EuroDairy – Operational groups

Objectives:

To develop and trial ategrated data management system and test its ability to effectively support the implementation of LEAN management on pilot farms. The aim is for the software to store, in one place, all the data required to manage production from planning to sales, and provide reports on progress against targets in real time, resulting in improved economic performance. Through the inclusion of environmental KPI’s in the system, the project will demonstrate to the wider dairy industry how production and sustainability can be planned for and delivered simultaneously.

Partners: Nine Dairy Farmers, Reaseheath College, IT Software Consultants, Independent Dairy Lean Expert, Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB)

Website: www.reaseheath.ac.uk

Coordinator: Annette McDonald AnnetteM@reaseheath.ac.uk

Project supporters: National Farmers Union (NFU), Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Natural England, DEFRA, Keele University.

Funding organisations: Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE)

Objective:

• To establish and follow the progress of 5 Farmer Action Groups across the South West of England as they co-create a series of Action Plans to reduce their need and usage of antimicrobials on
• To understand the barriers and drivers for this sort of participatory project, and how applicable it could be for policy making in this
• Approximately 35 further meetings to be held to follow up on the farmer-led Action Plans, and to measure and assess how effective they have been in creating real on-farm change (Has there been a reduction in antibiotic use? Has the herd health improved?).
• Plans are in process to hold a farmer away-day at Bristol Veterinary School to discuss results from the project, and inform policy makers on tacking antimicrobial

Website and newsletters:

http://www.agricology.co.uk/farmer-led-policy-leading-way-reducing-antibiotic-use-farm

http://www.fginsight.com/vip/vip/can-we-learn-to-farm-without-antibiotics-16178

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/vetscience/people/lisa-c-morgans/index.html

Partners: 5 farmer action groups and University of Bristol

Number of farms: 33 

Coordinator: The project coordinator, Lisa Morgans BVSc MRCVS, is studying for a PhD supervised by Professor D.C.J. Main and Dr K.Reyher at the University of Bristol.

Funding organisations: AHDB Dairy and The Langford Trust

Objective: The project ‘Bedrijfsstikstofbalans’ or ‘company nitrogen balance‘ is a European Innovation Partnership (EIP) project. In an EIP the operational groups (OG) are crucial. The members of the OG are farmers, researchers and if needed some extra stakeholders. They work together to find a solution to a problem reported by the farmers themselves. In this project, we look at the feasibility of the development of a nitrogen balance on a dairy farm and the possibility to use it as an official measurement to reduce ammonia emissions.

Partners:

• Inagro
• ILVO
• Hooibeekhoeve
• Boerenbond
• Peeters lv
• Oostvogels Cis
• LV Den Hamer
• AVEVE

Website: www.innovatiesteunpunt.be

Coordinator name and contact: hanne.leirs@innovatiesteunpunt.be

Funding organisations: Europees Landbouwfonds voor Plattelandsontwikkeling, Europa investeert in zijn platteland

Objectives: Mortellaro is a hoof disease that can cause many losses on dairy farms. In this OG they are looking for a best practice solution to reduce this disease.

• To gather and combine the available knowledge on the treatment and prevention of Mortellaro into a practical and affordable protocol for the prevention of this condition
• To explore the possibilities for innovative, alternative, ecologically and economically sound prevention methods for
• To examine the influence of the mineral supply and possible prevention methods in the context of biosafety in young stock in order to draw up a protocol for young cattle
• To collect methods for curing this condition and to collect and disseminate information about this
• Knowledge exchange and discussions leading to a general consensus on both the prevention and the cure of this condition
• Carrying out a cost-benefit analysis of existing and alternative possibilities to tackle Mortellaro

Partners:

• Inagro
• Universiteit Gent
• Vetrenary
• Dierengezondheidszorg Vlaanderen
• 5 Dairy Farmers

Website: http://leden.inagro.be/Wie-is-Inagro/Projecten/project/15134

Coordinator name and contact: Inagro, Canniere Evi, evi.canniere@inagro.be

Funding organisations: Europees Landbouwfonds voor Plattelandsontwikkeling, Europa investeert in zijn platteland

Objectives:

• The establishment of the Milk Trading Company (MTC), DLV seeks to develop a partnership with dairy farmers. The goal is to generate higher and more stable financial margins, using market information on the sale price for milk and the cost of feed inputs
• The MTC will use different tools, such as the futures market, contracts with customers, price guarantee certificates and margin insurance

Partners:

• Milk Trading Company
• Universiteit Wageningen
• DLV (United Experts)
• Vital Nutrition

Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjyydq-_rmo

Coordinator name and contact: Milk Trading Company - info@dlv.be

Funding organisations: Europees Landbouwfonds voor Plattelandsontwikkeling, Europa investeert in zijn platteland

Objective: The aim is to significantly increase the share of installations that run well in Flanders. An operator can lose 22,000 euros per year if his installation does not run smoothly. It is therefore of great importance for the profitability of the installation that the energy from the manure on these farms is used as optimally as possible. The ecological aspect also benefits from this. Pocket fermentation could be an interesting measure to also address greenhouse gas emissions in the storage of manure. Farmers and knowledge partners join forces to give a new boost to pocket fermentation at existing plants.

