The future of pasture management in Germany – Aspects of technology and regulation

Despite the above-mentioned facts, governmental regulations need to be considered as well when farmers decide to do pasturing.

Figure 1 shows the legal and social requirements of pasturing based on a literature review. Natural requirements as a further factor will be described in plain text, following the graphs.

Figure 1

About 13 different general categories can be classified when screening the legal aspects of pasturing. These 13 categories can then be divided into 42 different factors. Within this publication, only the most crucial aspects will be considered. One of the most important things within these regulations is that a farmer must provide documentation in case of any accident. Farmers (1) must insure their farm for any upcoming liability issues. Next to this, due to the “animal welfare ordinance” of Germany (BMEL, 2006), a farmer is forced to inspect animals and their supplies (like water (5) or fodder (6)) once a day. Additionally, the farmer has to have competences in notifiable animal diseases and in animal husbandry. Another crucial aspect is shown with (2). Especially in the Alps, close encounters between hikers and animals happen, as hikers must walk through pastures. In Germany, there is a right of free movement in nature for everyone, so people can get very close to the animals, which leads to fatalities in extreme cases. A farmer has to ensure that grazing area is of adequate size and the cattle will not be unsettled due to bad management. Also, fences have to be adequate for the fenced animals and need to be state of the art. Depending on the kind of animal that has to be fenced, different requirements are given by Priebe et al. (2016). Furthermore, a farmer must ensure that the fence is always working properly. In case of an incident, he has to prove that he took care of these points, for example, with a “pasture diary” (Priebe et al., 2016). Especially when cattle are held on pastures, (3) becomes an important point. Every bovine has to be registered in the national stock register and marked at the latest 7 days after birth with an ear tag (BMEL, 2010). In (4) are found the aspects of animal health. Regarding aspects like epidemic protection and animal health, different regulations like the “Animal Welfare Act” (Deutscher Bundestag und Bundesrat, 2006), the “animal welfare ordinance,” and others exist in Germany. These laws and regulations state, for example, that animals may not be required to perform services that exceed their health status. Also, sudden and continuous noise near the animals must be avoided, and the daily control of animals, as well as their medical treatments must be documented. Direct medical records must be kept for this purpose. Another important aspect which may not be neglected is that farmers must ensure protection for animals form adverse weather conditions (BMEL, 2006). When a shelter has to be built, special laws regarding size have to be considered (Deutscher Bundestag und Bundesrat, 2017). In (8), not only the conversion of grassland into arable land, which must follow strict regulations is described, but also any regulation regarding good agricultural practices. While (9) stands for any regulation regarding fertilization of grasslands (e.g., observe waiting time after fertilizer application), (10) stands for weed management. When pesticides are applicated, farmers must have competence certificates and specific waiting times have to be observed (Deutscher Bundestag und Bundesrat, 2012; European Parliament, 2005). With (11), another important point is shown: safety rules have to be followed while driving cows across a road, so that there is no danger for other road users. When animals are transported, it has to be ensured that the animal is healthy and stable for transport (BMEL, 2009). Grazing of forests is temporarily allowed. Since the return of the wolf (Canis lupus lupus) (13) to the middle of Europe, losses of grazing livestock have increased. In 2019, in Germany, more than 2800 farm animals were harmed by wolves (DBBW, 2019). In 2018, this count was around 2000 farm animals (DBBW, 2019). Up to now, the wolf in Germany is protected and a lethal withdrawal is only allowed in individual cases (Deutscher Bundestag und Bundesrat, 2010).

Figure 1 summarizes the socioeconomic and environmental aspects as well, shown in capital letters. Animal welfare and environmental protection are very crucial points for society (Zühlsdorf et al., 2016; Gellrich, 2021). This is shown in (A) with rejection of genetically modified plants, (C) protecting grassland as a CO₂ sink, and (D) + (E) with reduced fertilizer and phytosanitary products, regarding environment. Furthermore, species- and structure-rich grassland habitats bring benefits for the environmental value (F). The protection of wildlife (G) can be achieved through regulations of the mowing time, for example. Regarding animal welfare, late separation of cows and calves is demanded (B). Consumers expect high quality, high standards of animal welfare, or environmental protection as a given when buying agricultural products (Gassler et al., 2018). This is why a large proportion of consumers want pasturing, but still prefer a low price at the supermarket (Weinrich et al., 2014). For a higher willingness to pay, transparent and trustworthy standards for the production process are needed, which, for example, can be achieved due to clearly defined labels (H) (Gassler et al., 2018). Farmers have a large influence on balanced landscape structures and the associated recreational value for the population (I) (Spittler, 2001). Furthermore, they have to take care that hikers or other people in the landscape are protected against agricultural hazards (J).

Today, several technological tools exist to assist farmers by pasturing. Some of these tools can help farmers to fulfill, especially legal requirements; some do also have benefits on environmental aspects. The following section shall show some technological achievements as well as scientific research in the area of pasturing. According to Gabriel (2020), an estimated 68% of German farmers are already using smart farming technologies like automated feeding systems, GPS-guidance, or farm management information systems. In Germany, only few “smart” pasturing systems have been established, while Ireland, for example, is pioneering this sector. Nevertheless, research is done in this area in Germany as Table 1 shows. Some selected studies will be described further.

