As if Danish farmers needed another reason to revolt, Denmark just implemented a policy that is harming their cattle.
Denmark hopes to reach “climate neutrality” by 2050 (good luck with that) and lower emissions by 70%. These goals are extremely aggressive on the environmental front, and to reach them, the Danes believe they need to address methane emissions from cows.
Cow farts, belches, and manure certainly contribute to greenhouse gases. Cow burps in particular release a lot of methane because of the way their stomachs ferment food. “When ruminant animals such as goats, sheep, and especially cattle digest their food, it gets processed in their systems by way of fermentation,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “This process breaks the food down over time and produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to our rapidly warming planet when expelled to the atmosphere in the traditional biologic routes; i.e., flatulence or burps. Researchers have found that 37% of methane emissions from human activity are the direct result of our livestock and agricultural practices.”
For its part, the EPA is looking at adding seaweed to our livestock feed in order to reduce emissions.
It must be stated, however, that methane — though a potent greenhouse gas — isn’t nearly as disastrous to the environment because of its ability to quickly break down in the atmosphere. “Unlike carbon dioxide (CO2), which lasts from 300 to 1,000 years in the atmosphere, methane typically breaks down in about 12 years,” notes a report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “This … suggests that because of its relatively short lifespan, methane won’t build up in the atmosphere, and methane emissions from livestock should not be a concern.”
For Denmark, however, methane accounts for a significant share of its greenhouse gas emissions. So, how did the Danes go about settling their cows’ stomachs, reducing their excessive wind, and saving the planet? Well, they thought they’d found the solution via an additive to cow feed that, theoretically, would reduce methane.
According to Legal Insurrection, “Its makers, Elanco Animal Health, claim the ingredient powder used in feed will reduce methane emissions from dairy cattle by almost 30% and works by suppressing a cow’s ability to produce methane during digestion.”
The additive, Bovaer, is now a part of every cow’s diet in Denmark.
However, farmers are already unhappy with the results. The milk supply has dropped, cows have collapsed and miscarried calves, and some cattle have become so sick that they needed to be put down.
When farmers stopped giving their cows the tainted feed, they swiftly improved. However, it’s now required for Danish cows, and they immediately began suffering after being dosed again. “It’s slow poisoning masked as sustainability,” one farmer told reporters.
If this additive is hurting cows, just imagine what tainted milk will do once it hits the human food supply. The UK government claims it’s safe to drink the milk because cows metabolize the additive, but it does give one pause — even if one trusts the UK government.
Either way, Danish farmers might soon be out protesting on their tractors, just like their Dutch and Belgian neighbors, if the government doesn’t address their concerns and material losses. Harming cows was not what these farmers signed up for, even if it ultimately achieves the Left’s climate goals. Dead cows may placate the ecofascists, but it’ll destroy farmers’ livelihoods.
