On 26, 27, and 28 May the dairy farmers will receive more information about the practical research of Wageningen at the new location. Also citizens and other visitors are welcome on campus. About forty stands of people that have contributed to the new location or have participated in the innovation project on the Dairy Campus will be present. Wageningen research shares information through so-called knowledge desks about the rearing of calves, longer lifespan of cows, manure valorization, grazing, biodiversity, climate and water.
The Diary Campus currently has two locations: Leeuwarden and Lelystad. In Leeuwarden they hold about 270 dairy cows, in Lelystad around 400 cows. In the coming month’s some of these cows will be moved from Lelystad to the border of Leeuwarden, where a company will be developed with 550 dairy cows on 350 hectares. For this the Dairy Campus still needs to buy land from the surrounding farmers.
One of the things that the practice center will research is Smart Farming, the use of sensors in dairy farming to improve production – and environmental performance. Besides this also a grazing experiment will run on a small lot, to understand how farmers with many cows can keep their cows outside. Different feeding types are also tested for methane production plus the center will test how to upgrade slurry to substitute artificial fertilizer. The province of Friesland also hopes that the practice center will perform research on agricultural nature management.
The province, together with the Leeuwarden municipality has invested 20 million euro in the Dairy Campus. The campus cost 52,6 million in total.