Bedded pack barns for dairy cattle in the Netherlands

The bedded pack barn offers good perspective on animal welfare, animal health and public perception, but has disadvantages in terms of mineral management (nitrogen losses and fertilising value) and the presence of TAS (Thermophilic Aerobic Spore formers). Bedded packs with compost have a too high ammonia emission in the barn and lead to too high concentrations of TAS in sterile dairy products and therefore have no perspective. A controlled composting process with wood chips may have more future perspective. However, the availability and/or the price of wood chips can be a bottleneck if demand is increasing. The search for alternative TAS-poor bedding materials deserves continuation.