Projects and publications

Current projects

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  ProVision: Optimizing ruminant feed protein conversion and lowering nitrogen emissions

  July 1, 2023 - Livestock farming of ruminants is primarily optimised for milk production and yield. Feeding technology and strategy are some of the most important factors continuously considered. At the same time, livestock farming is facing increasing restrictions penalizing nitrogen emissions. This project will develop novel feeding strategies for ruminants optimizing feed protein conversion and resulting in reduced nitrogen emissions and a more sustainable livestock value chain.
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  CRYOCHICK - Innovative cryopreservation methods for chicken germplasm

  April 10, 2023 - Poultry genetic improvement towards climate adaptation and sustainable farming requires maintainance of the existing genetic diversity within and between breeds. Gene banks can assist in conserving this diversity and reintroducing important traits into current poultry lines. CRYOCHICK focuses on the development of effective cryopreservation methods for ex-situ of male and female chicken germplasm.
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  Breeding Black Soldier Fly for healthier and sustainable aquaculture feed

  April 1, 2023 - The aim of this project is to understand the genetic variation of Black Soldier Fly (BSF) and use this knowledge to breed a healthy, efficient, high performing population and improve the production and nutritional quality of BSF.
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  Breeding for health in pedigreed dogs

  March 1, 2023 - Health is one of the most important aspects in dog breeding. Dog breed associations create breeding regulations and specific standards to which breeders need to comply. For each breed there is a so called “matrix of norms”, in which is specified which health problems should be tested for and which dogs should be used or banned from breeding.
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  Circularity in Integrated Systems in Ethiopia

  March 1, 2023 - ‘Circularity in Integrated Systems: Resource Recovery for Feed, Fuel and (Organic) Fertilizer Self-sufficiency in Ethiopia’ is a one-year project funded by the Circular Food Systems Network.
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  Low Carbon Dairy: working together on a 50% reduction of the footprint of milk

  January 1, 2023 - Wageningen University & Research is working to achieve a 50% reduction in the carbon footprint of milk by 2030 through the four-year Low Carbon Dairy public-private partnership (PPP). We are doing this in partnership with Unilever’s dairy supply chains involving Ben & Jerry’s and CONO Cheesemakers, and Nestlé with Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods. Feed companies (Agrifirm, ForFarmers and De Heus) and Duynie (supplier of co-products), Lely (robots and data systems for dairy farms), and Rabobank are also participating.
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  Implementation of organoids in animal breeding and nutrition research

  January 1, 2023 - Organoids are a key innovative technology to replace animal testing and measure complex traits. The main goals of this public-private-partnership (PPP) project are to 1) validate the already developed organoid-based Transwell membrane system for nutritional research, particular used to study absorption and test different functional ingredients, 2) develop co-culturing of pig intestinal organoids and immune cells, and 3) develop gene editing in intestinal organoids from pigs.
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  Quantification of climate impact for breeding and decision support at dairy farms

  January 1, 2023 - We develop machine learning models that predict the sensitivity of individual cows to heat stress based on their behaviour. Behavioural sensor data, cow information, and climatic data were collected from farms in the Netherlands and Belgium. By integrating multiple data sources, the models could better support dairy farms' adaptation to climate change. Farmers can utilise this information to differentiate between cows that are susceptible to heat stress and those that can tolerate it, which supports farm management and breeding decisions.
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  WUR Perspectives on the future of Agriculture and Nature (WPAN)

  January 1, 2023 - To design the future of agriculture and nature in The Netherlands, future perspectives for the period 2023-2050 are needed. Perspectives to foster the necessary transitions towards sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems in a greener world.
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  Tradeoffs and synergies (& scenarios)

  January 1, 2023 - Achieving the SDGs requires many interventions in more sustainable, equitable and climate-resilient food systems. Good policy-making by national and decentralised governments in developing countries requires that the trade-offs and synergies between possible interventions are mapped out. This project will develop an evaluation method for this and test it in case studies. Among the desirable outcomes of food systems are environmental, social and economic sustainability. Wageningen Livestock Research has developed the Dairy Sustainability Assessment Tool (DSAT) to facilitate discussion on sustainability of the dairy sector in East Africa among farmers, cooperatives and other stakeholders. However, DSAT needs to be reviewed to further improve the tool.