Partners:

• Inagro
• Boerenbod
• Innovatiesteunpnt
• Hooibeekhoeve
• Innolab
• 31 pocketboeren

Coordinator name and contact: bart.ryckaert@inagro.be

Funding organisations: Europees Landbouwfonds voor Plattelandsontwikkeling, Europa investeert in zijn platteland

Objective: The growers in the operational group must decide on the effectiveness of their weed control for the future. Individually, the investment in modern weeding technology is not feasible and only a basic mechanism is possible. Through mutual cooperation they may be able to gain access to a modern machine park for mechanical weed control with more impact and higher performance as a result. This is the goal of this operational group. In parallel, the relevant machines are mapped out and potential forms of cooperation are tested. Through a demonstration day, the experiences are shared with the general public.

Partners:

• 3 dairy farmers
• 1 organic dairy farmer
• 2 horticulturist
• 1 consultant
• 1 constructor of weeding machines
• 3 suppliers of weeding machines

Website: http://www.ccbt.be/?q=node/3287

Coordinators:

• Lieven Delanote, Lieven.delanote@inagro.be
• Johan Devreese, johan.devreese123@gmail.com

Funding organisations: Europees Landbouwfonds voor Plattelandsontwikkeling, Europa investeert in zijn platteland

Objective: The goal of the project is to enhance the collaboration between dairy farmers and horticulture to improve economic sustainability.

Partners:

• Inagro
• Ingro
• Universiteit Gent
• 2 groentetelers
• 1 melkveehouder
• 1 rundveehouder
• Boerenbond
• 2 constructeurs van oogstmachines
• 1 constructeur fermentatie-installatie

Website: www.ilvo.be

Coordinator name and contact: ILVO, Sam Decampeneere

Funding organisations: Europees Landbouwfonds voor Plattelandsontwikkeling, Europa investeert in zijn platteland

Objectives:

• What kind of expectations farmers have on recycled fertilisers? The farmer perceptions will be compared to perceptions of fertiliser producers. What are the bottlenecks limiting the use of recycled fertilisers?
• What are the environmental impacts and profitability of processed digestate compared to mineral fertilisers, slurry and unprocessed digestate? These alternative fertilisers will be compared in field tests on greenhouse cucumbers, cereal and grass
• The aim is to encourage collaboration across farmers, researchers and biogas producers

Partners: Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Biokymppi Oy, Karelia University of Applied Sciences.

Website: http://www.syke.fi/fi-FI/BioRaEE/Hankkeen_esittely

Coordinator name and contact: Tanja Myllyviita, Finnish environment institute, tanja.myllyviita@ymparisto.fi

Number of farms: Several farms provide manure for biogas production

Funding organisations: The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, Europe investing in rural areas

Objectives:

• Develop competitive strength and profitability of dairy farms in Finland
• Knowledge transfer between farmers, researchers, advisors and education
• To observe and test good practices in milk production at a practical level
• Measure the resource efficiency of pilot farms in different levels and ways
  • Forage yields
  • Production costs of silage
  • Overall economy of farm
  • Gate balances
• Assess animal welfare of pilot farms using welfare quality protocol
• Assess biodiversity levels of pilot farms

Partners: Savonia University of Applied Sciences and ProAgria Rural Advisory Services.

Website: http://euromaito.savonia.fi/

Coordinator name and contact: Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), sari.kajava@luke.fi

Number of farms: 12 pilot farms

Funding organisations: The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, Europe investing in rural areas, Valio Osuuskunta ItäMaito, Hankkija, Atria Nauta, faba, Suonentieto

Background: Thermal imaging cameras can be used to detect various common health issues of cattle. Thermal imaging can reveal infection in its early stages even before more visible symptoms are developed. Early detection makes early treatment possible, which means healthier cows and less money spent. However, the use of this technology is limited by the lack of practice-oriented information.

Objectives: The objective of Kuvaa Nautaa project is to develop a comprehensive information package on the use of infrared thermography in cattle health care. These practical instructions are designed for farmers as well as for veterinarians, hoof trimmers, agricultural experts and other stakeholders.

Method:

• Kuvaa Nautaa project is carried out in close cooperation with farmers and other stakeholders
• Thermal cameras are first tested in experimental farms and then farmers test thermal imaging in their everyday work
• Instructions are based on the practical needs and feedback received from farmers and they include:
  • Recommended equipment
  • Information about how and when thermal imaging can be used
  • Interpretation of thermal images
• Farmers test and improve the instructions
• Our recommendations and findings are published in our website

Partners: Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)

Website: kuna.savonia.fi

Coordinator name and contact: Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Salla Ruuska

Number of farms: 6

Funding organisations: The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Deveolopment, Europe investing in rural areas, European Innovation Partnership (EIP) funding

Objectives:

• Develop methods, tools, analytics and data transfer to create a system for monitoring silage quality, and energy and protein nutrition balance of dairy cows on-site at farms
  • Test handheld devices for monitoring nutritional value of growing grass and to support the determination of optimal harvesting time for fodder
  • Develop a tool for easy silage sample collection
  • Develop a quick on-farm method for determination of the dry matter in silage and fodder
  • Develop two electrochemical biosensor assays for analysis of nutritional markers in milk to facilitate monitoring of nutritional balance in individual cows
  • Develop data transfer for measurement results to a central database
• Increase efficiency, productivity and competitiveness of the farms by reducing feeding costs and improving cow health
• Decrease the working time needed to silage sample collection and handling, and to analysis and archiving of measurement results

