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Aims
The research objectives of the FBN centre around the farm animal as an essential element of human life and, as such, of agrarian ecosystems.
The FBN’s research areas cover knowledge-driven basic research as well as problem-oriented applied research on the biology of farm animals. The combination of these two approaches will contribute to ensuring sustainable agrarian production.
The sustainable provision of livestock-derived products requires a holistic understanding of the expression and differentiation of performance traits of these animals. This is best achieved using a systemic research approach in which not only biological processes but also human interactions with diverse farm animal environments and production systems are examined.
The FBN’s disciplinary breadth guarantees an in-depth interdisciplinary investigation of future-oriented research areas such as the production of consumer-desirable foods, the efficient use of agricultural resources, and animal welfare, including livestock maintenance systems that satisfy animal and environmental requirements.
A better understanding of the genetic and physiologic principles underlying an animal's functional biodiversity will result in innovative processes and technologies in animal husbandry, the development of new animal-derived products as well as rationales for improving legislative regulations and agricultural subsidies.
FBN research also seeks to lay the foundation for additional farm benefits and labour conditions, along with new approaches of risk assessment, with respect to both livestock and the environment, in association with newly developed production systems and to improve quality evaluations of livestock-derived products.