The consumer backlash when dairy co-op Arla announced in late 2024 that it was trialling the methane-suppressing feed additive Bovaer on 30 UK farms has left the product “dead in the water” and with no “social licence”, UFU deputy leader John McLenaghan has said.

Speaking in Omagh last Wednesday, McLenaghan revealed that the UFU recently met representatives from DSM-Firmenich, the company behind Bovaer.

The product is scientifically proven to reduce methane emissions from cattle; however, the main concerns centre around the fact it contains the synthetic compound 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP).

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“No matter what else about the science and the rights and wrongs, if the public doesn’t want to buy the product, then we don’t want to use it. They accepted there is a massive problem in the UK,” said McLenaghan.

Before that consumer backlash in late 2024, some trial work had begun in NI on methane-reducing feed additives, given that methane is a potent greenhouse gas and the pressure that has come on farming to get emissions down.

That includes a DAERA-funded study at AFBI Hillsborough, which is looking at the long-term efficacy of the feed material, SilvAir and the feed additive Bovaer. Cows in the study are now into their second lactation.

“This study will provide important independent information on the longevity of the effectiveness of these two products to reduce methane, as well as on the performance and general health of the cows, together with economic considerations,” confirmed an AFBI spokesperson.