Partners: ProAgria Kainuu Rural Advisory Services, MTech Digital Solutions Ltd, Semes Ltd, local veterinarian

Website: http://www.oulu.fi/kajaaniuniversityconsortium/smartfeed

Coordinator name and contact: University of Oulu, Kajaani University Consortium, Unit of Measurement Technology (MITY) tuija.kallio@oulu.fi

Number of farms: 8 pilot farms

Funding organisation: The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas, Rural 2020

Objectives:

• To identify factors and systems favourable to the resilience of dairy farming (social, economic and environmental factors)
• Create/adapt a tool for farmers to help manage resilience (a tool to evaluate the farm’s resilience)
• Identify factors for attracting dairy farming to find ways to evaluate and achieve.
• Stimulate exchanges of knowledge and experience within the operational group and outside the group to disseminate EuroDairy

Partners: 19 participants in the OG = farmers, dairy firms elected farmers, research (IDELE), advisers (Chambres d’agriculture, ACE, BTPL), an agricultural school

Website: http://www.hautsdefrance.chambres-agriculture.fr/techniques-productions/elevage/eurodairy-hauts-de-france/

Coordinator name and contact: Elisabeth Castellan Elisabeth.castellan@idele.fr

Number of farms: 12 farms in total - 8 pilot farms

Funding organisations: Conseil régional des Hauts de France, Région Hauts-de-France

Objectives:

• Identify economic and social resilience in different systems
• Characterise measurement criteria and develop adequate measurement tools
• Communication about different actions to improve resilience

Partners: 21 participants in the OG = farmers, dairy firms elected farmers, research (IDELE), advisers (Chambres d’agriculture, Littoral Normand, BTPL), an agricultural school

Website: https://normandie.chambres-agriculture.fr/eurodairy/

Coordinator name and contact: Chambre régionale d’agriculture de Normandie Catherine BAUSSON: catherine.bausson@normandie.chambagri.fr

Number of farms: 6

Funding organisations: Conseil régional de Normandie

Context:

As everywhere in the European Union, the end of the administrative management of milk volume and the volatility of the market increased the competition amongst dairy industries, dairy farms and dairy areas. The common challenge lies in the competitiveness of dairy cattle and related sectors. Rhône-Alpes region is involved in these issues.

Dairy managers and representatives are really concerned about the future of dairy farmers in the region: which system, what size, which markets for each territory… They have strongly expressed the need for foresight, comparison with other dairy regions and for solutions to adapt to the new challenges of dairy farming.

Partnership and governance (activity):

As a steering committee, the “Progress and experiment council” coordinates this program and follows the tasks with its board of farmers. The technical partners lead the Operational Group and identify innovations and good practices in animal husbandry. All partners and breeders involved in this group bring their complementary points of view on them.

• Pôle d’Expérimentation et de Progrès Bovin Lait: Coordinator
• Rhone-Alp’Elevage (livestock association – Farmers board)
• Farmers
• FIDOCL (milk performance recording organization & technical advice)
• Chambres d’Agriculture (technical and strategic advice)
• Institut de l’Elevage (Idele) (advice & methodological supports)
• Centre d’Elevage de Poisy (Training centre for farmers)

Lycée du Valentin and Cibeins (High school)

Objectives:

Through the networking of farmers, advisors and scientists, this EURODAIRY Rhône-Alpes project aims to:

• Work and exchange ideas with 20 partners from 14 EU countries and main dairy areas (meetings, methods, innovations & demonstration transfer)
• Look forward to innovations and good practices from scientific and technical literature, meetings, video exchanges or identified directly on farms
• Try, practice and analyze innovative solutions to get some results, benchmarks and comparison data to develop the competitiveness of dairy farms in Rhône-Alpes

Number of farms: 12 pilot farms

Funding organisations: Centre d’élevage de Poisy – Poisy training center

Objectives:

The optimal adjustment and regular review of the function, setting and equipment of milking systems and knowledge about their effect on udder health and milk production have a direct impact on the welfare and health of animals.

The project is focused on developing and evaluating a sound analysis tool to support farmers in identifying the weaknesses of milking systems. The OG's (operational group) goal is to develop an innovative, technology-based analysis tool (electronic analysis tool, e.g. for smartphones or iPads) to highlight weaknesses in milking systems through a bottom-up process, in conjunction with those involved in the OG. This can then be used by everyone to comprehensively assess milking systems, produce a weakness analysis and use this to derive practical measures for action that can be implemented directly. The analysis tool is to enable standardized, practical data acquisition and also to support the farmer in the interpretation and evaluation of the assessed milking system.

