The 72^nd international meeting of the EAAP (European Federation of Animal Science) was held from 29^th of August to the 3^rd of September 2021. Approximately 900 participants came to the congress venue in Davos, Switzerland and 400 registered for virtual participation. Numerous theatre and poster presentations were held in 74 scientific sessions contributing to the meeting’s main theme “Scientific solutions to different demands on the livestock sector”. The topics comprised breeding strategies for the environment, improved animal health and welfare and resilience. Furthermore, advances in PLF (precision livestock farming) were presented along contributions for managing sustainability on the livestock sector. Specialized session on genomic data and animal nutrition completed the program. D4Dairy was represented by four theatre presentations and one poster presentation.

 Presentations:

• Strategies for deriving auxiliary traits for lameness prediction and breeding value estimation Schodl, B. Fuerst-Waltl, C. Egger-Danner and D4Dairy-Consortium Session 2 “Environmental impact on cattle genetics and breeding strategies”
• Assessment of needs for data integration and digitalization in Austrian dairy cattle farms Grandl, F. Steininger, M. Stegfellner, M. Drillich, M. Knoblmüller, and C. Egger-Danner Session 29 “So you think your science is so great”
• Invited: Data driven technologies: overview of current research and possibilities related to producing proxies for new phenotypes important to a sustainable and responsible livestock production Klimek Session 34 “Breeding for the future: technology finds application in new phenotypes”
• Predicting mastitis with somatic cell count, differential somatic cell count and milk MIR spectra Rienesl, M. Marginter and J. Sölkner Session 68 “PLF MIR tools to monitor cows’ welfare in particular the freedom from disease, hunger and stress (in collaboration with HappyMoo project)”

Poster:

• KetoMIR as a new indicator trait for subclinical ketosis and its use in herd management Köck, L. Dale, A. Werner, M. Mayerhofer, F.J. Auer and C. Egger-Danner Session 71 “Good practices and strategies in dairy farming”