Dutch agritech company Hanskamp secured a gold Lamma innovation award in the future innovation for environmental benefit of the year category and bronze in the livestock/dairy innovation of the year category.

The CowToilet claims to be a unique emission-reducing solution, designed to separate dung and urine, which when combined produce ammonia.

The unit is essentially an automatic out-of-parlour feeder, worked by the cow’s collar to determine feed rate. Once eating, the CowToilet lowers behind the cows and begins to rub against the suspensory ligament of the udder, triggering a reflex which is claimed to encourage the cow to urinate.

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The collected urine is then removed via suction and stored within a separate tank. Hanskamp says that the unit has been proven to reduce on farm ammonia emission by 38%, total nitrogen by 33% and nitrous oxide by 18% compared with conventional housing systems.

The unit is priced around €27,000 plus VAT and is said to cater for 25 cows, however additional units will cost less as only the one recognition system is required. The CowToilet is now in operation on over 35 farms in the Netherlands.