Less gas, same grass: Bovaer, where is it now?

Irish Examiner

23-04-2025

The inventor behind Bovaer, a feed supplement to reduce ruminant methane, has said the firm has nothing to hide.
Maik Kindermann, VP of Innovation Bovaer at DSM-Firmenich, said: 'We have nothing to hide.'
Mr Kindermann began his presentation by addressing the elephant in the room and the recent public pushback surrounding the product. He acknowledged the social media attack on technologies like Bovaer, and the mistrust in such technical developments.
"…We have put all our research traditionally in front of the public, so we now have 92 scientific publications out. The reason why I'm saying this is that it's all publicly available,' he announced.
The additive 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP), otherwise known as Bovaer, is a feed additive proven to reduce methane production in ruminants. It is said to reduce emissions by an average of 30% for dairy cattle, and up to 45% for beef cattle with their product.
The controversy
In February this year, Bovaer came under scrutiny from the general public, with misinformation taking root via social media.
The media storm began after Arla announced it would pilot a scheme with its farmers to feed Bovaer to their herds and reduce the carbon footprint of their production.
Just like that, an announcement that was expected to be celebrated as a multinational food group leaning into reducing its emissions and taking steps to be 'greener' was snowballed and associated with videos of people throwing away Arla products and pouring milk down kitchen sinks in protest.
What Arla and DSM-Firmenich were not expecting at the announcement was members of the public taking to social media, denouncing both Arla and the feed additive, with uproar focusing on the health effects of the product. Some social media users even made claims 3-NOP could cause cancer, which DSM-Firmenich denies.
Just like that, an announcement that was expected to be celebrated as a multinational food group leaning into reducing its emissions and taking steps to be 'greener' was snowballed and associated with videos of people throwing away Arla products and pouring milk down kitchen sinks in protest.
It is important to note Bovaer is metabolised in the cow, and 'we don't find it in milk and meat', explained Mr Kindermann. The additive does not pose a risk for people consuming the products from Bovaer-fed cows as a result.
Somehow, Bill Gates was also dragged into the spotlight through this media crucifixion, the Microsoft co-founder having no known connection to Bovaer or DSM-Firmenich, but has invested in Rumin8, a rival product using seaweed to reduce methane emissions rather than the synthetic compound 3-NOP.
The background of Bovaer
Mr Kindermann, a guest speaker at the British Society of Animal Science conference, discussed the creation and market expansion of Bovaer.
Research for the additive began at the end of 2008 for DSM-Firmenich, and Mr Kindermann, a chemist by trade, began looking into methane production in ruminants. When a ruminant digests its food, hydrogen is produced as a by-product. This, in turn, gets processed by microorganisms found in the rumen and is converted into methane in a seven-step process.
Mr Kindermann explained they decided to interfere in the last step of methane production for these microorganisms. This was because they had the crystal structure on file for that particular stage of the pathway, and this step did not occur anywhere else in the cow.
'So the idea was if we inhibit this enzyme very specifically, we exclude unwanted side-effects.'
In 2021, Brazil was the first country to commercially approve Bovaer, with Europe not far behind. Now, 68 countries have Bovaer as a commercially approved additive.
Once the pathway is infiltrated, the 3-NOP deactivates the targeted enzyme, which breaks down the molecule. Once broken apart, all products as a result of the feed additive are naturally occurring molecules found in the cow, which can all be metabolised.
'When you feed 3-NOP, the effect in reducing methane is immediate. So within 20-30 minutes, methane goes down,' said Mr Kindermann. If animals are not kept on the additive, then within three hours, methane production returns to normal.
Showing data from a three-month study, Mr Kindermann said: 'As long as you feed Bovaer, methane stays in this 20-30% reduction, and if you stop within a day or two, methane picks up again.
'Bovaer works from 100% grass-fed diets to complex TMR and also to finishing beef cattle diets… It always works, once it's in, it works,' Mr Kindermann explained proudly.
In 2021, Brazil was the first country to commercially approve Bovaer, with Europe not far behind. Now, 68 countries have Bovaer as a commercially approved additive. 'Bovaer has been tried around the world and is a trusted solution,' said Mr Kindermann.
Mr Kindermann explained there were several multi-year trials currently ongoing with ruminants on Bovaer. One year-long trial he showed at his presentation was conducted by Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands, which found an increase in fat and protein by 6.4% in the animals fed the additive.
'You see a bit of an increase in milk fat and milk protein, which is a good effect on the cow. We have not seen any effect on health, fertility, and welfare behaviour,' said Mr Kindermann, who emphasised in its 16 years of trials and studies of its additive, it has so far not detected any adverse effects on animals ingesting Bovaer.
The future of Bovaer
Mr Kindermann revealed in his presentation that DSM-Firmenich was looking to expand Bovaer. As well as getting commercial approval in other countries such as China and India, too major global players that, if secured and Bovaer implemented, could make major changes in global methane emissions.
DSM-Firmenich is also working on formulating a slow-release Bovaer product to simplify the administration of the additive for farmers. Currently, the company is looking into a once-a-day additive with long-lasting effects to work on reducing methane within ruminants until the next feed. 'Our biggest problem is that these prototypes are too expensive for companies.'
Mr Kindermann also announced it was looking into a Bovaer additive for drinking water. '3NOP is perfectly water soluble,' he explained, saying a farmer would need 370g of Bovaer per litre of water. In initial testing of a water-soluble variant, Mr Kindermann said its trial saw a methane reduction of 20% in beef cattle and a reduction of 40% in methane in a sheep trial.
The company has also nearly completed the build for a dedicated plant in Dalry, Scotland, and is expected to be fully operational later this year.
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