Automatic milking

Research Institute for Animal Husbandry

Research Institute for Animal Husbandry will contribute to the project's objective by:

• Project coördination and project management 
• Its long time experience with research on automatic milking systems 
• Its know-how on milk quality, milking technique, cleaning of milking equipment, cow health monitoring, udder health, herd management and management information 
• Its experience with studies on both experimental and commercial farms 
• Its experience with transfer of knowledge, both on a scientific and an applied level.

Research Institute for Animal Husbandry; Source of knowledge for the livestock industry

Applied Research for Animal Husbandry 

The Research Institute for Animal Husbandry is an organisation for research and knowledge transfer regarding day-to-day livestock farming in the Netherlands. We aim to find sustainable solutions and improvements. The results are applied directly in the Netherlands and abroad, by livestock farmers, agri business, civil organisations and national, provincial and local governments and in teaching and extension. Keywords are Independent, Objectivity and Openness.

Mission 

Our mission is to initiate and to stimulate developments in livestock farming for the benefit of an internationally competitive and socially acceptable livestock industry.

Clients

Our main clients are Dutch livestock farmers and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries. Other clients include national and international agri-business, provincial and local governments, commodity boards, farmer groups and consultants.

Research Research is being performed on housing, nutrition, fertilisation, water management, farm economics, organic farming, product quality, grassland management, fodder crops, breeding, environment, nature management, milking, mechanisation, health and welfare for the entire livestock husbandry in the Netherlands and in countries with similar conditions. Our modern facilities ensure research of high quality followed by knowledge and information transfer into practice. On our research facilities we keep in total about 800 dairy cows, 500 beef bulls, 300 veal calves, 180 head of sheep, 150 horses, 900 breeding sows and 8000 growing finishing pigs. For research on poultry, rabbits and mink an accommodation of about 68 000 animals present. The capacity of the hatchery is 50 000 eggs.

Below specific items of the different research fields are mentioned.

• International projects 
  - Mainly in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa. 
  - Supplying technical and economic expertise for agricultural or rural development projects
 
• Agricultural Telematics 
  - Achieve ICT standards and standardisation in livestock farming 
  - Standardisation and management (reference models, exchange of information and the testing and validation of   standards or software) 
  - Innovation (stimulating and co-ordinating new developments) 
  - Make sector-wide agreements about knowledge and information exchange in the area of ICT 
  - Stimulate the use of ICT in production chains
 
• Models 
  Development of computer models 
  - livestock farming 
  - forage production 
  - economics 
  - environment 
  - legislation. 

These models are continuously updated with the newest insights and results from research or elsewhere. They enable us to do exploratory calculations and scenario studies.

• Knowledge transfer 
  - Make and sell knowledge products (research reports, articles, manuals and brochures) 
  - Presentations given by researchers and field workers 
  - Organisation of research fairs and guided tours on the research and information centres

Address Research Institute for Animal Husbandry,   PO Box 2176,  8203 AD, Lelystad,  The Netherlands Tel. 0031-320293211  Fax 0031-320241584 contact person: Ing. C.J.A.M. de Koning

© Animal Sciences Group - Wageningen UR. Last update: 20-02-2008 10:03. Mail any questions and remarks to: webmaster.asg@wur.nl