The Feed Additives Flagship Project, led by the Feed and Nutrition Network of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) and funded by the Global Dairy Platform, has released a ground-breaking open-access collection of technical guidelines in the Journal of Dairy Science. Harnessing the expertise of more than 60 researchers from 46 institutions across 23 countries, the detailed guidelines—covering the full spectrum of additive development and implementation—aim to help scientists and industry leaders accelerate methane reducing feed additives to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ruminants.

Queen’s University staff contributing to the project include Professor Sharon Huws, Dr Katerina Theodoridou and Dr Fernanda Godoy Santos. Their work focuses on innovative feed additives aimed at advancing sustainable ruminant production. You can read their Journal of Dairy Science papers by clicking on the following links;

• Sharon Huws and Dr Fernanda Godoy Santos
• Dr Katerina Theodoridou

The Feed Additives Flagship Project’s primary goal is to provide the scientific community and the livestock sector with actionable technical guidelines on how to identify, test, and implement effective feed additives. These guidelines—including a helpful introduction to the overall project—provide comprehensive recommendations for the development and implementation of methane-reducing feed additives, each focusing on a different aspect of additive development:

1. Identification of promising candidates: Guidelines for discovering and testing compounds that reduce methane production from rumen microbes (Zoey Durmic et al.)
2. Testing at the animal level: Best practices for evaluating the efficacy and safety of additives in live animals under practical conditions (Alexander Hristov et al.)
3. Model development: Recommendations for modelling the impact of feed additives across various production systems (Jan Dijkstra et al.)
4. Understanding how additives work: Insights into the biochemical mechanisms of feed additives to improve their development and acceptance (Alejandro Belanche et al.)
5. Authorization and regulation: Overview of regulatory requirements across different jurisdictions to ensure the safe and effective use of feed additives (Juan Tricarico et al.)
6. Carbon accounting: Methods for quantifying methane reduction achieved through the use of feed additives (Agustin del Prado et al.)

All six articles are published in the January 2025 “Feed Additives for Methane Mitigation” special issue of the Journal of Dairy Science, a leading general dairy research journal from the American Dairy Science Association. Each article is open access and available for free, ensuring they reach the scientific community and livestock sector worldwide. Taken together, the guidelines represent the best information from a global team of experts and offer a roadmap with the potential to significantly contribute to global livestock climate efforts.

The Feed Additives Flagship Project will be hosting a webinar on the latest developments, you can register to attend by clicking on the links below

• Webinar 1: Monday February 24 – 23:00 UTC
• Webinar 2: Wednesday February 26 – 15:00 UTC

Project video