‘Blind spot’ due to methane emissions threatens the cattle breeding sector – Reuters

“We are experiencing a methane moment,” said Katie Anderson, senior director of corporate food and forests at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). “And for good reason, because (cutting) methane is the best tool we have right now to slow the rate of warming.”

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with a warming power 80 times greater than CO2 in the first 20 years of its entry into the atmosphere. However, a recent report published by Reuters shows that stopping methane emissions now could have an immediate impact on rising temperatures because it is a relatively short-lived phenomenon.

At COP26 in Glasgow, more than 100 countries signed up to the Global Methane Declaration, pledging to reduce global methane emissions by 30% by 2030. A year later, John Kerry, the US special envoy for climate, announced at COP27 that the US would invest $20 billion in reducing methane emissions. However, according to FAIRR, an investor initiative focused on the food sector, most methane reduction efforts, including the rules adopted by the EU last month, still focus on the energy sector, even though only 38% of the global problems lie with oil companies and gas .

The biggest single culprit, at around 40%, is agriculture. However, this is a problem that regulators around the world are only slowly beginning to address, and only 16 countries have set methane reduction targets in agriculture. It is also a blind spot for beef and dairy producers, although the cattle sector is responsible for more than 70% of methane emissions from agriculture, FAIRR says.

While 82% of the world’s 60 largest protein producers have made their Scope 1 and 2 emissions public, only five companies have chosen to publish their methane emissions, and only three have set specific methane reduction targets.

However, last year’s COP28 saw an important change for the dairy sector when six brands, including Bel Group, Nestle, Danone, General Mills and Lactalis American Group, joined the Dairy Mamine Action Alliance (DMAA), committing to report on their annual emissions methane and create a public action plan to reduce them by the end of this year. Clover Sonoma and Starbucks joined the alliance in April.

EDF and sustainability nonprofit Ceres have committed to holding companies accountable for implementing their plans.

“Companies are starting to recognize that it’s really about business continuity, resiliency and supply chain risk,” said EDF’s Anderson. “We know that cattle and dairy farmers are on the front lines of already experiencing climate impacts – drought, floods, wildfires (all) are causing stress on livestock and impacting productivity.”

However, EDF confirmed that membership in the alliance does not require companies to set specific methane reduction targets, which some non-governmental organizations say is crucial to holding them accountable.

While Danone in January 2023 became the first large food company to adopt a specific target of reducing methane by 30% from fresh milk production by 2030, Nestle was sharply criticized in a report by the Changing Markets Foundation (CMF), Net- Zero Honesty: Nestle’s methane weakness for not adopting a similar target. The company’s methane emissions from the dairy alone are estimated at 8.74 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e), twice the emissions of the entire Swiss livestock sector.

Asked about the report, Owen Bethell, Nestle’s environmental impact manager, told The Ethical Corporation that while the company does not have a specific methane target, it has provided figures for the first time showing it has reduced its methane footprint by 15.3% since 2018

These were reported in line with the Forest, Land and Agriculture Approach Guidance (FLAG) issued by the Science Based Targets initiative on how companies in land-intensive sectors should seek to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.

“This relates to some of the points raised by the CMF, which is that we need more transparency on this issue and companies need to show what progress they are making,” Bethell said.

Bethall said Nestle’s methane reduction was achieved by encouraging better on-farm practices and “showing dairy farmers how they can increase their incomes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the same time.” Along with many of its competitors, Nestle is also considering replacing dairy products with plant derivatives in some recipes.

When asked why the company wouldn’t commit to the methane target, Bethell replied: “The actions we’re taking are working, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense for us to include a bunch of additional targets and layers… it’s already built in.”

Alma Castrejon-Davila, senior campaigner at CMF, admits that Nestle has made progress, but in the absence of a methane target, “we still don’t know if their plans are very serious. It is important for us to see how these emissions are reduced and increase accountability to the sector. This is something we miss at Nestle.

“Methane is a byproduct of fermentation, when bacteria in the cow’s stomach turn grass into energy,” explained Duncan Williams, director of food and regenerative agriculture at the nonprofit Sustainability Future Forum. The coarser the fiber, such as straw and hay, the more difficult it is to break down and the more methane the microbes produce during fermentation.

