European consortium receives approximately 6.8 million euros from the Horizon Europe funding program
№ 135/2025 from Sep 01, 2025
Freie Universität Berlin is leading a new European research project on sustainable animal feed solutions. The project, NUTRIFEEDS (Nourishing Europe’s Future through Regenerative Livestock Feed), is part of the European Union’s Horizon Europe program, specifically within the cluster “Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment.” The project will receive a total of 6.8 million euros from the European Commission. The consortium includes institutions from across Europe and one from China for a total of fifteen members in all.
Professor Jürgen Zentek of the Institute of Animal Nutrition at Freie Universität Berlin’s School of Veterinary Medicine is coordinating the four-year project.
The project aims to develop the regenerative production of high-quality, protein-rich animal feed in order to advance more sustainable agricultural systems. The consortium’s work will contribute to reducing the environmental impact of animal farming, to promoting biodiversity, and to improving efficiency across the agricultural value chain. The project brings together expertise on animal nutrition, plant production, environmental protection, and climate change as it examines questions of soil fertility, the nutrient cycle, and economic viability.
NUTRIFEEDS is dedicated to developing regenerative animal feed solutions by transforming underutilized local plants and agri-food by-products into high-protein feed through cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary methods. Aligning with the EU’s Farm2Fork strategy, the project aims to reduce the reliance on imported feeds, enhance agricultural circularity, and minimize waste across Europe’s food system, thereby making it healthier, fairer, and more sustainable.
“This project marks an important milestone in reshaping animal farming in Europe to be more sustainable and future-oriented,” says Zentek in anticipation of the official start of the project in September 2025. “We want to create practical solutions together in the consortium, capitalizing on our interdisciplinary backgrounds. The solutions we envision need to be viable both ecologically and economically.” Alongside their recommendations for future action, the scientists also plan to create practical guidelines on how to advance regenerative livestock farming.
Further Information
· European Commission’s website on NUTRIFEEDS: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101179992
· Freie Universität Berlin’s School of Veterinary Medicine website: https://www.vetmed.fu-berlin.de/en/index.html