feed additive

With FDA approval in hand, Elanco Animal Health said on Tuesday it will sell throughout North America its feed ingredient that reduces methane emissions from lactating dairy cows by 30 percent, with sales beginning in the third quarter of the year. Farmers could use carbon contracts to offset the cost of the ingredient, "a few cents a gallon of milk," the company said.

Livestock are blamed as a significant contributor to global warming because they emit methane, a greenhouse gas, while digesting their feed rations. An international team of scientists has identified a compound that can be added to feed that reduces methane emissions by up to 30 percent.

China barred pork imports from six U.S. processing plants and six cold storage facilities as part of its ban on the feed additive ractopamine, which helps hogs gain weight more rapidly, said Reuters.