Technology of Microclimate Regulation in Organic and Energy-Sustainable Livestock Production

Abstract

The control of climatic conditions where cattle are kept is one of the challenges in the livestock sector regarding the digital automation of the process. (1) Background: The main purpose of this study is to define the optimal foundations for automatic climatic systems in organic and energy-sustainable livestock production. In particular, the following components are suggested: (a) the determination of current deviations and interdependency between factors; (b) an algorithm for defining the possible sources of regulation; (c) the ranking approach of the optimal sequence of possible sources; and (d) ensuring transparency and coordination of the model with organic and energy certificates. (2) Methods: This investigation accumulates information on the characteristics of the main microclimatic parameters and simulates their possible combinations in a livestock building in Poland within 24 h of a spring day. A few indices are considered that signal the impact on the thermal comfort of cattle based on the example of recommended measures for the Angus steer genotype. (3) Results: The proposed transparent algorithm is designed for selecting and ranking potential sources of microclimate control according to three criteria. (4) Conclusions: This paper potentially contributes to determining the most optimal digital algorithm for managing microclimate conditions to ensure acceptable comfort for animals, meeting the requirements of organic certification with minimum costs of production, and switching to sustainable types of energy with consideration of technologies’ efficiency. The algorithm is scalable and adjustable to the individual conditions of any livestock premise with a digitally controlled environment.

The evolution of organic food certification

“…This is fully supported by the conclusions of van Hilten et al ( 2020) that state that transparency of the food supply system can be ensured by blockchain technology, but for many reasons, including economic feasibility, it does not have to be accompanied by the inclusion of the food supply chain in a fully decentralized system. • This research supports the study by Havelka et al (2022) that states that all microclimatic factors in agricultural production sites can now be coordinated electronically with certification bodies. This will lead to more precise regulation of microclimate in the areas of agricultural production.…”

Effect of Light on Dairy Cattle in Farm Conditions – A Review

“…Despite its importance, a relatively limited number of literature is dedicated to barn lighting studies. In a recent work by Havelka et al (2022), they delineated the optimal lighting range to address cows' basic needs as falling between 100 and 160 lx (where 1 lx represents the lumen flux impacting a 1 m 2 area) In contrast, the ASAE (2005) posits that to positively influence cows' milk yield, lighting should be maintained at 150 lx for a period of 16-18 h daily. However, when analyzing building structures and the possibility of using solar radiation (Marciniak, 2008;Angrecka et al, 2017), it is necessary to determine lighting conditions for different barn sections given their non-uniform nature.…”

Evolution of Agriculture : A Survey

“…Wood ash is used to speed up the release of gelatin as a slow-release fertiliser.using wood ash, a low-cost plant biomass waste product. Wood ash decreases the capacity of water intake while increasing the uploading capacities of urea.In [36],author's have concluded that,microclimate control: One of the issues in the livestock industry is the regulation of the climate in which cattle are maintained. The digital automation procedures may be used to create a climate that is dependent on the surroundings.…”