the shortcomings and
how to address them
MOTIVATION
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What is at stake
In 2050 there will be 9 billion people
•
World meat output more than doubled between 1980 and 2007
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–
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•
Production of eggs rose from 27m tonnes to 68m over the same
period
India has the world’s largest dairy herd. Its milk production trebled,
to 103m tonnes, over a period when global milk output increased by
half
Brazil increased its production of chickens fivefold in 1987-2007 to
become the world’s largest exporter
China raised its output of both eggs and milk tenfold
The Economist cites 4 ways to “feed the world”:
– Avoidance of waste
– Narrowing the gap between the worst and best
producers
– Taking advantage of new plant technologies
– Spreading the so-called “livestock revolution”
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The “livestock revolution”
•
Switching from traditional, open-air methods of animal husbandry to
closed “battery” systems, in which animals are confined to cages and have
their diet, health and movement rigorously controlled.
– About a third of the livestock revolution has come about through selecting
and breeding the best animals
– Another third comes from improved feeding
– The remainder from better disease control
•
But: what about welfare?
Cheap, cheap
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The role of Smart Farming
•
Smart Farming is an essential part of the “livestock revolution”
– What we discuss as production improvement, is a necessity elsewhere
•
As such, we have the obligation to contribute to providing solutions
– Through an animal and farm centric approach that seeks a balance between
production, welfare and health
– Improving living conditions and avoiding illness
– Improving genetics and the reproduction cycle
– Optimising feed usage along the supply chain
– Avoiding the emission of green house gases to the atmosphere
•
Smart Farming is an essential part of European competitiveness and of
Europe’s contribution to the reduction of hunger and malnutrition
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Multidisciplinary Approach to Practical and Acceptable Precision
Livestock Farming for SMEs in Europe and world-wide
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The situation of PLF
•
IDEA:
By application of precision methods,
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–
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–
•
reduce resource needs and
improve the efficiencies of livestock farming,
improve animal health and welfare
reduce the gap between producers and consumers.
Contribute to more sustainable animal production systems
REALITY
“PLF is a collection of attempts to optimize the systems of today on specific
one dimensional aspects, without reflecting on their possible structural
limitations or failures”
Peter Groot Koerkamp, PLF ‘07 keynote speech
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Identification of a new direction
– Precision Livestock Farming needs to be practical
– Precision Livestock Farming needs to be acceptable
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BrightAnimal’s mission
BrightAnimal was a 2 year coordination and support action, 2009-2011.
We wanted to:
Produce a framework for European and non-European small and medium
enterprises on effective and acceptable precision livestock farming and to
create an international, interdisciplinary network for further development and
dissemination.
Strategic Objective 1:
To evaluate, assess and coordinate existing research and to extract from this a
framework for PLF in Europe and beyond, with special focus on SMEs.
Strategic Objective 2:
To provide practical guidance to those most directly involved in PLF (mainly
farmers) where the practicality and the acceptability of the proposed PLF
measures for SMEs can be explicitly taken into account.
Strategic Objective 3:
To create an international network of experts in the different areas of PLF to
interact in a cross-disciplinary manner and further develop the framework.
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The partners
Partner name
Country
FoodReg Technology S.L.
ES
AIM UK Ltd
Nofima Marin As
Bitland Aps
Danmarks Tekniske Universitet
Eesti Maaulikoolestonian University of Life Sciences
UK
NO
DK/FO
DK
EE
Institute Of Quality Standards & Testing Technology For Agroproducts, Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
Consumer Goods Council of South Africa
Kasetsart University
Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry
CN
Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria
BR
Department of Primary Industries And Resources South Australia
AU
Aalborg University
DK
(c) Syntesa sp/f and FoodReg AG
ZA
TH
MY
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Our work: workshop in Tartu
- Monitoring animal health, environment, welfare & behaviour
- Identification, sensory data collection & integrated systems development
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Our work: workshop in Copenhagen
A BrightAnimal workshop examining the
need to achieve a balanced economic and
ethical view of Precision Livestock Farming
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Our work: workshop in Jo’burg
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Our work: visits, conferences, meetings
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World-wide visits to gauge the extension of PLF
Dairy in United Kingdom
Evidence of PLF
Aquaculture in Norway
PLF-enabled
Pigs in Denmark
Evidence of PLF
Cattle in United States
Some evidence of PLF
Chicken in Brazil
No evidence of PLF
Pigs in China
No evidence of PLF
Great interest from research
Chicken in Thailand
No evidence of PLF
Dairy in South Africa
No evidence of PLF
Great interest from gov
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Dairy in Malaysia
No evidence of PLF
Great interest from gov
Pigs in Australia
Some evidence of PLF
Some interest from ind
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Our results
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•
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BrightAnimal book: available on Amazon
SmartFarming Guide for farmers with 5
minute diagnostic
BrightAnimal PLF movie and
demonstrator at Harper Adams University
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DETECTED SHORTCOMINGS
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The easier challenges
The term “Precision Livestock Farming” is not well chosen
– For marketing to farmers and consumers: SmartFarming
– The term PLF should be used only for academic research
Smart animal farming is the approach to farming that aims to achieve
economically, environmentally and socially sustainable farming through the
observation, behavioural interpretation and control of the smallest possible
group of animals.
