In the United Kingdom, farmers are expected to be mandated to give "methane suppressants" to dairy cows because the gas emitted by their passing gas, specifically in burping, has been deemed by the UK government as too great a contributor to climate change.
According to the Daily Mail, the UK released their Net Zero Growth Plan this week which outlined goals for the country to reach zero carbon emissions by 2050 and gassy cows were identified as a looming threat.
To enact the plan, additives will be inserted into "compound feeds" given to the bovine. These feeds consist of essential oils and seaweed along with the additives and farmers will be forced to give their animals this "compound" by government ministers.
The UK is making the move as part of their commitment to the Global Methane Pledge, an initiative pushed by Joe Biden in the US and President of the European Commission, Von der Leyen.
The UK's Net Zero Growth Plan, which said that the need to move to green energy was "In response to high household energy bills resulting from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine," also said "21 percent fewer cows" in their country was "progress."
The plan also has the "ambition to mandate the introduction of products with proven safety and efficacy in compound feeds for cattle as soon as practically possible in England."
Their goal with the mandate is to have it implemented by 2025 and create a 20 percent reduction by 2030, which is also in keeping with their pledge.
A former government adviser on food strategy, Dustin Benton, said, "Most dairy cows are milked twice a day, and when they're going to be milked they usually eat, so that's a pretty good way of getting it into them."
The plan will likely increase the cost of milk by 33p.
