Feed Additives to Reduce Enteric Methane Emissions
Feed additives can help reduce methane emissions from ruminant animals by targeting how methane is produced during digestion. Both natural and synthetic additives, like seaweed and 3-NOP, have shown potential, though more research is needed to confirm their effectiveness and use in grazing systems. This fact sheet highlights various feed additives and their role in methane reduction.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture supported the development of this fact sheet.
Key Scientific Literature:
Aboagye I. A., Beauchemin K. A. (2019). Potential of Molecular Weight and Structure of Tannins to Reduce Methane Emissions from Ruminants: A Review. Animals, 9(11), 856.
Arndt, C., Hristov, A. N., Price, W. J., McClelland, S. C., Pelaez, A. M., Cueva, S. F., Oh, J., Dijkstra, A., Bannink, A., Bayat A. R., Crompton, L. A., Eugène, M. A., Enahoro, D., Kebreab, E. Kreuzer, M., McGee, M., Martin, C., Newbold, C. J., Reynolds, C. K., Schwarm, A., Shingfield, K. J., Veneman, J. B., Yáñez-Ruiz, D. R., & Yu, Z. (2022). Full adoption of the most effective strategies to mitigate methane emissions by ruminants can help meet the 1.5 C target by 2030 but not 2050. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(20), e2111294119.
Cheeke, P. R. (2000). Actual and Potential Applications of Yucca Schidigera and Quillaja Saponaria Saponins in Human and Animal Nutrition. In Saponins in Food, Feedstuffs and Medicinal Plants. Proceedings of the Phythochemical Society of Europe, vol 45. Springer, Dordrecht.
Cobellis G., Trabalza-Marinucci M., Yu Z. (2016). Critical evaluation of essential oils as rumen modifiers in ruminant nutrition: A review. Science of the Total Environment, 545, 556-568.
Duin, E. C., Wagner, T., Shima, S., Prakash, D., Cronin, B., Yáñez-Ruiz, D. R., Duval, S., Rümbeli, R. Stemmler, R. T., Thauer, R. K., Kindermann, M. (2016). Mode of action uncovered for the specific reduction of methane emissions from ruminants by the small molecule 3-nitrooxypropanol, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(22) 6172-6177.
EPA (2024). Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2022. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
FDA. (2024). Bovaer 10 letter. Available at: https://www.fda.gov/media/178913/download
Hegarty, R. S., Cortez Passetti R. A., Dittmer, K. M., Wang, Y., Shelton, S., Emmet-Booth, J., Wollenberg, E., McAllister, T., Leahy, S., Beauchemin, K., Gurwick, N. (2021). An evaluation of emerging feed additives to reduce methane emissions from livestock. Edition 1. A report coordinated by Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC) initiative of the Global Research Alliance (GRA).
IPCC (2021). Chapter 4: Atmospheric Chemistry and Greenhouse Gases. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, AR6.
Machado, L., Magnusson, M., Paul, N. A., Kinley, R., de Nys, R., & Tomkins, N. (2016). Identification of bioactives from the red seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis that promote antimethanogenic activity in vitro. Journal of Applied Phycology, 28, 3117-3126.
Martins, L. F., Cueva, S. F., Lage, C. F. A., Ramin, M., Silvestre, T., Tricarico, J., Hristov, A. N. (2024) A meta-analysis of methane-mitigation potential of feed additives evaluated in vitro. Journal of Dairy Science, 107(1), 288- 300.
Ungerfeld, E.M. 2020. Metabolic hydrogen flows in rumen fermentation: Principles and possibilities of interventions. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11, 589.