Salvaguardia ambientale e benessere degli animali per lo sviluppo sostenibile degli allevamenti intensivi di pianura

With the aim to analyse the evolution of agricultural buildings in relation to the opportunity of investment supported by the Rural Development Plan, research within the territorial framework of the Province of Lodi has been carried out. The results indicate that the interventions did not achieve the full efficacy envisaged, both because they focused on specific aspects not inserted in a comprehensive plan of farm improvement, and because there were technical deficiencies in the building designs. These results confirm the strong necessity for guidelines and technical assistance to support the implementation of the Rural Development Plan. Therefore a further research was carried out in order to examine the influence of environmental parameters on the conditions affecting animal welfare. Part of the research involves detailed monitoring of animal movements and simultaneously measuring several environmental parameters within the cowshed. The results obtained have shown that during the day, the occupation of cubicles was very limited. At the same time, a significant section of the stable was not utilised by cows, with the consequent overcrowding of a limited area of the building. The results confirm that animal welfare is not only related to environment, but is also linked to other parameters such as management and building design.