German scientists develop pill to stop cows farting

New pill promises to limit methane emissions from flatulent cattle

The last time BusinessGreen posted on plans to force farmers to reduce the amount of methane emitted by their flatulent cattle it prompted some pretty, erm, agricultural responses.

An "L. Wall" suggested that government proposals to tax farting cattle were an example of the UK's "totalitarian sensibilities"; "Fryman" interrupted a rant about the evil of socialist politics and the hoax that is climate change to suggest that the UK government is a " joke" and that we need a "statesman like Churchill once again"; while "Dee" observed that "I think almost every one in the UK must be bonkers," before asking: "How can you stop a cow from Fartin'?"

Well, according to reports in The Guardian, a team of German scientists reckon they have found the answer to that particular question in the form of a plant-based pill that they claim can limit bovine wind and slash the agricultural sector's methane emissions.

The fist-sized pill, known as a bolus, traps some of the energy from the methane produced by the cow's digestion, limiting the amount of the greenhouse gas that is burped back out. The methane can then be used to produce glucose, which should improve the cow's health and result in more milk.

Winfried Drochner, professor of animal nutrition at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, told The Guardian that combining the pill with a special diet and strict feeding times could dramatically reduce methane emissions from cows, which currently account for four percent of all greenhouse gases.

"Our aim is to increase the wellbeing of the cow, to reduce the greenhouse gases produced and to increase agricultural production all at once," he said. " It is an effective way of fighting global warming."

So maybe forcing farmers to address the ill-wind blowing from their herds is not so crazy after all.