Feed materials and feed additives intended to reduce methane emissions from dairy cattle.

Draft Order on compensation for compliance with minimum requirements on the use of and subsidies for theadditional voluntary use of methane-reducing feed in 2025

As part of the efforts in Denmark to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 by 70 % compared with 1990levels set out in the Danish Climate Act, it is intended to establish a support scheme for the voluntary use ofmethane-reducing feed in order to achieve an overall reduction of methane from conventional dairy cows’digestive systems on livestock farms with more than 50 cows milked on a daily basis.

The reduction requirement can be met by using feed additives approved by the EU and containing the activesubstance 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP). The scheme's reduction requirement is expressed as the minimumrequirement for the allocation of the feed additive in question to the daily feed intake measured in kilograms ofdry matter. The minimum requirements are set on the basis of the reduction that can be achieved underDanish conditions by using feed additives containing the active substance 3-NOP for a continuous period of 12months, which would mean, on average, an overall reduction of 28.5 % per animal.
The intention is to amend the Order if, in the 2025 calendar year, relevant minimum requirements can be laiddown under Danish conditions for the allocation of methane-reducing feed materials or other methane-reducing feed additives approved by the EU to the daily feed intake measured in kilograms of dry matter, if theuse of the materials makes it possible to achieve the expected overall reduction of 28.5 %.
At the same time, however, in the case of feed materials, it will be necessary to assess whether the intendedsystematic use of the material in question in order to achieve the desired reduction may have adverse sideeffects on the health of dairy cows, on consumer safety or on the environment.
The Danish authorities assess that the proposed rules do not, in general, constitute an obstacle to the freemovement of goods within the meaning of Articles 34–36 of TFEU, as it will be possible to place feed additivescontaining the active substance 3-NOP approved for use in the EU on the Danish market without restrictions,even if they cannot be used to achieve the Order's required reduction targets. The same applies to feedmaterials which can be placed on the Danish market, regardless of whether they have been produced inDenmark or in another EU country.
The Danish authorities would point out that the draft Order also provides for the possibility of obtainingcompensation for the mandatory reduction requirement envisaged in Section 40 of the draft Order on theapproval and authorisation, etc. of livestock farms, notified on 4 June 2024, cf. notification number2024/0300/DK (Denmark).