Although enteric methane, or cow burp, is responsible for 90% of the problem, cow dung is also a problem. While slurry can be reintroduced into the soil if the cow-to-land ratio is well maintained, Williams says, slurry lagoons used in more industrial operations allow the fermentation process to continue and also release huge amounts of ammonia, which adversely affects air quality.

According to FAIRR, 55% of companies in its index convert manure and sewage into biogas through anaerobic digestion. This is an approach that not only reduces methane emissions, but also uses it to generate energy. Last year, for example, British retailer Waitrose began powering tractors on a farm in Leckford, Hampshire, powered by compressed natural gas produced from the manure of 500 head of cattle.

However, dietary supplements are seen as the most promising solution because they counteract intestinal methane. The clear market leader is Bovaer, also known as 3-NOP, a dietary supplement which, according to the manufacturer DSM-Firmenich, reduces methane emissions by an average of 30% in the case of dairy cows and 45% in the case of beef cattle.

Bovaer, now available in 59 markets, made a big breakthrough last month when animal health company Elanco announced it had finally received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell the supplement in the US.

Last year, Elanco launched UpLook, a tool to help dairy farmers quantify greenhouse gas emissions reductions, which connects to Athian, a livestock greenhouse gas emissions marketplace that also launched last year.

Elanco noted that dairy farmers can also apply for funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture under an $89 million program to support methane reductions on U.S. farms.

“For an additional cost of just a few cents per gallon of milk, Bovaer can help food companies meet their climate commitments and meet consumer expectations for more sustainable dairy products,” said Katie Cook, vice president of livestock sustainability and livestock marketing at Elanco. “Meanwhile, by engaging in voluntary carbon markets and securing USDA and state conservation programs, dairy producers are implementing a scalable sustainability practice that can deliver an annual return of $20 or more per lactating cow by feeding Bovaera.”

Another feed supplement promising even greater methane reduction is Mamine Tamer, whose main ingredient is Asparagopsis seaweed, and is intended for beef cows. Tests have shown that, manufactured by Nevada-based CH4 Global, it can reduce gut methane emissions by up to 90%, company CEO Steve Meller told The Ethical Corporation in a written statement. Importantly, it has been deemed safe for human health by a leading toxicologist.

CH4 Global has secured the investment to begin commercial processing of asparagus in South Australia and will begin supplying farmers there before the end of the year. “The key challenge now is the profitable production of Asparagopsis, so that both the producer and the farmer can make a profit,” he added.

The next big challenge will be getting FDA approval, given the years-long wait Bovaer has had to wait for the green light. The company is calling on Congress to pass legislation called the Innovative FEED Act, which would cut the FDA’s review time for feed additives by several years and has bipartisan support.

A third way to address the methane problem in cattle is to better manage the herd and improve animal health, says EDF’s Anderson, especially for smaller farms in the Global South. “Feed management, veterinary care, water access – these types of things can be really valuable in reducing the amount of methane produced per unit of milk,” she explained.

Forum for the Future’s Williams agrees that supplements like Bovaer represent important progress in the fight against emissions, but asks: “Who will pay for it when dairy farmers’ margins are already so low?”

On a good day, he continues, British dairy farmers could earn 4p per liter of milk. However, this system of supplements and additives “asks farmers to put their hand in their pockets, potentially losing 25% of their annual profit, to reduce their carbon footprint by 10%. “No other industry in the world is required to… make such sacrifices.”

While methane reduction markets are beginning to emerge, particularly in the U.S., he said, it’s critical that they develop at the same time as products, “because that’s the only way we’ll see widespread market adoption.”

He says the entire meat and dairy industry must address methane emissions in a more holistic way, including through innovations to reduce emissions through selective breeding programs. “Give methane a value,” he argued, “and that would take into account the economic model behind these decisions… Then farmers will choose low-emission cows because that is what they are paid to do.”

Danone’s chief financial officer, Juergen Esser, told participants at the Reuters Events “Responsible Business Europe” summit earlier this month that it is important for regulators to support the efforts of companies taking steps to reduce methane emissions.

“When Danone announced its commitment to reduce methane emissions… we were the first company in the world to do so. The response we heard from our partners was not positive because it puts pressure on others,” he said. “But if you work in agriculture, this is a way to reduce your carbon footprint by reducing methane emissions. This is not easy. This is an initiative that has an impact on the industry and we need to take regulators with us.”