other than the one induced by pseudoscience and the narrative-pushers. There is no need for farmers or ranchers to buy a pharma product to fix the very successful biogenic cycle.
Methane from cows is part of the biogenic carbon cycle that after 12 years breaks down into natural CO2 and water. Grass then absorbs the CO2 through photosynthesis, cows eat the grass and the cycle continues. We meddle with this cycle at our peril.pic.twitter.com/tpRaDsPhz9
— James Melville 🚜 (@JamesMelville) January 13, 2024
And good luck getting the cow-owners in India to back this insanity.
I have a question?
Do sacred cow farts cause global warming or is it just the non sacred ones that do that? pic.twitter.com/ep6UkJPKxx
— Dr Shawn Baker 🥩 (@SBakerMD) November 14, 2024
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Comments
“However, the market for such feeds assumes that there is a problem. Again, there is no “climate crisis” other than the one induced by pseudoscience and the narrative-pushers. There is no need for farmers or ranchers to buy a pharma product to fix the very successful biogenic cycle.”
Of course, we are unburdened by the successes of the past 10,000 years.
This makes me mad, although some humans in close confined areas (airplanes, etc.) need anti methane supplements 🦨☠️💨
The millions of plains buffalo and their emissions nearly killed Earth, thank goodness we killed them first.
Yeah I’m not a fan of eating yet another additive to the food supply that is untested.
I don’t understand why they seem to think that nature can’t take care of business.
Also should add, I wonder if this additive will cause gastric problems in the livestock. Why do they want to torture animals?
Sounds like someone is fixinto milk the farmers and consumers, instead of the cows.
I suspect that there may be a Fauci-like bureaucrat with his/her scientific thumb on the scale.
I know, it’s shocking. Hopefully, just a crazed right wing conspiracy theory.
Pull my hoof…. 🙂
Quit farting around. This is a serious topic 🙂
Don’t milk this. That’d be cheesy.
Whoaa Nellie, that escowlated quickly.
Cows , and all ruminants, depend on a complex bioflora universe in the rumen, which break down otherwise indigestible carbohydrates like cellulose into forms that the cow CAN digest, and during their own life cycle contribute considerable protein to the cow’s diet.
Here’s the critical part;
Rumen methanogens are microorganisms that live in the rumen and lower intestines of ruminants and produce methane as a byproduct of their metabolism:
Methanogens are essential for the microbial conversion of feed into volatile fatty acids, which are nutrients for the animal.
Screw around with the composition or numbers of this ruminal microflora and you are looking at nutritional and/or health issues down the road, Its not as simple as “reducing an enzyme.”
I was going to post same observation….cows basically eat grass, etc. in order to feed the mostly anaerobic bacteria in their stomachs. The bacteria convert then nutrient poor feed into sugars, proteins, lipids, etc that the cow can utilize. A natural by-product of this elegant system is Methane; I don’t see how poisoning some of the enzymes is benign for the cows or humans.
Those of us who grew up on dairies know a thing or two.
Grass (alf alfa, barley etc) is simply cheapest food source for cows. It’s NOT the best nutrient, it simply grows. You can do winter crops or other stuff. You can make hay, sileage and store it cheaply. Next there is corn chop. A tasteless variety of corn that grows tall and fast. Run it through the chopper and either feed directly or store in a silo or giant bag.
Then there is the more expensive stuff. Cotton seed. Malt, other stuff. Rich and expensive. Cows eat this like candy.
Idea for dairy is to a ton of protein into them cows. For beef, it’s corn/grain to convert into meat.
The idea of goosing up the cow’s digestive tract to better convert feed into the resultant ag product is very worthy of investment. Sort of like boomers drinking apple cider vinegar- gets rid gas/gerd and helps digestion and absorption of minerals. Let nature do it’s job more efficiently.
Doing so in the name of global warming and methane is insane and will go badly.
My understanding goes as follows: only the legacy carbon trapped in fossil fuels adds to the average CO2 level in the atmosphere when released by combustion. The rest is part of the carbon cycle. So no reason to worry about cow farts.
Of course the whole global warming enterprise is over hyped to panic the public most of whom are not buying it. Again I recommend “Unsettled” by Steven E. Koonin. A real physicist with impressive credentials and experience, His arguments and presentations are what really matters. He refers to official sources like the IPCC reports and other government and academic reports. Many reports hold back embarrassing data, cut time series data at a place to deceive. The best book for the general public.
To keep up with this stuff I recommend the website “Watts Up With That.” Start there and get pointers to other web sites.
Finally these phony crises used to panic the public and generate money for special interests will ruin and has ruined public trust in science itself. They can only lie so much. Lying is additive with positive feedback it grows until something blows up. We are seeing that now with the reelection of Trump and his appointments.
Also check out: https://realclimatescience.com/
The problem with “testing” is that sometimes the test net isn’t wide enough.
Horse owners have horsefly problems. Early on, we found a product that worked like a miracle, better than anything else we tried. It was a powder you sprinkled on the horse’s feed. It was totally inert in the horse, went right through him to end up in the poop. But that’s where the magic started. The horseflies would lay eggs in the poop. The product would poison the larva. No new generation, no more horseflies. The tested the frick out of this stuff, it did not endanger your horses at all.
Ah, but nobody tested it on dogs… and dogs consider horse poop a delicacy. Turns out for the most part, the substance didn’t affects dogs at all… unless they were pregnant. Then the dogs gave birth to ugly, nonviable monsters. We had two girls pregnant at the same time, both had monstrous litters. We stopped using the fly control powder and never saw the problem again.
This is the sort of thing you’d see only after years of either testing or real-world exposure, because there are so many possible combinations of things that could go wrong. Jumping in with both feet as an early adopter of products like this is a recipe for extinction.
I think it would be interesting to find out what politicians are getting donations from the company making this. Politicians create a carbon trading scheme, people don’t want it so they approve something that reduces methane which farmers can either buy to get credits they can sell on that trading platform or miss out on money. Sounds like a payoff scheme to me.