Proven at EuroTier 2022, repeated at the Öko-Feldtage 2023: the "Impulse Lounge" of the Focus Animal Welfare Network. With more than 12,000 visitors, this year's Öko-Feldtage took place at the Grieshaber & Schmid farm in Ditzingen near Stuttgart. Over the two days of the event, 14 farms and projects presented their experiences on a specific topic in short statements and short presentations.
Achim Ruf from Bannsteinhof and Frauke Deerberg from the University of Kassel opened the Impulse Lounge at the Focus on Animal Welfare Network stand at the 2023 Eco Field Days with the topics of mobile housing and direct marketing, as well as nutrient inputs in laying hen outdoor areas. Klaus Bohner and Kathrin Goebel then presented their implementation of cow-bound calf rearing. The marketing of male calves was also discussed. Wilhelm Schulte-Remmert and Paul Bird presented the challenges that arise in organic pig farming. The presentations focused on strengthening one's own organic profile and on-farm meat processing.
Uschi Gorzelany and Max Klein kicked off the second day of the event. They presented the design of the outdoor areas for their laying hen houses. Frauke Deerberg was also there again to present her KLUFT project at the University of Kassel. Christian Karp, Franz Sutter and MK Jones then presented their concepts for extending the useful life of cows. The advantages and disadvantages of the individual approaches were highlighted. Jürgen Schmidt and Matthias Zentgraf presented how animal welfare works in pig farming and which topics are at the forefront.
The wide range of topics attracted many visitors to the stand. This led to open and lively discussions, some of which went far beyond the presentations and were then continued in smaller groups.
Author: Gesa Krone, FiBL Deutschland e.V.