FINLAND – Valio, Finland’s largest global dairy cooperative company has partnered with Royal DSM, to develop products that will significantly reduce the carbon footprint of dairy production in Finland.

The Finnish dairy cooperative prides itself in being Finland’s most sustainable brand and has over the years committed to improving animal and human welfare, while taking active measures to reduce their environmental and climate impacts.

The cooperative’s milk ranks among the cleanest in the world and the company is now focused on making its dairy value chain carbon-neutral by 2035.

The partnership with DSM, a global science-based company with extensive experience in sustainable living is one of the steps to reach this ambition.

Valio and DSM will collaborate in an end-to-end demonstration scenario to develop, build and test Bovaer® in Valio production and marketing systems.

Bovaer has been developed by DSM as a feed additive which consistently and effectively reduces enteric methane emissions from cattle.

Just a quarter teaspoon of Bovaer® per cow per day suppresses the enzyme that triggers methane production in a cow’s rumen and consistently reduces enteric methane emission by approximately 30%.

The partnership with Valio is among a number of partnerships that DSM is forging in  the dairy and beef value chain to prepare for market introduction.

The activities around the partnerships include joint trials to confirm effectiveness in local farming systems, co-development of low-carbon dairy products, and establishment of business models.

Among other things, the collaboration will Valio will see implementation of trial that will track animal and milk performance parameters and calculate the eco-footprint reduction.

Valio will then conduct quality and processability assessments to qualify Bovaer® as a feed additive for use on VALIO farms.

Juha Nousiainen, head of the climate program at VALIO, expressed his excitement about the program saying: “DSM has invented a promising solution to drastically improve the GHG footprint of cows.”

“This solution for reducing enteric methane will be an important building block to reach our ambitions for carbon neutral milk,” Nousiainen added.

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