Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas. The UK needs to rapidly cut its methane emissions, including from agriculture, which is the source of over half of the country’s emissions.

One of the simplest actions farmers can take to address this is to introduce methane suppressing feed products into the diet of their cows. Dairy cows are especially well suited to this, because they are typically fed indoors at least once a day and methane suppressants are most effective when fed to cows as part of each mouthful of food.

Farmers are increasingly discontented with the impact of unfavourable trade deals and price squeezing by supermarkets. But the government’s lack of financial support for farms to use methane suppressants is another way British farmers are being left behind compared to their counterparts in other countries.

Methane suppressants are up to 60 times more cost effective as an emissions abatement measure than other farming interventions currently receiving government subsidies. The cost is low, around half a penny per pint of milk produced.

In this briefing, we argue that the government should support farmers to use methane suppressants through the existing Sustainable Farming Incentive programme.