Several different projects try to gain data of pasturing to make them available to farmers, like the “Schleswig Holstein Chamber of Agriculture (LWK),” which are currently working on an adaption of grassland management systems to German conditions (EIP, 2018). For this, a rising plate meter “Grasshopper” (described below) and a decision support system from Ireland, called “PastureBaseIreland,” are adapted to German conditions (EIP, 2018). The project is meant to end in 2021. Also, the “Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel” was working on a project called “Optimized Pasturemanagement – smart grazing,” in which the performance potential of pasture within northern Germany should be assessed (CAU, 2017). Services, like a “grassland information ticker” for farmers in Luxemburg may give updates about pasture management via a newsletter (Klöcker et al., 2018; WWW-Gréngland, 2020). For calculating the required space for grazing cows, the “Riswicker Weideplaner” as Excel sheet can be used. The last mentioned tool is based on historical grassland data for prediction. Schwieder et al. (2020) evaluated Sentinel-2 satellite data to estimate the biomass of grassland. Within the project “SattGrün” by several different institutions, this knowhow was used to evaluate the added value for farmers. As a result, a monitoring and warning system for cock chafer grubs, which can cause massive losses on grassland, was also evaluated (Angermair and Pauli, 2021). The project “Green Grass” has been started by several scientific and agricultural organizations to evaluate different technologies to bring pasturing into the future. With remote sensing via satellite, the amount and quality of grasslands shall be recorded and predicted. Within a new management tool, mainly this information can be used to bring the animals purposefully to specific parts of a pasture. The coordinators also hope to be able to distribute nutrients better across the pasture (GLZ, n. y.).

Next to these scientific approaches, however, there are innovative solutions on the market already that help to reduce the costs and risks of pasturing. Table 2 shows selected technologies and management tools, which will be described further. One of the most crucial points of pasturing is to have precise information about growth and quality of grassland (Isselstein and Horn, 2019) to know how many and which kind of livestock can be fed on it. Of late, a trend to focus on this aspect can be seen in scientific practice. Therefore, different handheld equipment are available, like the “Grass Master Pro” by Novel Ways or the “GrassHopper” rising plate meter by True North Technologies. The Grass Master Pro measures the dry matter content in kg/ha via capacitance method. Data can be transferred, for example, into an own software or a Microsoft Excel sheet. The GrassHopper does this by a plate, laying on the grass. With the height of the plate in relation to the ground, density and gras height are measured, stored, and can be transferred via Bluetooth to a mobile phone app. Within this app, georeferenced information is stored, so that future measurements can automatically be related to a specific pasture. The so-gained information can also be used in a grassland management software like “AgriNet.” Within this software, for example, paddock rotation and reseedings of paddocks can be planned. With this data, predictions can also be made whether the yield will be sufficient or not (O'Donovan and McEvoy, 2019).

Even though the yield of grassland may be the most important factor for feeding the cows, the above-mentioned legal and social aspects as well as management aspects are also taken into consideration when it comes to new technological ideas. Fencing is of utmost importance to protect the outer environment as well as the animals inside a pasture. As already mentioned, the functionality of a fence must always be guaranteed. To prevent trouble, the fence has to be checked daily.

As sometimes the farmers are not able to control all fences daily, first digital assistants are available for this purpose. Electric fences can be monitored and if the current drops or the energizer shows complications, an alarm can be sent via GSM Band (LUDA FARM, n. y.). Within the Green Grass project, virtual fences shall also be tested and made ready for legal use in Germany. While other regions, like Norway, Australia, or the USA, already legalized and commercialized this kind of fencing (VENCE, 2018; Agersens, 2019; CSIRO, n. y.; Nofence, 2020) in Germany, no commercialization is given yet. With a virtual fence, the management of single paddocks would be simplified very much (GLZ, n. y.). In combination with an animal identification system, single animals could be guided to different spots of a pasture, according to their current requirements for feed. Also, natural aspects like small biotopes within a pasture or habitats can be fenced easily with this technology (GLZ, n. y.). These partly automated systems could also be used for controlling and documentation against any insurance cases. In combination with other technologies, like the cow selection box “Grazeway” by Lely, the gap between stable and pasture can be closed. With an integrated cow registration, the operator always knows if a cow is in the stable or on pasture.

As already mentioned, animal welfare is crucial while pasturing. Enough fodder as well as water must be accessible for livestock at all times. Water is often supplied in mobile water barrels. As these barrels are mostly within the pasture, it is cumbersome to control the water level inside. For this, sensors like the “Blue Level” by “La Buvette” can be used. With ultrasonic sensors, the water level can be transmitted via LoRa Wan or Sigfox and within a mobile phone app, average consumption and days to refill can be shown and forecasted (La Buvette, 2020). Despite this, several manufacturers who use sensors for animal controlling can be found. These sensors gain data for estrus control, diseases, or rumen problems. Companies offering sensors for these purposes are CowManager, Ceres Tag, HerdDogg, MooMonitor+, Digitanimal, RumiWatch, Cowlar, and smaXtec. Also, animal trackers for pastures are available. For example, Blaupunkt Telematics offers a GPS-based tracking system with an alert function. If a tracked animal comes to critical zones like streets or railways, the farmer receives an alert (Blaupunkt Telematics, n. y.). In cooperation with the Bavarian Sate Research Center for Agriculture, this company is currently working on a monitoring system for dairy cattle on pastures. When deciding to bring cows to grasslands, the pressure of parasites will also increase. To help farmers understand which kind of parasites can evolve and how to protect the herd as good as possible, the Thünen-Institute brought out a small online tool. Within this tool, farmers can walk through a decision tree to estimate the hazard potential of parasites.