# Can Livestock Farming Benefit from Industry 4.0 Technology? Evidence from Recent Study
## 4 Results
### Livestock Farming vs. Industrial Production
#### 4.1.3 The Environmental Context  
Most livestock live in animal houses. Some of these buildings may look similar to industrial factories. However, livestock farming is much more related to environment and nature than every industrial production. Food must be produced on fields and grassland with their indissoluble interconnection and interaction with nature and environment. The animal welfare and productivity depend, e.g., on food quality, weather, and natural illumination, as long as the natural environment is not replaced totally by an artificial climate and light regime. Livestock farming is a big emitter of greenhouse gases, mainly methane (mostly emitted by ruminants) and ammonia.  
As a result of livestock farming, big amounts of manure and other organic residues must be applied as farm fertilizer in a sustainable circular economy. Since livestock production is strongly concentrated in some European regions, local surpluses in slurry are a big challenge, threatening potable water and groundwater.  
The livestock density index gives an indication of the pressure that livestock farming places on the environment. In 2016, the livestock density in the EU-28 reached 0.8 livestock units (LSU) per hectare of utilized agricultural area (UAA, Table 2). The grazing livestock density index gives an indication of the environmental pressure of livestock grazing on fodder area, which consists of fodder crops grown on arable land as well as permanent grassland. The livestock counted as grazing animals are cattle, sheep, goats and equids (horses, donkeys, and other members of the horse family). For the EU-28 as a whole, the grazing livestock density in 2016 remained at 1.0 LSU of grazing livestock per hectare of fodder area.  
Out of the total GHG emissions in 2019, around 10% was emitted by the agricultural source sector. Over the time span 1990 to 2019, the source sector reduced its emissions by 102 million tons of CO2-equivalent, which corresponds to \(-\)21% compared with 1990. Emissions from enteric fermentation (methane), the fermentation of feed during the digestive processes of animals, were reduced by 47 million tons of CO2 equivalent or 22% of the 1990 GHG emissions. The largest share of the GHG emissions due to enteric fermentation, 86%, are from the digestive system of cattle. These emissions fell by 21% over 29 years, but the decrease in GHG emissions primarily took place during the first decade.  
In 2018, agriculture accounted for 93% of ammonia emissions in the EU-28. Emissions of NH3 are not declining at the same pace as the other main pollutants. Twelve countries have focused more than a quarter of their policies and measures (PaMs) on reducing emissions from agriculture, and 60% of the PaMs focused on the agricultural sector, anticipating the establishment or further development of a national advisory code of good agriculture practice [31].  
The impact of livestock on the environment is an important topic of discussion in society. The concept of planetary boundaries [32] was a basis for the report \"less is more\" published by GREENPEACE in March 2018 [33] and the report of the RISE Foundation in autumn 2018 [34]. Both reports conclude that the number of animals kept for food production must be greatly reduced globally and in the EU in order to stay within planetary boundaries. Technological progress in livestock systems can increase the production efficiency, the wellbeing of farm animals and decrease the environmental impact. The Industry 4.0 measures as advanced production methods may be helpful innovations to bring the livestock sector within the boundaries.