Elanco Animal Health announced that it is making significant progress on its four-pillar livestock sustainability strategy, delivering new innovations to the farmers as well as advocating and changing the narrative on cattle from climate culprit to part of a sustainability solution for producers seeking to lower emissions.

As part of this effort, Elanco has been working to expand access to innovations that can reduce livestock’s environmental footprint. Most recently, the Food & Drug Administration approved three combination clearances of Elanco’s Experior and MGA in finishing heifers.

FDA approved combination feeding of:

Experior is the first FDA-approved product with a gas emissions claim to help reduce ammonia gas emissions per pound of live weight and hot carcass weight for beef steers and heifers fed in confinement, the news release noted. When fed at the approved dose and duration, Experior reduces ammonia gas emissions up to an estimated 16%, according to clinical research studies (Freedom of Information data). This approval for combination feeding in heifers provides cattle feeders with greater flexibility and additional options to improve environmental stewardship.

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Finishing heifers comprise nearly 40% of the cattle on feed inventory in the U.S., based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s October “Cattle on Feed report, making this a sizable opportunity for more producers to utilize Experior, Elanco said in its news release. (The company noted that Experior is not approved for use in breeding animals, and should not be fed to horses or other equines.)

“Every day, feedyard operators must balance environmental stewardship with economic sustainability and business results,” said Katie Cook, Elanco vice president, livestock sustainability and U.S. farm animal marketing. “Research with U.S. feedlot managers and nutritionists confirmed that a combination approval of Experior and MGA would drive them to use Experior as part of their feeding regimen for heifers [data on file]. These combination feeding approvals offer beef producers greater flexibility and more options so that they don’t have to choose between the benefits of Experior’s ammonia suppression and the performance attributes tied to MGA. They can feel confident in feeding a combination of products that best fit their business models while working towards their sustainability goals.”

The combination approval with Rumensin, a product whose mode of action for feed efficiency impacts the emission of methane, opens more opportunities for beef producers to advance environmental sustainability efforts, Elanco said, explaining that the product can help producers improve efficiency by reducing the total natural resources needed to feed cattle, which, in turn, reduces emission intensity. Published research shows that feeding Rumensin can decrease methane emissions approximately 10-15% in a beef animal (J.A.D. Appuhamy et al., Journal of Dairy Sci., 96 [2013], p. 5161-5173.)

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Elanco reported that by using Rumensin its U.S. dairy and beef customers avoided an estimated 2.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 and also avoided approximately 9.5 million metric tons cumulatively between 2020 and 2023 – equivalent to taking more than 2.2 million passenger cars off the road for a year (Environmental Protection Agency, Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator).

Changing the narrative from culprit to solution

By utilizing new innovations that improve environmental sustainability and then sharing these stories with governments, stakeholders and others around the world, the livestock industry is making an impact and changing the narrative from cattle as the culprit to the cow as part of a sustainability solution for producers seeking to lower emissions, the news release pointed out, adding that Elanco has been taking this story to unexpected places to advocate on behalf of livestock producers.

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This month, Elanco leaders will take the global stage at COP29 – the 2024 U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties – in Baku, Azerbaijan, which is expected to draw more than 32,000 people from around the world to discuss opportunities for combating climate change worldwide. Elanco will be part of several events discussing how livestock play an important a role in a sustainable future, including a Nov. 19 panel discussion titled “The Case for Livestock & Current State of Play – The Americas Experience,” with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture. This comes on the heels of other advocacy events Elanco participated in this year at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas; New York City Climate Week, and the Reuters Transform Food Summit.

Earlier this year, the company launched its “Shared Table” LinkedIn newsletter featuring Elanco president and chief executive officer Jeff Simmons sitting down with thought leaders in animal health to examine some of the challenges the animal industries face today.

These efforts, combined with others in the livestock industry, can have a powerful impact, according to Elanco: Its consumer research shows that sustainability continues to matter, with 71% of U.S. consumers saying it’s important that the food they buy is produced sustainably. Additionally, 57% of consumers today say they view livestock as a solution to climate change, up from 8% in 2021.

Elanco said it will continue to work to shift the narrative on livestock from climate culprit to climate opportunity in order to help protect customer’s social license to operate.

Elanco is a global leader in animal health dedicated to innovating and delivering products and services to prevent and treat disease in farm animals and pets, creating value for farmers, pet owners, veterinarians, stakeholders and society as a whole.