Let go of what you have and start over. This is one way the researchers from Wageningen UR 
Livestock Research are working on innovative and sustainable livestock systems such as housing. After all, breakthroughs are required if the livestock sector is to become fully sustainable within 15 years. The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality has established the following target: a livestock sector that takes account of animals, farmers, the environment and consumers. Together with people from practice, UR Livestock Research researchers are developing ideas for a new living environment for cows, pigs and poultry.
Looking at the entire livestock housing system
The researchers are looking at feasible housing concepts that must be developed further in practice. However, they believe it is very important that when you start to innovate, you must look at the entire housing system. If you only improve a single aspect, you run the risk that the system will be penalised in terms of quality regarding another aspect. For example, the improvement could be better for the animal, but not for the environment.
Innovative ideas
If we want a sustainable livestock sector in the Netherlands that takes account of the needs of animals, farmers, the environment and consumers, we must have a transition in our thinking. And there are limits to what you can still do with existing systems to improve welfare and reduce the pressure on the environment. In the near future, Wageningen UR Livestock Research therefore expects to generate innovative ideas about housing systems, as well as results that contribute to the systems.
New housing systems
For dairy cattle, Wageningen UR Livestock Research has developed four new housing systems as part of the project Kracht van Koeien (Cow Power). These systems have been developed according to a new approach, which requires a change in thinking and acting. With dairy cattle, this approach essentially means that you must satisfy all the needs of a cow, that you see minerals as a usable product, that you share capital and labour, and that you treat the soil as a productive ecosystem. With the new designs, animal welfare improves and emissions of greenhouse gases and ammonia decline by 20% or more – for same cost of production. Due to their low emissions, such livestock farms can also be located near nature reserves or cities. The key is that we have let go of the traditional concept of the barn. It has become more of a protected accommodation, partly open, and the roof is covered with solar cells. If animal production becomes twice as efficient, this higher yield compensates the methane emissions of the cows, for example .
Sustainable solutions for pig farming
Wageningen UR Livestock Research is also seeking integral, sustainable solutions for pig farming as part of the Varkansen (Pig-opportunities) project. The first new designs were completed at the end of 2009. In parallel to this project, barns are being designed purely from the pig's point of view; this is due to current political importance of animal welfare. New ideas are also being developed for broiler chickens and laying hens for large-scale production.
Contribution from professionals
New concepts cannot be developed without the creative contribution from professionals. Wageningen UR Livestock Research therefore wants to contact farmers who would like to experiment on their farms based on these images of the future. The participants in the Kracht van Koeien project include farmers as well as ICT experts, landscape managers and regular citizens.