Periodic Reporting for period 3 - SmaRT (Small Ruminant Technology - Precision Livestock Farming and Digital Technology for Small Ruminants)
Período documentado: 2023-10-01 hasta 2024-09-30
Rural economies across Europe, and associated countries, heavily rely on small ruminant (SR) systems (sheep and goat), particularly in areas unsuitable for other alternative agriculture purposes and high nature value areas. Despite recent advances in digital technologies to improve farm practices and Electronic Identification being mandatory, the SR sector shows a slow rate of farmers’ uptake and a decline in SR population. There is a need to improve awareness and knowledge transfer on the potential of technology applications and return on investment. Sm@RT aimed to improve understanding, awareness and uptake of the different useful technologies currently available to the SR sector, and further to facilitate “solutions to needs” and identification of technology gaps, to ultimately improve financial returns and farm sustainability.
The overall objectives of the project were to:
• create a European/International network of farmers, scientists, technicians and advisors, around the use of PLF and digital technologies in SRs,
• identify stakeholders’ needs for technology uses and available solutions across the EU that could respond to those needs,
• encourage knowledge exchange, technology adoption and communication between farmers and stakeholders of the SR sector, via workshops, farm training sessions and open days,
• increase awareness of DT for the SR sector using trusted means of communications and by sharing key findings with the scientific community and policy makers.
Sm@RT used an original multi-actor approach, relying on 5 different levels of networking as follows:
1. A Network Facilitator (NF), one person per country. National Facilitators were the main drivers of this methodology.
2. Scientific and Technical Group (STG) in each country which helped implement the project and identify and mobilise different national networks and operational groups.
3. A Digifarm in each country and per production type. They were demonstration/research sheep or goat farms, which were well equipped with PLF technologies and/or with some digital equipment, used as a booster for new technologies and innovation, and for training sessions to farmers.
4. Innovative Farm: They were commercial farms who already used some of the PLF technology for their management, and who shared their views and uses with other farmers, as peer-to-peer exchanges during demonstration days.
5. Small Ruminant-AKIS composed of relevant national organisations and networks with large stakeholder representativeness, EIP-AGRI Operational Groups and farmers’ groups.
After 3.5 years of work, the project concluded that:
• Training sessions on Digifarms and Farm Demonstration on Innovative farms proved an ideal medium for peer-to-peer knowledge transfer regarding the use of technologies.
• The main barriers to uptake are linked to costs of technologies, and also to the lack of training options, after-sales advice, confidence in one’s skills and compatibility between the devices.
• Sharing of knowledge and experiences between farmers, researchers and other stakeholders in different countries proved invaluable.
• There is a lot of information regarding cost of technologies, but the information is often dispersed and not always in a format (or language) which is easy to understand or to adapt to one’s farming situation. Cost-benefit analyses are necessary for farmers to fully decide on investing in technologies or not.
The overall objectives of the project were to:
• create a European/International network of farmers, scientists, technicians and advisors, around the use of PLF and digital technologies in SRs,
• identify stakeholders’ needs for technology uses and available solutions across the EU that could respond to those needs,
• encourage knowledge exchange, technology adoption and communication between farmers and stakeholders of the SR sector, via workshops, farm training sessions and open days,
• increase awareness of DT for the SR sector using trusted means of communications and by sharing key findings with the scientific community and policy makers.
Sm@RT used an original multi-actor approach, relying on 5 different levels of networking as follows:
1. A Network Facilitator (NF), one person per country. National Facilitators were the main drivers of this methodology.
2. Scientific and Technical Group (STG) in each country which helped implement the project and identify and mobilise different national networks and operational groups.
3. A Digifarm in each country and per production type. They were demonstration/research sheep or goat farms, which were well equipped with PLF technologies and/or with some digital equipment, used as a booster for new technologies and innovation, and for training sessions to farmers.
4. Innovative Farm: They were commercial farms who already used some of the PLF technology for their management, and who shared their views and uses with other farmers, as peer-to-peer exchanges during demonstration days.
5. Small Ruminant-AKIS composed of relevant national organisations and networks with large stakeholder representativeness, EIP-AGRI Operational Groups and farmers’ groups.
After 3.5 years of work, the project concluded that:
• Training sessions on Digifarms and Farm Demonstration on Innovative farms proved an ideal medium for peer-to-peer knowledge transfer regarding the use of technologies.
• The main barriers to uptake are linked to costs of technologies, and also to the lack of training options, after-sales advice, confidence in one’s skills and compatibility between the devices.
• Sharing of knowledge and experiences between farmers, researchers and other stakeholders in different countries proved invaluable.
• There is a lot of information regarding cost of technologies, but the information is often dispersed and not always in a format (or language) which is easy to understand or to adapt to one’s farming situation. Cost-benefit analyses are necessary for farmers to fully decide on investing in technologies or not.
The 5 levels of networking were created and the different actors have been identified in each partner country.
The work of the project was based on farmers’ needs and challenges around technology use (a ‘bottom-up’ approach), and on the potential technological solutions available.
The online survey devised at the start of the project collected 669 usable responses, 68% being from farmers, shepherds or farm workers. Although only 15 % of farmers have technologies on their farms, 79% of them would like to use technologies to help with feeding/grazing, health and welfare, reproduction, flock/herd management, fattening and/or milking.
Through a series of 5 national workshops and 5 transnational workshops, 166 main technological needs were ranked, 60 technological solutions were proposed to answer the needs from a) meat sheep farmers (26 solutions), b) dairy sheep farmers (14 solutions) and c) dairy goats farmers (20 solutions).. Some of the solutions were common to some countries and across production type. Following a stakeholders’ vote for solutions, a final list of 36 appropriate innovative PLF and DT solutions for exchange between countries and stakeholders was identified.
