Alternative, animal-friendly forms of farming with deep litter are also coming under increasing pressure due to high ammonia and nitrous oxide emissions and are viewed negatively. Another alternative to fully slatted pens is the animal husbandry-friendly system of sloping floor housing with significantly smaller amounts of straw litter than is necessary for deep litter systems and with a separation of manure and lying areas.

There are still no internationally available test results for this husbandry system, which was optimized from a procedural point of view at BAL Gumpenstein. However, these are urgently needed, as the sloping floor stable offers a very promising opportunity to combine animal welfare and environmental protection.

This husbandry system is to be examined on a selected practical farm with regard to emissions, ecosystem-relevant gases (ammonia) and climate-relevant emissions (methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide) using the mobile measuring technology of the Institute for Agricultural, Environmental and Energy Technology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna. New emission factors for this husbandry system are expected from the measurement results, which can then be incorporated into national and international advisory documents or guidelines.