Norway has halted the use of a feed additive designed to stop cows farting as rising reports of illness in Danish herds using the same product have emerged.
The pause applies across Norway’s dairy sector and follows reports from Denmark, with the announcement published in Norway on 12th November.
Officials said they stopped using the feed additive Bovaer – developed by an international agricultural-technology manufacturer – while awaiting a better understanding of what caused negative effects in some Danish herds that used the product.
Johnny Oedegaard, director of Norsk melkeråvare, a national dairy-sector organisation, said there were no known negative effects documented in Norway that were linked to Bovaer use.
He said the pause was taken out of precaution after dialogue with the organisation’s own researchers attached to MetanHUB, a government-supported climate research hub studying methane reduction in agriculture.
He said the Danish observations followed a legal requirement introduced on 1st October for Bovaer to be added to feed for dairy cows in conventional production for at least 80 days a year.
He said Danish farmers had reported symptoms including reduced appetite and lower milk production, and that there had also been more serious cases.
He said it was important to remember that it was not unusual for animals to become ill and that Denmark had 550,000 dairy cows, most of which had now begun using Bovaer.
He said they did not yet have documentation showing that disease was linked to use of the additive, but it also could not be ruled out.
He said this was why they paused practical testing in Norway until more was known.
Around 70 Norwegian dairy producers were currently using Bovaer as part of the MetanHUB project.
Officials said this milk had been sold to Norwegian consumers since the start of the project in 2023.
They said that Bovaer trials had shown significant effects, with a 15–25 per cent reduction in methane emissions from dairy cows without consequences for milk quality or animal health.
They also said the project had so far reduced emissions in Norwegian dairy production by 1,000 tonnes of CO₂.
Danish farmer Kent Davidsen, who has 1,000 cows, said: “I have nine cows lost. They became paralysed and could not get up. All my cows had diarrhoea. In 30 cases the cows had such paralysis that we had to carry them away. We have fed the product according to instructions and also worked with experts.”
Davidsen earlier viewed the project positively but now described it as a “poisoning”.
Another Danish farmer, Morten Dalby, who has 1,500 cows, said: “I have fed it because it is required. Some cows lay down and simply did not get up again.”
Around 300 farms in Denmark added Bovaer to feed after 1st October and more than half have reported problems, including reduced feed intake and lower milk output.
An investigation by Aarhus University – a public research university in Denmark – will examine whether Bovaer is responsible for the reported illnesses.
The European Food Safety Authority, the EU’s food-risk assessment agency, has previously assessed the product as safe.
Denmark’s agriculture minister is due to meet agricultural organisations and Danish farmers are demanding a reaction similar to Norway’s.
The enzyme inhibitor 3-NOP has been approved in the EU since 2022 and its use in Germany is voluntary.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below. Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: newsX
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