Lead partner Forschungs- und Entwicklungszentrum Fachhochschule Kiel GmbH Schwentinestr. 24, DE 24149 Kiel, Björn Lehmann-Matthaei. Tel: 0049 431-2184444, lehmann-matthaei@fh-kiel-gmbh.de

Participating farmers: Christian Pahl Mathias Melfsen Frederik Robert Lutze Gut Dummerstorf

Research and research transfer centres: University of Kiel, Institut Landwirtschaftliche Verfahrenstechnik - Prof. Dr. Eberhard Hartung, University of applied Science Kiel, FB Agrarwirtschaft - Prof. Dr. Urban Hellmuth, Thünen Institut für ökologischen Landbau- Dr. Hans Marten Paulsen

Advisory centres: Landwirtschaftskammer Niedersachsen - Dr. Michael Hubal Landwirtschaftskammer NRW - Andreas Pelzer

Non-profit organisations: Landeskontrollverband Schleswig-Holstein e.V. (LKVS.-H.), Kiel- Hergen Rowehl

Coordinator name and contact: Prof. Dr. Eberhard Hartung, University of Kiel, DE-24118 Kiel Tel.: 0049431-8802107, ehartung@ilv.uni-kiel.de

Funding organisations: wir fordern den ländlichen Raum, eip-agri

Objective:

Due to competition for land and because of legal conditions which serve environment protection, innovations in grassland farming are needed. Nutrient management plays a major role in this. Therefore the aim of this project is to develop innovative, locally adapted management strategies for an optimized nutrient management in grassland of Northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). For this purpose, data is collected on the project’s pilot farms under practical conditions. The pilot farms are located in typical grassland areas of the country. The collected data includes information about soil nutrient values, grass growth patterns and sward condition. Exact scientific tests will accompany these surveys.

At the end of the project period, the operational group will perform a weak spot analysis in order to develop a tool for decision support for grassland farms.

Lead partner: Landwirtschaftskammer SH - Dr. Mathis Müller Grüner Kamp 15-17 DE-24768 Rendsburg 0049 4331-9453300, mmueller@lksh.de

Participating farmers:

• Heiko Reiher
• Hans Eggert Rohwer Olaf Oldach
• Christof Kirst Henning Gnutzmann Kirsten Wosnitza Ose Jensen Ferdinand Feddersen Lorenz Carstensen Florian Sachau

Research institution and research transfer centers:

• University of Kiel, Institut für Pflanzenbau und Pflanzenzüchtung Prof. Dr. F. Taube Hermann-Rodewald-Str. 9, DE-24118 Kiel
• University of applied science Kiel, Prof. Dr. Conrad Wiermann Am Kamp 11, DE-24783 Osterrönfeld

Advisory centres: Agrarberatung Mitte -  Erika Selck Landberatung Mitte - Ute Hebbeln Agrarberatung Nord e.V. Jan Hinnerk Alberti

Funding organisations: wir fordern den ländlichen Raum, eip-agri

Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Conrad Wiermann, University of applied science Kiel conrad.wiermann@fh-kiel.de

Website: http://www.eip-agrar-sh.de/en/eip-innovationprojects/

Objective:

The overall objective of the OG is to gather the performance potential of pasture in terms of yield and quality in the main landscape-types of Schleswig Holstein.

From this measured data, a model "smart grazing" (a forecasting tool) should be developed that is able to operate in conjunction with the predictions of the German Meteorological Service to provide real–time data on current growth rates and feed quality parameters on a high technical level (mobile app) and, together with pilot-farms, identify landscape type-specific problems of grazing and provide solutions for these.

Partners:

Lead Partner: University of Kiel, Institut für Pflanzenbau und Pflanzenzüchtung Hermann-Rodewald-Str. 9, DE-24118 Kiel (Research organisation)

Participating farmers: Henrik, Butenschön Nico, Hellerich Hans Möller, Klaus Groenewold Bert, Riecken

Private company from the agricultural sector: Seed company: Norddeutsche Pflanzenzucht – Dr. Bernhard Ingwersen

Research and research transfer centers: Landwirtschaftskammer SH - Dr. Matthis Müller Kompetenzzentrum Milch - Nadine Schnipkoweit

Thünen Institut für ökologischen Landbau- Dr. Kerstin Barth Advisory centers: Grundwasserschutzberatung Nord - Dr. Heidi Schröder VRS Steinburg e.V. - Alexandra Becker

LLUR, Flintbek - Sabine Rosenbaum Non profit organisations: Deutscher Verband für Landschaftspflege - Dr. Helge Neumann

Website: http://www.eip-agrar-sh.de/en/eip-innovationprojects/ Coordinator

Name and contact: Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Taube, University of Kiel, DE-24118 Kiel Tel.: 0049431-8802134, ftaube@gfo.uni-kiel.de

Funding organisations: Wir fordern den ländlichen Raum, eip-agri

Objective: The process of intensive planning is based on assessment criteria and sub-criteria for sustainable animal housing systems, which were only applied in an elective module in the department of agricultural studies at the University of Applied Science Kiel. Novel ideas for animal housing systems should be assessed in practice to ecological, economic and social sustainability already during the planning phase.

The aim of the OG ' InnoBau ' is to support sustainable innovation in agricultural construction with a new, systematic decision-making process. For this, the group develop and test with participating companies from Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, a tool for a systematic planning management, which is suitable for practice.

