Bovaer is getting a lot of attention – and not the good kind.
Bovaer is a feed additive for cattle – including some used to supply milk and beef sold at Coles supermarkets.
Why? Because Bovaer reduces cattle methane emissions (in burps) significantly.
Bovaer is made using silicon dioxide, propylene glycol and the organic compound 3-nitroxypropanol (known as 3-NOP).
Several MPs including Federal MP Kevin Hogan have urged shoppers not to buy products from cattle fed Bovaer.
Norco said cows producing its milk do not use the feed additive.
The company said, “Some Australian shoppers have threatened to boycott Coles amid an online firestorm about the supermarket’s use of a cattle feed supplement that aims to reduce methane emissions from cows.”
Bovaer manufacturer DSM-Firmenich, a Swiss-Dutch firm, has this explanation on its website about how Bovaer works: “In a cow’s rumen, microbes help break down food. This releases hydrogen and carbon dioxide. An enzyme combines these gases to form methane. Bovaer is a feed supplement that suppresses the enzyme, so less methane gets generated. Just a quarter teaspoon in a cow’s daily feed takes effect in as little as 30 minutes. As it acts, Bovaer is safely broken down into compounds already naturally present in the rumen.”
The company ran several Bovaer trials.
According to DSM-Firmenich, the additive is now available for sale in 68 countries around the world.
The supplement is broken down as part of the animal’s natural digestive process, meaning it’s not present in any beef or dairy products.
Coles said it would be expanding its use of Bovaer after two successful trials in Australia.
The supermarket said three of its carbon-neutral beef suppliers were using the supplement in cattle feed.
Coles said the use of this innovative supplement continues the important research to help support the beef industry’s aspiration of carbon neutrality by 2030 as well as the supermarket’s sustainability ambitions.
Bovaer has been extensively researched over the past 15 years and approved by leading food safety organisations, Coles said.
Meat & Livestock Australia has done three studies of Bovaer and is undertaking two more.
MLA said it had consulted with the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for its research.
Over the years, there has been research into the use of seaweed to reduce emissions (burps).
In Nova Scotia, Canada, scientists started introducing seaweed to cattle feed in hopes it could help in the fight against climate change.
The focus was the cattle’s burps.
The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada project involved feeding 16 cows varying amounts of seaweed at a research farm. It found that by replacing only 1% of the cows’ regular feed with kelp, it reduced the methane emissions from burps by as much as 15%.
IndyNR.com has contacted the National Farmers Federation for a comment.
This article appeared on indyNR.com on 5 December 2024.
