This thesis wants to contribute to a better understanding of the current transition the modern manure regime in the dairy sector in the Netherlands is in. The topic of research is situated at the cross-section of two societal developments: the changing role of agriculture, and changing views on and practices of knowledge production. The object of research is the practices where different actors experiment with finding alternatives to the manure regime, and how these practices are embedded in wider structures and developments. The thesis departs from a sociological perspective, one in which the central role of epistemological dimensions of niche formation and regime change is recognized. In order to study the knowledge production between scientists and farmers in experiments and niches, the institutional approach is enriched with the concept of storylines. Storylines are developed and narrated by members within a community of practice to give meaning to their social and physical activities. During experimentation and niche formation, the actors involved not only develop and test new socio-technological configurations, but they also try to find a common storyline that gives the new configurations meaning beyond the experiment and within the niche. The different sets of practices studied unravel the storylines and their travels. The first method to unravel these storylines was to follow the narrators and the ways in which they articulated the storylines. Their experiments and attempts at niche formation are analyzed. This was done through interviews, participant observation and situational analysis. The second method was to examine the artefacts that were successful allies in making the storylines robust. Examples are texts (like articles, papers and presentations), images, technologies and databases. Chapter 3 describes the emergence, stabilization and opening-up of the modern manure regime in the Netherlands during the last decades. Chapter 4 provides the case study of the Nutrient Management Project of VEL and ...