Coordinator name and contact: Prof. Dr. Urban Hellmuth, University of applied science Kiel, DE-24783 Osterrönfeld. Tel.: 00 49 4331-845140, urban.hellmuth@fh-kiel.de

Lead partner: Forschungs- und Entwicklungszentrum Fachhochschule Kiel GmbH Schwentinestr. 24, DE 24149 Kiel, Björn Lehmann-Matthaei. Tel: 0049 431-2184444, lehmann-matthaei@fh-kiel-gmbh.de

Participating farmers: Ernst Metzger-Petersen, Harald und Yannick Rzehak Dirk Kock-Rohwer, Thomas Scharmer und Frank Scholz Jens Olufs, Jörg Riecken

Research and research transfer centers:

University of Kiel, Institut Landwirtschaftliche Verfahrenstechnik - Prof. Dr. Eberhard Hartung

University of applied Science Kiel, FB Agrarwirtschaft - Prof. Dr. Urban Hellmuth

Prof. Dr. Yves Reckleben Prof. Dr. Stefan Krüger

Non profit organisations: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Landtechnik und Bauwesen SH e.V. Prof. Dr. Urban Hellmuth

Funding organisations: Wir fordern den ländlichen Raum, eip-agri

Objective: The feeding of Schleswig-Holstein dairy cows is constantly calculated and optimized by specialized advisors and experts of feed suppliers. A question that arises when implementing diets with reduced protein content but not yet answered and analyzed is: How much protein requires the dairy cow really or how can we make the feeding more N-efficient?

The OG Milk - feed & feeding aims with the innovation project to contribute to the efficient use of protein feed for dairy cows. The reduction of protein content in the total ration leads to decreased nitrogen excretion via the liquid manure and therefore to a reduction of nitrate loads from animal excrement into the environment. Of this project should also increasingly come from native production to guarantee a GMO-free feeding for the consumers.

Lead partner: University of Kiel, Institut für Tierzucht und Tierhaltung Hermann-Rodewald-Str. 6, DE-24118 Kiel (Research organisation)

Participating farmers: Dirk Richelsen Joachim Schoof

Private companies from the agricultural sector:

• ATR Landhandel - Helmut Pförtner
• DLG Danmark - Marie Løvendahl Raun
• HaGe Kiel - Stefan Neumann und Stefan Plähn

Research and research transfer centres: Landwirtschaftskammer SH - Dr. Johannes Thaysen Kompetenzzentrum Milch - Nadine Schnipkoweit

Advisory centres: Agrarberatung Nord - Uwe Bäumer Agrarberatung Mitte - Thomas Bahr

Non-profit organisations: Bundesverband Deutscher Milchviehhalter – Kirsten Wosnitza

Website: http://www.eip-agrar-sh.de/en/eip-innovationprojects/

Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Georg Thaller, University of Kiel, DE-24118 Kiel Tel.: 0049431-8807329, gthaller@tierzucht.uni-kiel.de

Funding organisations: Wir fordern den ländlichen Raum, eip-agri

Objective: This group gets better insight into their dairy management via OPTIcow, a dashboard that ZLTO developed. This dashboard is combining economic and technical figures. Besides that, the most important topics of this group are new animal care aspects, low antibiotic use and technologies around animal care to detect diseases at an early stage.

Coordinator: Janine Roemen, ZLTO

Contact: yvonne.daandels@zlto.nl

Partners: 12 dairy farmers that are members from ZLTO

Funding organisations: LIB, ZLTO and participating farmers

Objectives:

• Evidence positive and negative aspects of using a Compost barn as cow housing system in the reality of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• Provide possible typologies of compost barns which are compatible with the climate of the Po Valley and with the predominant housing systems in the Parmigiano-Reggiano district
• Improve animal welfare, working environment of employees and improve the economic performance of dairy cattle farms

Partners: Fondazione CRPA Studi Ricerche, University of Florence – GESAAF, Regional Association of Stockbreeders of Emilia-Romagna – ARAER, Azienda Agricola Ceinar Paolo, Biogold Azienda Agricola Biologica, Società Agricola Arca, Società Agricola La Valle di Bandini Paolo e Andrea, Società Agricola Ozzanello di Bricoli e Giarelli, Azienda Agricola Iris, Azienda Agricola Arcobaleno, Research Centre on Animal Production – CRPA spa

Website: http://compostbarn.crpa.it/

Coordinator: Matteo Barbari matteo.barbari@unifi.it

Number of farms: 7

Funding organisations: EU

Objectives:

• Develop new dairy products linked to the values of the feed system and the animal welfare
• Re-orienting cow longevity working on a better-equilibrated feed ration more based on forages
• reduce production peaks and the antibiotic use

Partners: Lattemilia, University of Bologna, University of Parma, Research Centre on Animal Production – C.R.P.A. spa, CREA, Fondazione CRPA Studi Ricerche, Montanari & Gruzza, Latteria Sociale San Giovanni della Fossa, Latteria Sociale Paverazzi, CILA, Stalla Sociale San Martino, Stalla Sociale Rinascita, Azienda Agricola F.lli Rossi, Caseificio Pascoli Alti, Azienda Agricola Dall’Aglio

Website: http://www.lattemilia.com

Coordinator: Luisa Antonella Volpelli luisaantonella.volpelli@unimore.it

Number of farms: 9

Funding organisations: EU and Emilia-Romagna region

Objectives:

• Identify a biodiversity measurement method suitable for different farming conditions
• Assessing the externalities of biodiversity-related ecosystem services
• Create a computer support available on the web to allow other farms the assessment of biodiversity in an autonomous, simple and rapid way (self-assessment)

Partners: Research Centre on Animal production - C.R.P.A. spa, Azienda Agricola Del Gigante di Valcavi Daniele, Azienda Agricola Iris di Avanzini Umberto Davide Iris e Cecchi Carolina Società Agricola, Horta srl

Coordinator: Aldo Dal Prà a.dalpra@crpa.it

Number of farms: 2

Funding organisations: EU and Emilia-Romagna region

Objectives:

