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On July 11, 2025, the Association Center for Sustainable Animal Husbandry was founded at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF). Under the leadership of Freiberg University, researchers, private individuals and members of industry have joined forces to drive forward an innovation pool for the animal-friendly and sustainable barn of the future. The alliance will initially be launched as a registered association. Alexander Starke from the Clinic for Cloven-hoofed Animals at Leipzig University is the chairman of the association.
Heatwaves are once again rolling across Europe this summer and are not sparing farm animals. Temperatures in barns are rising to unbearable levels, as cows suffer from heat stress even at temperatures above 15 degrees Celsius. In times of climate change, it is clear to researchers and farmers that barns will have to change in the future in order to offer cattle in particular better climatic conditions. The barn of the future - this is where the Center for Sustainable Animal Husbandry comes in.
Know-how for climate and animal-friendly barn construction
A poor barn climate has a huge impact, and not just on the milk yield of cows: "We know from our research that most of the animal health problems and animal losses currently occurring in dairy farming, as well as the restrictions on the well-being of our cattle, can be traced back to a suboptimal housing environment," says association chairman Professor Alexander Starke.
With its expertise in fluid mechanics and ventilation, TUBAF is a source of engineering ideas within the association. Professor Rüdiger Schwarze from the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, the deputy chairman of the association, adds: "We measure the air flows and the cows’ breath at a dairy farm near Leipzig, the Kitzen agricultural cooperative, and have used the data to create a digital twin of the barn. This provides initial indications of which measures can lead to a better barn climate in the future."
Freiberg Rector Professor Klaus-Dieter Barbknecht initiated the association together with Starke and Schwarze. "With the Freiberg Centerfor Sustainable Animal Husbandry, we have put one of the most pressing climate factors on our agenda: Agriculture. As a resource university that researches sustainable solutions to the challenges of the present, such as climate change, we can effectively use our expertise from engineering and geosciences and energy technology here," says Professor Klaus-Dieter Barbknecht.
Facilitating joint research
The Center for Sustainable Animal Husbandry has already begun preparing joint research initiatives. A thematically linked research project at TU Bergakademie Freiberg on the precise balancing of greenhouse gas emissions from dairy cattle barns was launched at the beginning of 2025. The project led by Schwarze is funded by the Dr. Erich Krüger Foundation. "The project is a kind of initial spark that will encourage more research in networks. At the Center for Sustainable Animal Husbandry, we are bringing together the knowledge of researchers from different disciplines and experienced practitioners from the fields of stable construction and agriculture. In this way, we want to provide impetus for climate- and animal-friendly barn construction on a national and international level."
A video also shows what research into the barn of the future looks like
The board of the association is made up of the following people
- Alexander Starke, Clinic for Cloven-hoofed Animals at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Leipzig University (Chairman)
- Rüdiger Schwarze, Institute of Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics, TUBAF (Deputy Chairman)
- Dr. Uwe Bergfeld (Treasurer)
- Michael Mertig (TU Dresden)
- Alexander Stahr (HTWK Leipzig)
The founding members also include:
- Klaus-Dieter Barbknecht (Rector of TUBAF)
- Dr. Steffen Pache
- Thomas Seidel (Managing Director of HERMES GmbH Stalleinrichtungen)
- tU Bergakademie Freiberg becomes a founding member as a legal entity
