EUROPE – Royal DSM has announced that it has started filing for EU authorization for a new feed additive for dairy cows that will reduce methane emissions by around 30%.

The new product will help dairy farms reduce their carbon footprint in producing milk by checking the amount of methane, a potent greenhouse gas emitted into the environment.

The feed additive was developed as part of DSM’s commitment to delivering science-based, sustainable and scalable solutions in response to the world challenges including climate change.

With the new product, dairy cows can cut methane emissions by 30%, thus helping lower the rate of global warming.

“We’re excited to start registration in Europe,” said Mark van Nieuwland, program director at DSM.

“This is an important milestone. Our science-based solution has the potential to be a real game-changer in the global effort to reduce the climate impact of the foods we know and love.

“Because of its global warming potency, mitigating methane emissions will be a powerful lever for the dairy sector to take action on the climate emergency.”

According to DSM, a quarter teaspoon of the feed additive per cow per day suppresses the enzyme that triggers methane production in a cow’s stomach.

Upon feeding, the additive takes effect immediately and methane is broken down into compounds already naturally present in the cow’s stomach.

The feed additive was developed through DSM’s Project Clean Cow started in 2007, as part of a bigger initiative to help farmers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by cutting herd’s burped methane by 30%.

Following authorization from the EU, DSM expects to launch the product in Europe by early 2021.

Methane is a natural byproduct of digestion in cows and other ruminants, the majority of which is released into the atmosphere through burping and breathing and responsible for more than half of the cow’s carbon footprint.

It is a greenhouse gas which contributes to climate change, characterized by a varying degree in temperature change.

The result of the project is a feed supplement that consistently reduces the methane produced by ruminants (dairy cows, beef cattle and sheep) by 30% to 50%.