• Application of the metabolic model and analysis to a farm of Parmigiano Reggiano district conceived as a living being
• Assess the economic and environmental performance (carbon footprint, water footprint and energy consumption) and identify the production phases with the highest cost and environmental impact
• Identify cost-effective practices to mitigate the environmental impact in terms of GHG emissions, energy consumption and water use

Partners: Research Centre on Animal Production - CRPA spa, CRA - Unità di ricerca per l'ingegneria agraria - CREA- ING, Società Agricola Bastardi F.lli Enzo e Villiam, Società Cooperativa Agricola Stalla Sociale Piazzola di Bibbiano, Azienda Agricola Simonazzi Aurelio, Ernesto e Landini Mirte S.S

Website: http://modellometabolico.crpa.it

Coordinator: Carlo Bisaglia carlo.bisaglia@crea.gov.it

Number of farms: 3

Funding organisations: EU and Emilia-Romagna Region

Objectives:

• Improve the efficiency of the dairy farms in the Parmigiano-Reggiano district by developing a decision support system (DSS), based on the modernization of dairy farms, animal welfare, management and hygienic and sanitary parameters
• Design a diagnostic tool and warning system for the main indicators of farm efficiency

Partners:

Fondazione CRPA Studi Ricerche, Research Centre on Animal Production – CRPA spa, PROGEO Società Cooperativa Agricola, Società Cooperativa Agricola La Vittoria, Società Cooperativa Agricola Stalla Sociale Piazzola di Bibbiano, Società Cooperativa Agricola CAPA, Società Agricola Favali Gianbattista e Mercati Gabriella, Società Agricola Grasselli Giuseppe & Figli, Azienda Agricola Devid-Martyn, Società Agricola Le Boccede, Azienda Agricola Walter Giansoldati, Società Agricola Monte Argento, Azienda Agricola Toni Pellegrino.

Website: http://happymilk.crpa.it/

Coordinator: Paolo Rossi p.rossi@crpa.it

Number of farms: 10

Funding organisations: EU and Emilia-Romagna Region

Objectives:

• Improve the feed management of dairy cows for Parmigiano Reggiano farms
• Get the most nutritional value from the forages included in the ration
• Support the production of milk for farms that have already embarked on a path of exploitation of their Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese Mountain product, but need to strengthen agricultural and livestock production

Partners: Latteria Sociale San Giorgio di Cortogno, Cooperativa Agricola Santa Lucia, Azienda Agricola Strada, Azienda Agricola Il Ponte, Azienda Agricola NASI, Research Centre on Animal Production – CRPA spa, Fondazione CRPA Studi Ricerche

Website: http://latteriasangiorgio.crpa.it

Coordinator: Maria Teresa Pacchioli m.t.pacchioli@crpa.it

Number of farms: 10

Funding organisations: EU and Emilia-Romagna Region

Objective: A regional positioning of a sustainable agricultural area by:

• Improving nutrient use efficiency at a farm and regional level
• Improving soil fertility and water use efficiency
• Knowledge exchange
• Multi-actor approach

Partners: LTO Noord, ForFarmers, FrieslandCampina, Rabobank, Waterschap Rijn en IJssel, Vitens.

Website: http://vruchtbarekringloopachterhoek.nl

Coordinator name and contact: Carel de Vries – devriesprojectregie@planet.nl

Coordinator for EuroDairy: Johan Temmink – johan.temmink@forfarmers.eu

Funding organisations: LTO Noord, for Farmers, Rabobank, provincie Gelderland, Vitens, Waterschap Rijn Ijssel, Friesland Campina

Number of EuroDairy pilot farms: 2

Objective: A so-called free walk barn for dairy cows is characterised by no cubicles, an alternative floor instead of concrete and more square meters per cow for lying and moving. Participating dairy farmers in this group want to further improve this innovative system, especially regarding the organic bedding materials and management. Animal health, especially claws, udder health and fertility are monitored as the main objective is to increase longevity (how long a cow stays in the herd).

Website: www.vrijloopstallen.nl

Coordinator: www.vrijloopstallen.nl

Contact: In Dutch bram@idv-advies.nl or in English: koops@zuivelnl.org

Partners: 15 dairy farmers in cooperation with a supplier of roof material and research. Executed by IDV-advisory.

Funding organisations: National government and participating farmers.

Objective: This group is working on better insight into technical and economic performance, and monitoring individual cow management to improve this. Beside that this group is looking for high tech welfare tools, robotics (SensOor) and technologies around farming and work efficiency.

Partners: 14 dairy farmers that are members from ZLTO

Contact: yvonne.daandels@zlto.nl

Coordinator: Tim van Houtum, ZLTO

Funding organisations: LIB, ZLTO and participating farmers

Objective: This group gets better insight in their dairy management via OPTIcow, a dashboard that ZLTO developed. This dashboard is combining economic and technical figures. Beside that the most important topics of this group are new animal care aspects, low antibiotic use and technologies around animal care to detect diseases in an early stage.

Coordinator: Janine Roemen, ZLTO

Contact: yvonne.daandels@zlto.nl

Partners: 11 dairy farmers that are members from ZLTO

Funding organisations: LIB, ZLTO and participating farmers

Objective:

The overall objective of the project is to by December 2020 develop, evaluate and implement on several farms a veterinary medicine recording and benchmarking system at farm and individual animal level integrated with quality assurance. Risk assessments related to two areas where antibiotic use is common will be developed, complete with step through decision support tools suitable for both farmer and veterinary practitioner with the impact of implementation quantified.

