ISSUE FOCUS FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE July 2024 41 therefore very happy that in late 2021 the first markets (Brazil, Chile) approved Bovaer®, followed by the EU in the first half of 2022. Currently Bovaer® is available in 65 markets globally. Can you talk about the effect of this methanereducing feed additive? In simpler terms, how does Bovaer® reduce methane emissions? When a cow consumes feed, it’s broken down in the rumen into energy sources, but also a portion is transferred into methane. This happens through a cascade of enzymatic steps in the rumen. Bovaer® temporarily inhibits the last step in that cascade and therefore less methane gets produced. What is the amount of methane emission reduction achieved by using this additive in ruminants? On average we see a 30% reduction of methane emissions from dairy cattle, and 45% for beef feedlot cattle. For a typical dairy cow this translates into 1-ton CO2e saved per cow per year. Do you have a measurement of how many tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) Bovaer® has helped to save until now? To date we have enabled to avoid roughly 120.000 tons of CO2e equivalents already, and we are working hard to go into the millions of savings annually. Can you tell us about the pilot studies you conducted to prove the effectiveness of Bovaer® and the results you obtained? What can you tell us about the methods and ease of application under real farming conditions? Over 100 scientifically supervised trials have been completed globally, which have resulted in over 80 peer reviewed scientific publications (and many more to come), which have consistently demonstrated that Bovaer® reduces methane emissions quickly, effectively and consistently. The initial launch form is a powder which can easily be blended into the mineral or vitamin mix, and therefore is particularly fit for TMR/PMR systems on the dairy side and feedlots on the beef side. It can also be used in other systems but the effect would be lower. Additional form and application work is ongoing to develop and test new forms and applications to expand the range of farming systems and maximize the impact of Bovaer®. A recent example of this is the MLA-supported trial at the University of Queensland. Does Bovaer® have a positive or negative impact on animal health, productivity and welfare? At a high level, I would say no. We do see an improvement in the propionate to acetate level, which of course is good for the energy balance of the cow. We have seen a number of studies where animal performance went up, but this is not consistent and/or significant. Milk tests, tasting panels, beef quality scoring etc. have not shown any differences, which is important. Is Bovaer® a product that farmers can easily access and use? In particular, can we say that it is economically sustainable? Bovaer® is mixed into the various feed and feed supplement sources already arriving at the farm, so there is no additional handling. In many cases, the additional actions required by the farmer are therefore limited to ordering, keeping track of an invoice, and reporting the use of Bovaer®. So that they can be recognized for the positive climate impact they make. Economically, Bovaer® costs about 1 cent per liter of milk (to reduce the footprint of that same liter of milk, instantly, by ~15%). For a farmer this is a significant cost, for a liter of milk you and I buy this is minimal and well within the regular fluctuations
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