Housing Systems in Dairy Production

Dear Colleagues,

The welfare of dairy cows has been found to be significantly influenced by the housing system, with direct consequences on productivity and product quality, as well as on the efficiency of the system in terms of resources and energy expenditure. The main features of future housing systems should include housing conditions and facility design innovations that play a major role in enhancing animal comfort and the expression of the natural behaviour of cows, besides achieving effective indoor climate control, reducing emissions of ammonia and greenhouse gases, and providing environmental benefits coming from making those systems more resilient and sustainable through waste reuse and reduced impact on the landscape.

This Special Issue aims to provide awareness of the role of dairy housing systems in improving animal welfare, dairy productivity, sustainability, and efficiency. To this aim, original contributions from researchers that apply innovative methods and technologies, and address issues of scientific relevance in the design, improvement, and assessment of dairy housing systems are welcome, as well as review articles of innovative aspects of housing systems.

The main topics of the Special Issue are included in the following list, which does not aim at limiting the research horizon of the papers:

• Housing solutions for animal heat stress reduction;
• Materials and equipment for housing systems;
• Optimisation of building geometry and components of housing solutions;
• Housing solutions and climatic zones;
• Building design for resources and energy saving;
• Naturally-ventilated and mechanical-ventilated building design;
• New building and ventilation design and modelling;
• Automated solutions for dairy production systems;
• Information and communication technologies (ICTs) applications in dairy housing systems;
• New technologies in housing systems for dairy production;
• Reduction of noxious gas emissions in dairy houses.

Prof. Dr. Claudia Arcidiacono
Prof. Dr. Matteo Barbari
Dr. Patrícia Ferreira Ponciano Ferraz
Guest Editors

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