Methane Burps Busted

Royal DSM, the Dutch nutrition giant, just got the green light to sell their methane-busting feed supplement, Bovaer, in Brazil and Chile. Since the two countries are the first to approve it, they must think the product is remarkcowble. Or is everyone else being a coward? Ok, we're done... Just a spoonful errr... quarter teaspoon of Bovaer helps methane emissions go down 30% for dairy cows and up to 90% for beef cows, according to the company’s trials. Zoom out: Brazil is the top beef exporter, sending a little over 2.5M metric tons of beef into the world in 2020. And they're the #2 global beef producer, coming in at 10.1M metric tons. Burp better: Bovaer suppresses the enzyme that triggers methane production in a cow's rumen. It's effective immediately and safely breaks down into compounds that are naturally present in the cow's stomach. Methane is one of the more potent greenhouse gases because of its superior heat-trapping abilities. But it vanishes from the atmosphere much more quickly. So in the short term, reducing methane emissions would pack a nice punch. Project clean cow:Bovaer’s competitors are Asparagopsis seaweed, garlic and citrus extract, and lemongrass—all of which supposedly cut ruminants' methane emissions to varying degrees.