UK Bovaer trials stopped after problems in Denmark
Late last year, Arla Foods began a trial of Bovaer in 30 farms across the country which they claim could reduce methane emissions from cows by 30-45 percent
News of the trial caused consternation among some and led to a boycott of some Arla products.
The manufacturer of Bovaer; DSM-Firmenich said these people were the subject of mistruths and misinformation and the product was “totally safe” for use.
Meanwhile, Bovaer was mandated to use across Denmark in early October this year and there have been many reports that the additive is damaging to livestock, prompting an investigation by the Danish government.
By pure coincidence, Arla announced in early November it had stopped the British trial and was evaluating the results.
How did we get into this position of endemic bovine stupidity? Let’s dig in.
At root, this whole controversy is a story about ‘net zero’. The climate alarmists claim that methane concentrations in the atmosphere measured in parts per billion are having a devastating effect on the climate.
This prompted organisations like UK FIRES to call for beef and lamb consumption to fall by 50 percent by 2030 and be eliminated altogether by 2050 (see Figure 1).
In their Seventh Carbon Budget the Climate Change Committee (CCC) was less draconian, calling for a 25 percent reduction in overall meat consumption by 2040 and 35 percent by 2050 compared to 2019 levels.
Within this, they expect a steeper 40 percent reduction in red meat by 2050. CB7 also calls for a 27 percent reduction in the number of cattle and sheep by 2040 and a 38 percent reduction by 2050.
They call for these reductions even while noting that methane emissions “are already 62 percent lower than they were in 1990”.
The Carbon Cycle
The alarmist narrative is driven by a misunderstanding of the carbon cycle.
Cows and other ruminants have roamed the earth for thousands of years. For instance, there were about 60 million bison in North America in the 18th century, compared to about 87 million cattle in the US at the beginning of 2024.
Somehow these bison did not manage to cause runaway global warming.
This is because of the cattle grazing carbon cycle (see Figure 2).
Cows eat grass and methane is released from cow belches and rotting manure is released into the atmosphere. The methane oxidises to CO2 quite quickly and then is reabsorbed by grass through photosynthesis.
The grass grows and stores the carbon dioxide in its leaves and root systems. The cows then eat the grass and the cycle begins again.
Although methane is emitted during the cycle, it is then reabsorbed, so the net effect on the climate is negligible.
Impact of Methane in the Atmosphere
In addition, the concern about methane in the atmosphere is overblown (see Figure 3).
As can be seen, the absorption frequencies of methane are almost entirely covered by the absorption frequencies of water vapour. The average concentration of water vapour in the atmosphere is about 0.25 percent, or about 2,500 parts per million.
By contrast, methane concentration is about 1,900 parts per billion or more than three orders of magnitude lower than water vapour.
The idea that a change in methane concentration will have an impact on climate when its absorption frequencies are already saturated by water vapour is absurd.
Now we turn to the impact of Bovaer on livestock. Back in 2024, the Danish Centre for Food and Agriculture produced a paper setting out the impact of Bovaer on methane emissions and milk productivity.
(the paper is a pdf which can be downloaded from the source document – Ed)
The paper documented five experiments on Danish cow herds. The reporting of the results is not quite consistent, with some focusing just on methane reduction and others also including the impact on Energy Corrected Milk Yield (ECM) (see Figure 4).
Both Johnson experiments showed reductions in methane emissions of about a third, with corresponding reductions in ECM of a similar magnitude. The Kjeldsen experiment reduced methane emissions by nearly a quarter but was silent on the impact on milk yields.
The first Maigaard paper showed an 18-23 percent reduction in methane emissions and simply recorded an unquantified negative impact on milk yields.
The second Maigaard paper showed a reduction of between 31 and 34 percent in methane yield and zero to minus five percent reduction in ECM depending upon Bovaer dosage.
It is noteworthy that none of the experiments got anywhere near the high-end 45 percent reduction in methane emissions claimed by DSM-Firmenich.
Another meta-study by Pupo et al concluded that 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP), the active ingredient of Bovaer, reduced methane emissions by 27.9 percent but a diary with 1,000 cows would need to be compensated by $128,320 per year to cover the cost of the additive and loss of milk yield.
We can only wonder at the bovine stupidity that would mandate the introduction of an additive that reduces milk yields almost as much as emissions.
To get the same output, we would need more cows and have almost the same total emissions, but of course at much greater cost.
Bovaer Safety Data Sheet
The Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for Bovaer (another pdf which can be downloaded from the source document – Ed), leads to additional concerns.
The SDS shows Bovaer causes serious eye damage, skin irritation and is suspected of damaging fertility. If the product gets in the eyes, users are recommended to immediately call a Poison Centre and rinse with water for several minutes.
This calls into question DSM-Firmenich’s claim that Bovaer is “totally safe” to use.
The Danish Experience
The Farmers Guardian has reported health issues in Danish cows being fed with Bovaer.
The Danish government made the feeding of Bovaer in herds of over 50 cows compulsory on October 1, 2025. On these farms, Bovaer must be added to the cow’s ration for at least 80 days a year.
Farmers have said that their cows have suffered from issues including fever and diarrhoea, fertility performance has been impacted and in some instances farmers have reported cows have collapsed and died.
Maybe the suspicion of fertility issues in the SDS can soon be confirmed as fact.
A farmer described Bovaer as a poison, noting an explosion in digital dermatitis and higher somatic cell counts. Higher somatic cell counts indicate lower milk quality and suggest udder infection.
When he stopped adding Bovaer to their feed, cow health showed huge signs of improvement and somatic cell count fell by 20 percent two days later.
Danish farmer Kent Nielsen took to X with a video complaining that since starting feeding his cows with Bovaer on October 1st, his cows have suffered from diarrhoea, gut paralysis and milk fever.
He also reported losing 3kg of milk per cow. He has since stopped administering Bovaer after consulting a vet.
Mr Neilsen’s profile on X also documents many instances of what he terms “Bovaerpoison” on other farms, including the death of calves.
Like nobody guessed that messing with the digestive processes of cattle would impact their health?
Conclusions
The climate alarmists have made no secret of the fact they want to drastically reduce meat consumption and cull our livestock herds.
They have a mistaken belief that methane emissions from cows are damaging the climate, without considering full carbon cycle of ruminant herds.
The mad rush to ‘net zero’ has caused an outbreak of bovine stupidity amongst our ruling classes. They have come up with Bovaer as a dangerous solution, that cuts yields as well as emissions, to a cure non-existent problem of cow flatulence.
It is hardly surprising that tampering with the digestive processes of cows would harm their health. Some say that the purpose of a system is what it does, so maybe they see the imposition of Bovaer as an easy way to reduce the number of cows on farms.
In effect, we must sacrifice the cows to appease the weather gods. We can only hope that Arla does the right thing and decides not to extend the Bovaer trial into the wider farming community.
See more here substack.com
Some bold emphasis added
Header image: Unsplash
Editor’s note: you could be forgiven for thinking this use of a product that causes infertility and even death is being done deliberately, to stop us eating meat. These people harp on about almost non-existent species extinctions, yet here they are advocating making cows extinct.
very old white guy
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Bovaer is killing the animals. I guess that is the desired effect much like the covid shots on humans.
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