Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder visited the Demmel family's farm in Schönrain in Königsdorf (district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen) as part of a tour with agriculture minister Michaela Kaniber. Franz-Xaver Demmel is the farm manager of the practical pilot farm of the research initiative Stall 4.0 - Integrated Dairy Farming, a joint research project of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences. Our HEF member Heinz Bernhardt, Professor of Agricultural Systems Engineering is actively involved in the scientific project.
An energy management system (EMS), unique in the world, has been installed on the Demmel family's ecologically managed farm with 80 dairy cows. The goal is to distribute the regenerative energy generated on the farm throughout the day. The complex processes on a dairy farm are particularly suitable for this: the aim is to intelligently network machines and processes by using modern information and communication technology. In addition to the milking and feeding technology by robot, the tractor and yard loader are also electrically operated. Only in this way can it be possible to supply a wide variety of machines throughout the day and also to control the interaction of the various electrical consumers and the energy storage system with each other. The dovetailing of science and practice is what makes this pilot farm so special. The project participants emphasize that animal welfare comes first, despite and because of the many IT-supported process flows on the high-tech farm. Thanks to its decentralized energy generation, the farm can continue to supply itself even in the event of a power outage. Demmel presented the politicians with a possible vision of the farm of the future, which could even, given the right political framework conditions, act as the region's energy supplier, so that the surplus energy produced would also be available to neighboring houses and farms.
