SILF will demonstrate the possibilities, explore the boundaries and requirements, and identify
future developments for ICT-supported smart farming systems for dairy production.
Animal welfare and energy
SILF will use the example case animal welfare (lameness) and resource consumption (energy) to demonstrate how sensor technology combined with databases and suitable models can lead to sustainable livestock production.
The sensing systems along with production data (e.g. national milk records from Denmark and Ireland and demonstration farms in the participating countries) will be integrated through pre-defined operating scenarios at animal and farm level to create economic, welfare and environmental added-value, while also identifying specific business models for the farmer and the production-supply chain as a whole.
Stakeholders
Particular emphasis will be placed on harnessing user requirements and stakeholder inputs and supporting their participation in promoting an EU-wide take-up and implementation of smart farming systems, practices and procedures supported by conventional and object-connected ICT.
SILF will consider economic drivers and user requirements related to technology adoption by the livestock sector, with a focus on animal welfare and environmental impacts. A service-production-supply chain can contribute to efficient use of resources and yield commercial benefits.
Internet of Things
While the project scope is small due to the available funding, it will exploit the partners’ current
state-of-the-art knowledge, infrastructure and resources to test smart sensing systems for
lameness and energy consumption. SILF will evaluate the pooling of data, information and
knowledge within an Internet of Things (IoT) provider platform that can be accessed to support
the development of a service industry, public bodies, and for applied research.
The specific objectives of SILF
1. To design a IoT-provider platform (the “Farm Platform”) to manage operational data and
events on farms and demonstrate “as a service” functionalities for increasing sustainability in
the participating countries.
2. To carry out user adoption and stakeholder studies to understand the issues faced by
farmers in using precision farming and Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS).
3. To refine and validate a smart farming sensing system so that it meets the primary
objective of supporting sustainable agriculture and individual user’s requirements.
4. To develop algorithms that provides decision support to farmers on animal production,
welfare, energy usage and environmental impact using sensor and production data.
5. To develop business models for specific European milk production systems and to
determine added value of available sensing based on a footprint costing approach.
