Climate Smart Cattle Farming: Development of novel technologies, solutions and systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in animal production systems

The aim is to develop climate smart cattle farming systems reducing GHG and ammonia emissions while maintaining the social-economic outlook of the farm business. Key words are efficiency of production and care for climate. Central in the approach are innovative housing and manure handling systems in reducing emissions, like use of composted bedding material, separation of faeces and urine, artificial floor constructions, manure cleaning robots, cow toilets, virtual fencing and ICT data collection techniques, and precision crop fertilization. Promising feeding, breeding and grassland mitigation practices are examined to contribute to the integrated systems approach.

Our study will deliver an assessment of the environmental performance of a network of study field farms in eight EU-countries on basis of NPC balance tools and simple emission measurement methods. Researcher–farmer interaction will ensure improved performance and impact. Expert groups in each country will evaluate the outcomes, and choose practices and techniques worthwhile to be further examined in experimental set-ups. On basis of literature and the collected experimental data, promising practices and techniques will be screened for their socio-economic robustness and political implications. Next, farm systems will be built by assembling combinations of suitable practices and techniques and will be tested on pilot and experimental farms for meeting the goals of this project.

The project consortium includes nine leading research institutes plus stakeholders spread over Europe and elsewhere, providing a wide coverage of environments and farming systems. The consortium and network of farms will serve as ambassadors for climate innovative efficient farming. It has the potential to help reducing the sum of emissions by an additional 30% in 3-4 years by awareness raising and applying new techniques. Open field days, popular articles and conference seminars and electronic media are planned to spread the message.

This project targets the call holistic theme by covering the whole cattle farm, the technical theme by applying tools and innovative techniques to deal with emissions, and the societal theme by simulating and evaluating the socio-economic impact of the various practices and techniques integrated in promising future farming systems, adapted to local circumstances.