We need a cooperation of engineers, biologists, economists and… of course
farmers
– Good example for a broader approach is the EU project BioBusiness
– European Commission and other research funding bodies should make sure
that their research programmes include all four dimensions
PLF needs to be part of tertiary education
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Intrinsic challenge 2: need for economic evaluation
•
•
Farmers in Europe have little “wiggle” room
Purchase decisions are in the end always linked to cost and benefits
•
Not all benefits are of monetary nature, but without clear business case
implementation is very unlikely
•
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Added value and cost of labour in the EU 2005/2006 (indicative)
There is a need to design
business cases for different
PLF technologies
There is a need to evaluate
PLF technologies economically under real conditions
60 000 €
50 000 €
40 000 €
30 000 €
Supply chain step
Min cost
20 000 €
Max cost
10 000 €
0€
Agricult. Food & bev. Food, bev.
holdings
manuf. & tobacco
(c) Syntesa sp/f and FoodReg AG
wholes.
Special. Nonspecial. Restaur.,
food
food
bars,
retailers
retailers canteens,
catering
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Intrinsic challenge 1: creation of a service sector
•
•
Farmers are biologists and not interested in technology per se
Technology often requires a big initial investment – without guarantees of
a return
•
We propose the establishment of a service sector across Europe and
beyond that will
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Takes care of technology components
Interprets data coming from sensors
Dispatches advice to farmers
Works on the basis of “technology as a service”
Involves users in the development
But: what is the right business model?
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Intrinsic challenge 3: need for demonstration and success stories
•
Farmers have a need to see that SmartFarming is no marketing hype
•
Communication strategy of Smart Farming should be the demonstration of
all benefits including economic benefits for farmers
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Service centre and business assist programs
Validated success stories
Independent cost/benefit calculations and return on investment estimates
Database of cases and technology applications
Technology demonstrator centres
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A BRIEF LOOK INTO THE FUTURE
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EU-PLF: Factsheet
Bright Farm by Precision Livestock Farming
Acronym: EU-PLF
Probable start date: November 1st, 2012
Coordinator: KU Leuven (Prof D. Berckmans)
Collaborative project: 18 partners
Budget: 8m€ (6m€ EU contribution)
The objective of the EU-PLF project is to
deliver a validated Blueprint for an animal and
farm-centric approach to innovative livestock
farming in Europe proven through extensive
field studies.
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Main deliverables
Main deliverables
1. Definition of value creation
2. Trained start-ups
3. Validated blueprint
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All-Smart-Pigs: Factsheet
Practical implementation of precision livestock
technologies and services at European pig farms using the
living lab methodology
Acronym: All-Smart-Pigs
Probable start date: November 1st, 2012
From the comfort zone of science to the battlefield of business
Coordinator: Syntesa (O. Gregersen)
Collaborative project: 7 partners
Budget: 1m€ (0.8m€ EU contribution)
Two main objectives
• To demonstrate the technical and economic viability of
precision livestock farming technologies in European
pig farming.
• To establish of Living Lab infrastructure for bringing
innovative Precision Livestock Farming (PLF)
technologies to European livestock farmers.
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Main deliverables
•
Main deliverables:
– PLF applications ready for commercialisation
among European pig farmers
– Economic evaluation for marketing
– Suitable business model for Smart Pig Apps
We are looking at
• Health, growth rate and feed usage
• Data exchange for feed optimisation
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Comparison of EU-PLF/All-Smart-Pigs
EU-PLF
Theory
Validated blueprint
Successful model for
a PLF service sector
Creation PLF entrepreneurs
Success stories
On farm implementation
Economical, social and
environmental marketing
Practice
All-Smart-Pigfs
Level of abstraction
Cost benefit analysis
Validated technology stack for pigs
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Concrete product
offering for pig
industry
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THIS IS WHAT WE STARTED FROM…
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SO, WE HAD TO
- RESHUFFLE THE PICTURE,
- CUT OUT THE UNNECESSARY AND
- PUT IT IN ORDER
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IT’S NOT QUITE PERFECT YET.
But we are getting there.
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
Dr Heiner Lehr
[email protected]
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