Aim is to develop climate smart cattle farming systems reducing GHG and ammonia emissions while maintaining the social-economic outlook of the farm business. Key words are efficiency of production and care for climate. Central in the approach are innovative housing and manure handling systems in reducing emmissions, like use of composted bedding material, separation of faeces and urine, artificial floor constructions, manure cleaning robots, cow toilet, virtual fencing and ICT data collection techniques, and precision crop fertilization. Promising feeding, breeding and grassland mitigation practices are examined to contribute to the integrated systems approach. Our study will deliver an assessment of the environmental performance of a network of study field farms in eight EU-countries on basis of NPC balance tools and simple emission measurement methods. Researcher–farmer interaction is meant to improve performance. Expertise groups in each country evaluate the outcomes.

European cattle farmers are facing increased demand for pasture-based and environmentally friendly products. Although feeding strategies to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions have been studied intensively, strategies for grazing systems are under-researched. The lack of easy-to-implement technologies for methane measurement with grazing cattle complicates the necessary large-scale studies. GrASTech will develop an animal-mounted sensor platform for methane measurement in grazing cattle and validate using established techniques (Respiration chambers, LaserGun and Greenfeed). Additionally, herd productivity, which has a major impact on GHG emission intensity (per kg product), will be improved using a wide range of precision livestock farming technologies. All strategies will be evaluated using life cycle assessment in order to find net positive effects. GrASTech will provide important advances towards achieving the challenging goals of the climate action plan.

Milk lipolysis is defined as the hydrolysis of triglycerides, the major component of milk fat. Short-chain fatty acids consequently released in milk are responsible for rancid flavor, unacceptable for consumers, in milk and dairy products. In addition, the presence of partial glycerides impairs milk functional properties such as foaming and creaming abilities. Milk lipolysis, routinely measured by accredited inter-professional dairy laboratories therefore represents an important criterion to assess the quality of milk. High lipolysis indexes in milk lead to appreciable loss of market access for dairy farms. Milk spontaneous lipolysis is a complex interplay between farming practices, animal physiology and animal genetics. In addition, milk induced lipolysis may occur during milking or dairy products manufacturing as results of thermal and/or mechanical shocks during milking and cooling. Lipolysis can thus occur throughout the "milk way", from "udder to cheese". The LIPOMEC employs a multi-actor approach to meet a threefold objective: ? To study the lipolytic system constituted by the lipase, its substrate (the milk fat globule) and a balance of activating or inhibiting cofactors in the three dairy species through the characterization of lipase regulatory networks in milk and/or mammary epithelial cells; ? To establish breeding and feeding strategies those ensure optimal and stable milk quality all year round; ? To develop tools and techniques to monitor and reduce lipolysis all along the "milk way". Our approach is definitely integrative, including animal science, milk biochemistry, milk biophysics, proteomics, lipidomics, genetics, transcriptomics, cell biology techniques, data modeling, and statistics. Interactions between genetics, physiology, farming practices and technological factors related to the milking process will be considered. LIPOMEC is the first large-scale integrative project to study the lipolytic system in the milk and mammary gland from ruminant species.