„We innovate animal farming“ – Professional program for EuroTier 2024 at a glance

With the guiding theme “We innovate animal farming”, the EuroTier 2024 trade fair and innovation platform for the global livestock industry will present its international technical program on the latest developments in cattle, pig and poultry farming, Cross-industry topics like alternative proteins, genetics, feed and operating resources, housing and feeding systems, digitalization, AI and automation as well as processing and sales and marketing will also figure in the program. The world’s leading trade fair for animal farming and livestock management will take place at the exhibition grounds in Hanover, Germany, 12-15 November, 2024. The organizer of both exhibition and technical program is the DLG (German Agricultural Society),

 An interview with Sven Häuser, Coordinator of the EuroTier 2024 technical program.

“We innovate animal farming” is the guiding theme of EuroTier 2024. What innovation impetus  does the DLG as organizer together with exhibitors and specialist partners hope to provide the livestock farming industry and equip it for the future?

Sven Häuser: Innovations are the solution to current challenges. The entire industry is highly innovative, as demonstrated by the technical developments for animal husbandry equipment in recent years. Digitalization plays a central role and supports farmers in their daily work, both in the animal housing and in the office. Under the guiding theme “We innovate animal farming”, the entire industry presents its solutions for the future and offers answers to current challenges on topics such as animal health, sustainability, emission reduction and increased efficiency. Several independent expert jury boards will honor particularly outstanding innovations with recognitions like the EuroTier Innovation Award, the Animal Welfare Award and Agrifuture Concept Winner. The DLG will be announcing the award winners and their innovations to the industry.

The livestock sector is in a state of transformation. Technical innovations can provide the answers to the challenges of climate change, animal welfare and sustainable production efficiency. What technical topics do you think will shape EuroTier 2024?

At the trade fair, the DLG offers a technical program both for specific livestock species and across species. Top genetics will once again be presented at the „TopTierTreff“, the German word for „venue for top livestock“. The topics of animal welfare, animal health and sustainability, emission reduction and a reduced CO2 footprint, digitalization and management as well as biosecurity are hightlights that will attract great interest.  Younger farming visitors will be interested in the information on training and further education found in the Campus & Career job and career platform. The agrifood start-ups venue and the DLG.prototype.club, which are groups of young engineers who will pitch their digital solutions live to selected exhibitors.

DLG will also be presenting its new platform for robotics, AI and automation at EuroTier 2024: FarmRobotix. What can visitors expect on this topic?

Sven Häuser: Automation and robotics are finding their way into more and more areas. In animal husbandry, many work processes are already partially or fully automated. Examples include automatic milking systems and animal housing cleaning. The robotics feature is expected to offer ideas that help solve the shortage of farm workers – a topic that is on the minds of many farm managers. We presented cleaning robots for the first time at the Barn Robot Event at EuroTier 2022. The second event in November will now focus on feed pushing technology in cattle barns. In connection with the topic of AI, I would also like to mention the “AI in the poultry house” spotlight, which focuses on animal monitoring and animal health.

This year, the international poultry industry will convene at the World Poultry Show, which is part of EuroTier 2024. What will the poultry experts be discussing?

Sven Häuser: The demand for poultry meat and eggs is increasing worldwide. Topics like biosecurity, animal health, breeding and sales and marketing are current for the poultry industry all over the world. Animal welfare, the need to reduce the use of antibiotics as well as emissions from poultry houses are additional topics, particularly among producers in countries in western Europe. Many poultry farmers are also very interested in digital solutions to support brood management.

EnergyDecentral traditionally takes place at the same time as EuroTier. The trade fair covers the entire value chain of sustainable energy production: Resources, energy generation and smart energy. What are the specialist topics that are of particular interest here in view of the changing energy supply?

Sven Häuser: EnergyDecentral is the leading trade fair for decentralized energy supply. Some of the focus areas in Hanover will be on biogas and biomethane, combined heat and power, and the use of solid fuels as well as photovoltaics and agri-voltaics, i.e. photovoltaics on arable land. Power-to-gas technology, which is seen as a key technology in the energy transition, will also be of great interest. Here, CHP technology for the direct conversion of hydrogen and natural gas into electricity with the simultaneous production of heat is one solution to the transition to a sustainable energy supply.

New at EuroTier is the global B2B venue for agricultural and food systems of the future, the Inhouse Farming – Feed & Food Show. This platform is closely networked with agricultural practice and offers specialist information, technologies, perspectives, innovations and business along the value chain – from feed to food.

Sven Häuser: Alternative proteins is a hot topic. In addition to the production of insects as an alternative source of protein in animal nutrition, another focus is on aquaculture. Here, everything revolves around the production of algae for the manufacture of ingredients and foodstuffs in human and animal nutrition as well as the production of aquatic organisms such as fish and shrimp. There is also cellular agriculture as an innovative method of food production. Animal products such as meat, milk and eggs as well as plant products such as fruit and vegetables are produced in vitro, i.e. in a reactor. Not forgetting the focus on vertical farming for the production of plant products such as lettuce, vegetables, fresh animal feed and high value crops such as cannabis under controlled environmental conditions. The Inhouse Farming – Feed & Food Show offers a spotlight with exhibits to touch and marvel at, as well as its own Expert Stage, where developments in this new exhibition area will be presented and discussed on a daily basis.

Exhibitors are already showing strong interest in the EuroTier technical program. How can exhibitors actively participate?

Sven Häuser: Exhibitors can register interest in the exhibitor portal. Alternatively, exhibiting companies can send us an e-mail to Fachprogramm@dlg.org. From May onwards, they will be able to submit contributions for presentations at the Expert Stages or participate in a Spotlight.

About DLG
With more than 31,000 members, DLG is a politically independent and non-profit organisation. DLG draws on an international network of some 3,000 food and agricultural experts. Through its subsidiary, DLG International, DLG operates has subsidiaries in nine countries and also organizes over 30 regional agricultural and livestock exhibitions worldwide. DLG’s leading international exhibitions, EuroTier for livestock farming and Agritechnica for agricultural machinery, which are held every two years in Hanover, Germany, provide international impetus for the local trade fairs. Headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, DLG conducts practical trials and tests to keep its members informed of the latest developments. DLG’s sites include DLG’s International Crop Production Centre, a 600-hectare test site in Bernburg-Strenzfeld, Germany and the DLG Test Centre, Europe’s largest agricultural machinery test centre for Technology and Farm Inputs, located in Gross-Umstadt, Germany. DLG bridges the gap between theory and practice, as evidenced by more than 40 working groups of farmers, academics, agricultural equipment companies and organisations that continually compare advances in knowledge in specific areas such as irrigation and precision farming.

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