Two out of five NIC projects concern sustainability

Whenever a new innovation project is about to start, how does that work?
“On an annual basis the NIC works on approximately 50 projects. We label each project, so that they always fit within a research theme. All projects are linked to research themes. Themes directly related to sustainability are environmental impact and animal health and welfare. Two out of five NIC projects carry one or both labels. So you could well say that Going Circular and the underlying objectives are an important part of our daily work.”

What kind of projects should we think of?
“If we look at the animal health and welfare theme, a project like ‘The effect of low-protein feed on animal behaviour’ is a good example. Strikingly, this project immediately uncovers the complexity and paradox we are dealing with: in order to reduce the environmental impact through feed, we are researching options to reduce the amount of crude proteins in feed. On one hand this results in a reduction of ammonia emissions – an important part of the nitrogen debate. But on the other hand we also know that with a lower protein level it is harder to achieve other goals we have set.”

What do you mean by that?
“It is not always the case, but sometimes animal welfare and environmental impact do not serve the same purpose. Looking at animal welfare for example, we strive for calm animal behaviour and no interventions such as docking of pigs’ tails. But lowering the protein level in feed, which is beneficial for the environment, can have a negative effect on animal behaviour. Animals can become restless and hurt each other. Science has not yet figured out why this behaviour seems worse at low protein levels. We want to find out, because then it might become clear how we can mitigate the downside of lower protein levels.”