DSM takes next step towards implementation of its methane inhibitor Bovaer® in the Netherlands

Royal DSM, a global science-based company in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living, today announces that it takes the next step towards implementation of its methane inhibitor Bovaer® in the Netherlands through a trial at the Dairy Campus in Leeuwarden that aims to gather all information necessary for accreditation of Bovaer by the Carbon Footprint Monitor / Climate Module of the Kringloopwijzer (the Annual Nutrient Cycling Assessment).

The trial with Bovaer has been designed together with a consortium from across the Dutch Dairy Chain, comprising of DSM, Wageningen University & Research, FrieslandCampina, Agrifirm, De Heus & ForFarmers. The trial will deliver methane reduction results for different ratios of grass silage and maize silage diets typical for Dutch circumstances and different dosages of Bovaer.

The trial will run from November 2019 till February 2020 and is supervised by a team of cattle nutrition experts from Wageningen University & Research (André Bannink, Sanne van Gastelen and Jan Dijkstra). The knowledge gained in this study will be applicable across Europe.

This trial builds on the experience gained from 24 previous dairy trials, that proved the safety and effectiveness of Bovaer. In this trial we aim to study the interaction between different diets and dosages of Bovaer on the level of methane reduction as key inputs for future use in Carbon Footprinting tools and associated economic models.

The participating feed producers Agrifirm, De Heus and ForFarmers commented: “We have a big challenge ahead of us in the Netherlands. Within the National Climate Agreement, we have agreed that the agricultural sector will deliver a contribution to making our food production more sustainable. A part of that commitment is to further reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the sector, for example by reducing the methane emissions from the cow’s rumination process with practical, economical and animal-friendly solutions. This has the potential to create added value for our dairy products and could contribute to increasing public support for the way we produce our food in the Netherlands.

“That is why we - Agrifirm, De Heus and ForFarmers - participate in the experiments that will be run at the Dairy Campus in Leeuwarden in the coming months, together with DSM, FrieslandCampina and Wageningen University & Research. These experiments should elucidate to which extent the additive mitigates methane emissions. After this trial further investigations are required to evaluate the feasibility, business case and technical on-farm application of the product.”

“We’re very much looking forward to the results from this trial with Bovaer in the Netherlands, and we believe that this is an important step towards implementation” said Mark van Nieuwland, Program Director at DSM.

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