The outcome of the project will be a ready to implement system, with quantifiable financial and animal health benefits that would enable NI agriculture to respond to concerns over antibiotics use in food producing animals.

Impact of the system if then rolled out to NI

• Reduce incidence of animal ill health leading to less antibiotic use delivered through a better understanding of antibiotic use and development of strategies to more strategically use antibiotics in conjunction with health plans and
• Increased marketability in local and international markets. Use of antibiotics in production of food for human consumption is of growing concern. Having a robust system in place, particularly considering potential Brexit impacts enables NI to monitor/review and provide assurance of responsible antibiotic use. A must have to remain competitive and deliver on UK and EU antibiotic use
• Enhance produce confidence. By conveying the fact that at an NI level we robustly monitor antibiotic use at farm and animal level, producer confidence can be built in the supply chain helping drive the consumption of locally produced food

Detailed objectives:

• Develop prototype system to capture and monitor antibiotic use at farm level for potential integration into livestock assurance schemes
• Design, after reviewing international practices and stakeholder discussion, a practical veterinary medicine benchmarking system for dairy, beef and sheep
• Deploy, test and refine benchmarking system with several commercial farms and veterinary practices
• Design and test potential smart systems to capture antibiotic and vaccine use at an animal level with minimal producer input
• Develop, implement and review the impact of risk assessments and decision support tools related to dry cow therapy and calf rearing on pilot livestock farms. Quantify the impact in terms of antibiotic use, animal health and financial
• Develop a user-friendly decision support/risk assessment package to target the two specific case study areas that could be rolled out within the supply chain

Partners: AgriSearch, Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute, Vet Farm Systems Ltd, Animal Health and Welfare Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Beef and Lamb Farm Quality Assurance Scheme

Number of farms: Multiple (exact numbers to be confirmed)

Website: http://www.agrisearch.org/dairy/ongoing-dairy/animal-health-and-welfare-dairy/433-stamp

Coordinator: Jason Rankin jason@agrisarch.org

Funding organisations: Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs for Northern Ireland (via the Research Challenge Fund), AgriSearch (The Northern Ireland Agricultural Research and Development Council)

Objectives:

• Valorize livestock effluents as a resource, focusing on the production and integrated management of the different flows generated
• Optimize effluents use as secondary raw materials, recovering energy and nutrients, improving farm nutrient balances and promoting sustainable

Partners:

• Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária
• Instituto Superior de Agronomia
• Universidade de Trás os Montes e Alto Douro
• Universidade de Évora
• Associação Portuguesa de Criadores da Raça Frísia
• Associação Portuguesa dos Industriais de Alimentos Compostos para Animais
• Federação Portuguesa das Associações de Suinicultores
• CAMPOAVES
• VALORGADO
• ALIRAÇÕES
• TTerra-Engenharia e Ambiente,
• Leal & Soares, SA
• Ingredient Odyssey

Coordinator: Olga Moreira (email: olga.moreira@iniav.pt)

Number of farms: 2

Funding organisations: Programa de Desenvolvimento Rural, Portugal 2020, European Union

Objectives:

• To instruct dairy farmers and advisors on how to prepare a farm strategy with vision
• To improve entrepreneurship competencies of dairy farmers, young farmers, advisors, and agricultural students
• To assess the local agricultural framework conditions by a context analysis in order to adapt the ISM method and understand the outcomes of the training process
• To make the ISM method more applicable to market-oriented development paths and adding the marketing module
• To add a business planning module for economic assessment of dairy farmer choices
• To introduce the concept of networking to stimulate social entrepreneurship
• To evaluate the effects of the training and use of the ISM tools

Partners:

• UL – Biotechnical Faculty, Dept. of Animal Science (partner in the ISM+ project)
• ≈ 100 dairy farmers from Slovenia
• Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia

Website: http://ism.sggw.pl/

Coordinator: University of Ljubljana (UL), Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Animal Science, Groblje 3, 1230 Domžale, Dr. Marija Klopčič - Klopcic@bf.uni-lj.si

Funding organisations: Erasmus+, Biotehniska fakulteta, ISM+ Entrepreneurship

Objectives:

• To research and further develop free walk cattle farming systems that improve animal welfare, longevity and manure quality
• Increase capital efficiency, while addressing environmental
• This system is expected to improve the social and economic resilience of farming

Innovations:

• Housing like in meadow - animal welfare and health, society perception
• Composted material as bedding – re-using and as a soil improver
• Combination of housing and grazing
• Diversification / eco-farming - utilization housing facility and bedding material in summer for plant growth or for pigs/poultry

Partners:

• UL – Biotechnical Faculty, Dept. of Animal Science (coordinator)
• 10 farmers (2 case farms, 3 reference farms, 5 pilot farms)
• Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia – Department for Performance Recording and Breeding (technical advices, milk recording data)

Website: www.freewalk.eu

Coordinator: University of Ljubljana (UL), Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Animal Science, Groblje 3, 1230 Domžale Dr. Marija Klopčič - Marija.Klopcic@bf.uni-lj.si

Funding organisations: Era-netsusan, Republika Slovenia Ministrstvo Za Kmetijstvo, Gozdarstvo In Prehrano

Objectives:

• To develop an action plan for the implementation of genomic selection in the herds of Holstein-Friesian breed - the case of a small HF population in Slovenia
• Genotyping of HF male and female animals with the aim of discovery genetic defects (e.g. CVM, BLAD...), genetic features (RC, kappa caseins, lactoglobulins, ...), inbreeding estimates, parentage verification, ...
• To establish a reference population for the Holstein-Friesian population in Slovenia on the base of bulls and cows
• The possibility of cooperation with InterGenomics-Holstein - for the international comparison of genomically tested bulls.

