CFIA approves methane-reducing feed ingredient for cattle

The Canadian Cattle Association and National Cattle Feeders’ Association have been strong advocates for new innovations such as methane-reducing feed ingredients to be available in Canada, as they are in other countries.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency this week announced the approval of a new livestock feed ingredient that reduces methane emissions from cattle. 

The feed additive '3NOP' (3-Nitrooxypropanol)  was developed by the Dutch company DSM Nutritional Products through it's Project Clean Cow initiative.

Ryder Lee, the general manager of the Canadian Cattle Association is pleased to see the approval.

"When you look at all our greenhouse gas emissions and the Canadian Cattle Industries goal to reduce our emissions by 33% by 2030 (our emissions intensity) here's a tool . We've talked about it along the way that, you know, this will depend on management. But it'll depend on technology too and things that we don't even know exist."

He says it's great to see one of these approved.

"It's (3-NOP)) something that you can add to the feed that changes a little bit of the profile of the gas that's produced from the rumen to reduce methane."

Lee says this is something that is approved for  feedlot cattle to be able to control their intake and be sure of what the output is.

There's no time frame on when the product will be available in Canada, or what it will cost.