Dairy cows provide milk and beef. This is important economically, nutritionally and culturally. But cattle farming also harms the climate. Could it be climate-neutral? In the Cattle and Climate experimental field, we want to investigate how emissions in cattle farms can be minimised, offset or even reduced to below zero.
We are pursuing a system-wide and system-oriented approach to future cattle farming in order to make milk production and the by-product beef more climate-friendly.
Starting points include feeding, breeding, husbandry techniques and infrastructure, energy use, and the integration of trees and shrubs as carbon sinks and weather protection (shade, wind) on dairy farms. Our goal is efficient and animal-friendly cattle farming that is sustainable from an ecological, economic and social perspective – for both organic and conventional agriculture.