Animal agriculture in the spotlight for FILK keynote lecture
The 11th Freiberg Leatherdays, organised by VGCT and the FILK Freiberg Institute and being held on June 28 and 29, began with the pre-recorded keynote presentation by Professor Wilhelm Windisch from the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Titled “What would a world without farm animals look like”, Professor Windisch explained the role that animal agriculture plays, not only in feeding the global population, but can also be used for the “balance of circularity”.
The presentation showed that whilst a priority seen by many to move to a plant based diet, this will only be possible in conjunction with livestock. Quoting a ratio of 1:4, where 1 Kg of plant based food is produced, 4Kg of non-edible biomass is created, professor Windisch showed how vast quantities of non human edible biomass is created in the pursuit of feeding people and that by using this as a raw material for feed, fertiliser and fuel, a significant percentage increase in calorific foods can be obtained in comparison to purely growing the plants, proving that ruminants are a fundamental pillar for the conversion of no-edible biomass.
The two day event will see 30 presentations in total and a discussion panel brought together to discuss bisphenols.
