Since the announcement of a trial to feed British cows arla milk bovaer, shoppers have threatened to boycott products made by Arla, as well as three major supermarkets working with the brand.
Shoppers have threatened to boycott three major supermarkets over their participation in a new trial to add a methane-suppressing supplement into cow feed.
Arla Foods, which owns the UK’s biggest dairy co-operative, announced on 26 November it was going to start using the supplement.
Some UK social media users have been pouring milk down their sinks and toilets in protest at the trial of a new feed additive that claims to significantly reduce the emission of methane gas in dairy cows.
Arla Foods, a Danish-Swedish company which owns the UK’s biggest dairy cooperative, announced last week that 30 of its farms across the country would test the additive, named Bovaer.
The company says Bovaer – which is added in small quantities to cow feed – could reduce cow methane emissions by between 30-45%.
It has been approved for use by UK regulators, and several major supermarkets will stock milk produced by cattle eating feed with the additive.
The initiative is aimed at tackling climate-heating methane emissions produced by cows during digestion.
Arla said it will work alongside Aldi, Morrisons and Tesco to trial the use of the feed additive known as Bovaer across 30 British farms.
But the announcement has since been heavily criticised, with swathes of British shoppers threatening to boycott all three supermarkets and Arla brands, especially Lurpak butter.
What do we know about Bovaer and the new trial?
Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and is helping drive climate change.
Cows produce it when their stomachs are breaking down hard fibres like grass for digestion. This fermentation process creates methane gas which is then mostly belched out again.
Bovaer works to suppress the enzymes in a cow’s stomach that create the gas. The National Farmers Union (NFU) says when the additive is used as recommended it breaks down in the cow’s digestive system and as such is not found in milk or meat.
According to DSM-Firmenich, the additive is available for sale in 68 countries around the world.
As part of its trial, Arla Foods is working with some of the UK’s largest supermarkets, including Tesco, Morrisons and Aldi, who will stock products produced by cows which have eaten the additive.
What is Bovaer?
Bovaer is a supplement that is added to cattle feed, according to DSM Firmenich, the Swiss-Dutch manufacturer that makes it.
It is designed to break down in the cow’s digestive system and quickly decompose into “naturally occurring compounds already present in the rumen [part of the stomach] of a cow”.
Cows emit methane when they burp. Research suggests the additive can reduce methane emissions from cows’ digestion by an average of 27%.
Reducing methane is important because it is a greenhouse gas – contributing to global warming – and, according to the government, agriculture – including the rearing of cows – contributed 49% of all the UK’s methane emissions in 2021, the last year for which figures are available.
