Farmers kick up a stink over plans to tax flatulent cows

Farmers in the United States are kicking up a stink over proposals they believe will penalise them for owning belching and flatulent animals.

Livestock producers say the US government’s Environment Protection Agency (EPA) wants to charge them for rising levels of methane and other polluting nitrous gases emitted by their cows and pigs.

But, farmers warn, the "cow tax" fees of up to $175 (£120) per cow and $20 (£14) per pig are symbolic of unwelcome winds of change blowing through the agriculture industry.