Partners:

• UL – Biotechnical Faculty, Dept. of Animal Science (coordinator)
• ≈125 farmers with HF cows (farmers with HF bull dams)
• Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia – Department for Performance Recording and Breeding (technical support, milk recording data)
• Agricultural Institute of Slovenia (Herdbook data, MR data)
• Slovenian Holstein Association

Funding organisations: Ministry of Agriculture Forest and Food, Slovenian Holstein Association, Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS)

Website: www.holstein.si

Coordinator: University of Ljubljana (UL), Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Animal Science, Groblje 3, 1230 Domžal Dr. Marija Klopčič - Klopcic@bf.uni-lj.si

Objectives:

• To improve young stock rearing, health status and growth rate of young dairy cattle from birth till first calving
• To produce strong, healthy, well-grown calves that will continue to develop steadily after weaning
• To reduce loose of calves in the first 6 months and in the later stage with introducing and practice good young stock management
• To reduce costs of rearing young stock
• To develop simple guidelines of successful young stock management (protocols) for local circumstances.

Partners:

• UL – Biotechnical Faculty, Dept. of Animal Science (coordinator)
• 12 farmers with HF cows (6 pilot farms, 6 reference farms)
• Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia – Extension Service
• Slovenian Holstein Association

Website: www.holstein.si

Coordinator: University of Ljubljana (UL), Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Animal Science, Groblje 3, 1230 Domžale. Dr. Marija Klopčič - Marija.Klopcic@bf.uni-lj.si

Funding organisations: Slovenian Holstein Association

Objectives:

Sustainability, through the use efficient farm resources, which combine economic competitiveness and practices that minimize or impact resources on the quality of natural resources (soil, water and air).

• Balance the nutrients (especially N and P)
• Measure the carbon footprint
• Identify and apply the techniques used to balance the nutrients and the carbon
• Decrease emissions to the
• Make good management. Reduce the purchase of mineral fertilizers and make efficient use of the organic fertilizers
• Exchange of knowledge (innovations).

Websites:

• http://agaca.coop/
• http://www.ciam.gal/
• http://www.capcoruna.com/

 Partners:

• Unión de Cooperativas, Asociación Galega de Cooperativas Agrarias
• Centro de Investigacións Agrarias de Mabegondo
• Cooperativa Agraria Provincial de A Coruña, S.C.G

Number of farms: 10

Coordinator name and contact: María Rey Campos, +34 982 201 514, mrey@agaca.coop

Funding organisations: European Union, Ministerio de Agricultura y Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, Xunta de Galicia. Consellería de Medio Rural

Objectives:

• Exchange experiences and knowledge between farms and naturalists, researchers, NGOs
• Achieve a natural phytodepuration system in phases
• Define habitats and species that depend on the activity of dairy farms
• Identify the most favourable practices for biodiversity
• Define indicators of good management of agricultural habits for biodiversity
• Evaluate and compare the soil health of an organic farm with that of a conventional farm
• Present and disseminate the results in the scientific and technical field, as well as in the fields of the agricultural sector and the European Innovation Association

Partners:

• SAT Casa Grande de Xanceda
• Groupo Naturalista Habitat
• Calfensa Proyectos
• Centro de Investigacions Agrarias de Mabegondo
• Union de Cooperativas Asociacion
• Galega de Cooperativas Agrarias

Number of farms: 1 (Casa Grande de Xanceda)

Funding organisations: European Union, Ministerio de Agricultura y Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, Xunta de Galicia, Consellería de Medio Rural.

Objectives:

Setting- up collective manure management in which the exceeding slurry from 7 dairy farms is stored in a big slurry pit with floating cover.

This storage will guarantee organic fertiliser availability to crop fields when required. Fertilisation will take place under fertilising programmes, thus, decreasing environmental impact. Also, the system effect on GHG emissions will be evaluated using a farm gate modelling approach.

Partners: 15 farmers, ABERE, NEIKER

Co-ordinator: Lurdes Nafarrate

Funding organisations: abere, Cuma Albina S.Coop, eip-agri, European Union, neiker tecnalia

Objectives:

• EDF
• Expansion possibilities
• Timesaving operations
• Enviroment issues that make a difference for cow comfort and production volume

Coordinator name and contact: Pernilla Salevid

Number of farms: 8

Funding organisations: Jordbruksverket, LRF, LRF Konsult and Växa

Objective:

• EDF
• Expansion possibilities
• Timesaving operations
• Organic production

Coordinator name and contact: Pernilla Salevid

Number of farms: 7

Objectives:

• EDF
• Expansion possibilities
• Timesaving operations (lean)

Coordinator name and contact: Pernilla Salevid

Number of farms: 6 

Funding Organisations: Jordbruksverket, LRF, LRF Konsult, Växa