Researchers are developing the perfect feel-good barn for cows in Grub

Created: 2022-02-06 09:24

By: Armin Rösl

Optimum lighting conditions and the best climate for the cow: The perfect barn is being researched in a new project in Grub.

© Lfl / Steffen Kastner

What will dairy farming look like in the future?

Researchers at the State Institute for Agriculture are now looking for the perfect feel-good barn.

Grub - Even if they don't have a panorama of the Alps directly in front of them, the cows on the Grub state farm should feel like "happy cows": They get a "dairy cowshed of the future".

As reported by the State Office for Agriculture (LfL), the Federal Office for Agriculture and Nutrition has now approved a corresponding application from the Network Innovations for Healthy and "Happy" Cows (IGG).

As part of the project, two "dairy cattle stables of the future" are being funded at the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) in Dummerstorf (Mecklenburg-West Pomerania) and at the Bavarian State Institute for Agriculture (LfL) at the Grub site.

"Both should contribute to answering innovative research questions in the field of animal welfare and to the development of 'dairy cattle stalls of the future' in practice," says the LfL.

Different breeds of cattle are examined

The “barn of the future” is being designed in Dummerstorf, in the dairy cow barn at the LfL site in Grub the focus is not only on animal behavior but also on the different needs of the animals with regard to the use of various resources, such as feed supply and space requirements.

"Both innovative stables are used both as experimental stables and as model farms for dairy farming," writes the LfL in its press release.

In addition, a different breed of cattle is kept in each barn, which means that comparative research projects can also be carried out.

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Research into eating and resting behavior will be a central aspect in Grub, for which purpose new recording methods will also be developed.

In general, according to the LfL, one focus will be on social coexistence and the needs of cattle.

The planning phase is currently beginning, in which the most important findings from research are already being taken into account: "Among other things, the lighting conditions in the barn are to be optimally adapted to the adaptability of the cattle, a climate concept is being developed to avoid heat stress, and low-emission floors are to be used used and tested.”

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