Project Areas

GreenDairy is organised in four scientific project areas that are strongly interwoven. Project area A relates to livestock, crops are tackled in Project area B, the environmental impact is assessed in Project area C, and an integrated sustainability analysis is carried out in Project Area D. Project Area Z is responsible for coordination and project management.

Project Area A \| Livestock	Project Area B \| Crop
Project Area A develops the feeding regimes and investigates its effects on milk production, animal physiology, animal health and animal welfare. Subproject A1 \| Animal Nutrition Influence of feeding intensity (low-input vs. high-input) on the metabolism of dairy cows in the peripartal phase and their offspring. PD Dr. Denise Geßner, Prof. Dr. Klaus Eder Professorship of Animal Nutrition (JLU Gießen) Subproject A2 \| Animal Breeding Genotype-emission- and genotype-feeding-interactions for livestock health, functional traits and performance in a multi-generational approach. Dr. Dr. Katharina May, Prof. Dr. Sven König Professorship of Animal Breeding (JLU Gießen) Suboproject A3 \| Animal Husbandry Influence of feeding intensity on short- and long-term animal welfare in dairy cows and their offspring. Prof. Dr. Uta König von Borstel Professorship of Animal Husbandry, Behaviour and Welfare (JLU Gießen)	Project Area B analyses characteristics of system-specific crop rotations as well as different ways in which nutrients are returned from stable to field. Special consideration is given to forage legumes and sorghum-millet varieties. Subproject B1 \| Grassland Science & Renewable Plant Resources Remote sensing of agronomically relevant properties of legume/grass mixtures. Dr. Matthias Wengert, Prof. Dr. Michael Wachendorf Professorship of Grassland Science and Renewable Plant Resources (Uni Kassel) Subproject B2 \| Ecological Plant Protection Influence of crop rotation and soil variation on the relevance of the pathobiome to yields. Prof. Dr. Maria Finckh Professorship of Ecological Plant Protection (Uni Kassel) Subproject B3 \| Plant Breeding Sorghum millet as a drought-tolerant, nutrient-efficient cereal for maintaining high energy densities in forage rations under contrasting soil nutrient regimes. Dr. Benjamin Wittkop, Prof. Dr. Rod Snowdon Professorship of Plant Breeding (JLU Giessen) Subproject B4 \| Crop Production Plot specific management and cropping systems crop production. Prof. Dr. Sonoko Bellingrath-Kimura Professorship of Land Use Systems (Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung e.V., ZALF)


Project Area C \| Environment	Project Area D \| Integrated Systems Analysis
Project Area C quantifies the environmental impact of feeding regimes on nitrate losses to groundwater, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, N2O, CH4) and soil microbiome. Subproject C1 \| Nitrogenic-Emission from Farmyard Manure Influence of feeding intensity on gaseous C- (CO2, CH4) and N-emissions (NH3, N2O) from farmyard manure. Prof. Dr. Andreas Gattinger Professorship of Organic Farming (JLU Gießen) Subproject C2 \| Crop Rotation on Greenhouse Gas Emission Influence of organic fertilisation intensity and crop rotation on greenhouse gas emissions. Dr. Gerald Moser, Prof. Dr. Christoph Müller Professorship of Experimental Plant Ecology (JLU Gießen) Subproject C3 \| Soil Carbon and Nitrogenic Cycles of Crop Systems Soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics of integrated crop-livestock systems of different intensity. Ines Mulder, Prof. Dr. Jan Siemens Professorship of Soil Resources (JLU Gießen) Subproject C4 \| Microbial Diversity und Microbial Cycles Impact of low and high input systems on diversity and taxonomic composition of the soil and rhizosphere microbiota and the microbial nitrogen cycle in soils. Dr. Stefanie Glaeser Professorship of Microbiology of Recycling Processes (JLU Gießen)	Project Area D assesses ecological, economic and social indicators for a broad sustainability analysis. Based on this, recommended courses of action for advisory services and practice are derived. Subproject D1 \| Social Acceptance & Economic Sustainability Social acceptance and economic sustainability of innovative production methods in organic farming. Prof. Dr. Ramona Teuber Professorship for Agricultural and Food Market Analysis (JLU Gießen) Subproject D2 \| Integrated Systems Analysis Integrated system analysis of external environmental factors. Prof. Dr. Lutz Breuer Professorship of Landscape, Water and Biochemical Cycles (JLU Gießen)


Project Area Z \| Management and Coordination
Project Area Z is responsible for the organisation and smooth running of the research network and also ensures the technical synthesis of project areas A to C in cooperation with project area D. Subproject Z \| Coordination & Synthese Project coordination and operational data integration. Prof. Dr. Andreas Gattinger Professorship of Organic Farming (JLU Giessen) Prof. Dr. Lutz Breuer Professorship of Landscape, Water and Biogeochemical Cycles (JLU Gießen)