DSM, which has a patent on 3-NOP, has already applied to European regulators for authorization to sell the compound as a cattle feed additive. The company hopes to launch the product in the European Union soon, followed by registrations in other regions such as Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. U.S. approval, if it is granted, will come slower because 3-NOP is considered a drug here and will be regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

In this research conducted at Penn State’s Dairy Teaching and Research Center, recently reported in the Journal of Dairy Science, 49 lactating cows were alternately fed rations containing no 3-NOP, and 40, 60, 80, 100, 150 and 200 mg of 3-NOP per kilogram of feed dry matter. Importantly, according to Hristov, dry matter intake and milk yield of the cows was not affected by 3-NOP. As a bonus to the methane mitigation, milk fat concentration and yield increased.

Methane — a natural byproduct of digestion in ruminants — is released by cows into the atmosphere mostly through belching. So, the results of 3-NOP trials are viewed by many scientists as critical, if the carbon footprint of dairy and beef cattle production is to be reduced to help slow climate change, explained Hristov.

The climate-change contribution of methane from cow burping — often incorrectly characterized as cow flatulence — has been the subject of considerable derision within the U.S. However, it is taken seriously in other countries, Hristov pointed out, because the average dairy cow belches approximately 350 pounds of the potent greenhouse gas each year.

“But greenhouse gases from animal agriculture are just 5% of the total greenhouse gases produced in the United States — much, much more comes from the energy and transportation sectors,” he said. “So, I think it’s a fine line with the politics surrounding this subject. Do we want to look at this? I definitely think that we should, and if there is a way to reduce emissions without affecting profitability on the farm, we should pursue it.”