Livestock, nutrients and sustainability

The 21st cattle and pig forum focused on major issues for the future

“Will we still be able to afford livestock at all in the future?” Professor Wilhelm Windisch, Chair of Animal Nutrition at the School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan (Technical University of Munich), asked participants of the 21st Forum for Applied Research in Cattle and Pig Feeding. This specialist event has been a fixed date in the calendars of German-speaking scientists and experts in the field for many years. This year, for the second time running, organising the forum took somewhat more effort: following its postponement to September last year—the forum was finally held in Soest with limited attendance and less speakers, some of who attended via video conference—the organisers decided early on this year to go completely virtual.

Professor Windisch was but one of the top-class speakers at the event, which was chock-a-block with expert talks, to demonstrate that the sector is addressing the major issues for the future and also actively promoting discussion and action. The first day of the conference started with a welcome address and introduction to the conference, followed by a talk by the expert group of the Institute of Animal Welfare and Animal Husbandry at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut. The participants then followed the contributions of the respective specialist groups for cattle and pigs. The talk by Anne Möddel, Senior Technical Sales Manager at Dr. Eckel Animal Nutrition, addressed the most important points in relation to additives, among other things.

In her presentation ‘The effect of improving feed efficiency and survival rate with a flavonoid-containing additive on the circular economy’, the pig farming expert showed what highly specialised feed additives can do to meet the exacting EU guidelines, for example, those with regard to nitrogen emissions, and make animal production more sustainable overall. A good conclusion to a successful event, according to Anne Möddel: “Transforming such an expert conference that depends on an exchange of views into a lively online event is a great challenge. So kudos to the organisers for pulling it off so well!”

The Dr. Eckel team is very optimistic that, despite all the advantages of a virtual event, the 22nd specialist forum, which will be held next year, will also be in person. In any case, Dr. Eckel will be there.