REMEDy Stable

The human population may be expected to grow rapidly to more than 9 billion people in 2050, which would be about a 30% increase relative to 2015; global food production may require a similar increase in order to continue feeding the world. Such an increase may provide various challenges, in particular in relation to sustainable farming, such as sustainable farming of livestock, especially in the dairy industry.

The efficiency in the diary industry may be substantially lower in those areas of the world where the highest population growth may be expected. For example, in India, the average milk yield per milk-producing animal per year may be about 1,270 kg whereas in the European Union the average milk yield per animal per year may be about 6,860 kg. Hence, an increase in dairy food production matching the increasing population growth may be expected to result in a substantial increase in the number of animals in the dairy industry, further resulting in an increased waste production and environmental impact.

During enteric fermentation, methane (CH4) may be produced in the rumen of ruminants in response to feeding. The ruminants may excrete the CH4 via respiration and flatulence directly or indirectly into ambient air. CH4 is a (anthropogenic) greenhouse gas (“GHG”) and may have a global warming potential of 28. This global warming potential indicates that the impact of the emission of 1 kg of CH4 on global warming may be approximately 28 times bigger than the impact of the emission of 1 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2).

The release of CH4 into the ambient air may not only be wasteful with regards to the environmental impact, but may further be wasteful with regards to potential beneficial use of CH4 as, for example, a fuel (within the stable). The beneficial use of CH4 within the stable may, however, require higher CH4 concentrations than those typically reached in prior art stables as these may not be designed to capture methane.

Besides GHG such as CH4, the agricultural sector may produce other byproducts, which may commonly be regarded as waste, such as ammonia (NH3) and particulate matter. Hence, in order to limit the production of waste, especially the production of GHG and NH3, in the dairy sector, an increased production efficiency and/or improved (waste) management may be required. Hence, it is an aspect of the invention to provide a system for a stable, which preferably further at least partly obviates one or more of above-described drawbacks. It is a further aspect of the invention to provide a method for reducing methane emissions from livestock keeping, which preferably further at least partly obviates one or more of above-described drawbacks. The method may especially comprise housing the livestock in a stable space of a closed stable of the system described herein The present invention may have as object to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.

Therefore, in a first aspect, the invention provides a system comprising a closed stable comprising a stable space for housing livestock, wherein the stable space comprises stable air, and wherein the system is especially configured for controlling (in a controlling mode) an air property of the stable air. The system especially comprises the stable space for housing livestock, especially for housing ruminants. Hence, the term “system” may especially refer to a “housing system”. Especially, the system comprises a control system configured for controlling (in a controlling mode) an air property of the stable air. The air property may comprise one or more of temperature, relative humidity, pressure, air composition, and any other air properties that may affect livestock and/or stable performance. The air property may be any air property relevant for the well-being and/or the type of livestock, especially any air property relevant for one or more traits related to the production of an animal product. Hence, the air property of the stable air may be tuned, especially controlled, in order to improve the performance of the livestock and/or the stable. Improving the performance of the livestock may e.g. relate to improving the (animal) product property or production (rate) of the animal, or e.g. the welfare of the animal. Improving the performance of the stable may relate to e.g. reducing the emission (of unwanted gasses and/or solid material and/or odor). Especially, the air property of the stable air may be tuned in order to (i) obtain higher (animal) product yields, (ii) reduce waste production, especially GHG production, (iii) improve animal welfare, and/or (iv) improve (animal) product quality. These beneficial outcomes may not be unrelated. For example, improvements in animal welfare (also “animal comfort”) may be well known to lead to higher yields, lower waste production and/or improved product quality.