Final guidelines and cost-benefit analysis of the main 30 out of the 36 solutions have been prepared in all the project’s languages. Farmers performed over 1100 individual evaluations for a total of 43 technologies during training sessions on Digifarms and farm demonstration days on Innovative farms. During 54 sessions, farmers’ acceptance of 31 technologies has been assessed using the ADOPT software (https://adopt.csiro.au/(se abrirá en una nueva ventana)) to predict rates of adoption. An inventory of digital and technological innovations has been made that includes information on 130 technologies. Information from the inventory has been used to further develop the solutions’ guidelines.
An international visit to New Zealand in Jan/Feb 2023, and a final seminar in Scotland in July 2024 also allowed wider connections with sheep and goats sectors overseas and in Europe.
The results of the project have been disseminated on the Sm@RT Platform (www.smartplatform.network) setup in 7 languages. Social media such as X (@H2020Smart) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/H2020-smart/(se abrirá en una nueva ventana)) have also been used with specific dissemination campaigns. A total of 85 videos showcasing the identified technologies, testimonies from digifarms and innovative farmers, and transnational activities, have been created. All videos are on the Sm@RT YouTube channel (H2020SmaRT). Sm@RT communication also focused on the use of farming press, existing websites, national and international conferences, trade events/fairs, newsletters and press releases. Four policy briefs were developed based on the project’s findings (and translated in 7 languages). Infographics of the project’s results has also been prepared and evaluation of the network has been realised with stakeholders' feedback. Results have been presented at conferences and national events. To ensure perennity of the project’s results, a repository site of materials created has also been set up (https://zenodo.org/communities/small_ruminant_technologies/records(se abrirá en una nueva ventana)) as full integration with EU Farmbook proved challenging.
The work of the project was based on farmers’ needs and challenges around technology use (a ‘bottom-up’ approach), and on the potential technological solutions available.
The online survey devised at the start of the project collected 669 usable responses, 68% being from farmers, shepherds or farm workers. Although only 15 % of farmers have technologies on their farms, 79% of them would like to use technologies to help with feeding/grazing, health and welfare, reproduction, flock/herd management, fattening and/or milking.
Through a series of 5 national workshops and 5 transnational workshops, 166 main technological needs were ranked, 60 technological solutions were proposed to answer the needs from a) meat sheep farmers (26 solutions), b) dairy sheep farmers (14 solutions) and c) dairy goats farmers (20 solutions).. Some of the solutions were common to some countries and across production type. Following a stakeholders’ vote for solutions, a final list of 36 appropriate innovative PLF and DT solutions for exchange between countries and stakeholders was identified.
Final guidelines and cost-benefit analysis of the main 30 out of the 36 solutions have been prepared in all the project’s languages. Farmers performed over 1100 individual evaluations for a total of 43 technologies during training sessions on Digifarms and farm demonstration days on Innovative farms. During 54 sessions, farmers’ acceptance of 31 technologies has been assessed using the ADOPT software (https://adopt.csiro.au/(se abrirá en una nueva ventana)) to predict rates of adoption. An inventory of digital and technological innovations has been made that includes information on 130 technologies. Information from the inventory has been used to further develop the solutions’ guidelines.
An international visit to New Zealand in Jan/Feb 2023, and a final seminar in Scotland in July 2024 also allowed wider connections with sheep and goats sectors overseas and in Europe.
The results of the project have been disseminated on the Sm@RT Platform (www.smartplatform.network) setup in 7 languages. Social media such as X (@H2020Smart) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/H2020-smart/(se abrirá en una nueva ventana)) have also been used with specific dissemination campaigns. A total of 85 videos showcasing the identified technologies, testimonies from digifarms and innovative farmers, and transnational activities, have been created. All videos are on the Sm@RT YouTube channel (H2020SmaRT). Sm@RT communication also focused on the use of farming press, existing websites, national and international conferences, trade events/fairs, newsletters and press releases. Four policy briefs were developed based on the project’s findings (and translated in 7 languages). Infographics of the project’s results has also been prepared and evaluation of the network has been realised with stakeholders' feedback. Results have been presented at conferences and national events. To ensure perennity of the project’s results, a repository site of materials created has also been set up (https://zenodo.org/communities/small_ruminant_technologies/records(se abrirá en una nueva ventana)) as full integration with EU Farmbook proved challenging.
The Sm@RT project provided and enabled:
• A long-term collaboration between the partners and other interested countries,
• A strong interaction between different small ruminant actors and scientists, with the multi-actor approach,
• A network of small ruminant actors that can dynamically interact, facilitated by knowledge sharing across Europe,
• A series of guidelines, cost-benefit analyses and solutions to needs, based on scientific and practical knowledge, available in a knowledge reservoir,
• An improvement of understanding, awareness and uptake of the different technologies currently available to the SR sector, that will help increase efficiency and sustainability of SR farming in Europe and beyond.
• The identification of future research priorities and policy initiatives.
• A long-term collaboration between the partners and other interested countries,
• A strong interaction between different small ruminant actors and scientists, with the multi-actor approach,
• A network of small ruminant actors that can dynamically interact, facilitated by knowledge sharing across Europe,
• A series of guidelines, cost-benefit analyses and solutions to needs, based on scientific and practical knowledge, available in a knowledge reservoir,
• An improvement of understanding, awareness and uptake of the different technologies currently available to the SR sector, that will help increase efficiency and sustainability of SR farming in Europe and beyond.
• The identification of future research priorities and policy initiatives.