LivestockSense – a new technology as the future of agriculture

The LivestockSense project, implemented as part of the 1st ERA-NET CO-FUND ICT-AGRI-FOOD contest by scientists from the ASc4Future Lead Research Team of the Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, concerns the identification and removal of social barriers related to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in livestock production, and understanding reasons for their limited use. 

As a part of an international consortium coordinated by prof. Thomas Banhazi (AgHiTech, Hungary), scientists and entrepreneurs from seven countries will support the poultry and pig production sector in understanding the principles of precision livestock farming through workshops, mentoring and online tools.

– We are planning to verify the impact of the practical use of ICT. We will assess the users' attitude, the profitability of production, and the potential improvement in the welfare of the farm animals. We need to engage producers and technology developers in the dialogue to identify problems and future expectations arising from the experience of the livestock sector. That is why it is necessary to involve mainly young people related to animal production, often graduates of the UPWr Faculty of Biology and Animal Science – explains prof. Sebastian Opaliński, who coordinates the investigation carried out by UPWr. The scientist emphasises that ICT-based tools are crucial for deepening social integration in achieving climate neutrality.

The project consortium consists of partners from Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Israel, Austria and Poland. In November 2021, a meeting was held in Karpacz, during which the goals achieved so far and future challenges were discussed. The special guest was Dr. Janice Siegford from Michigan State University, who runs a similar project at a much more advanced implementation stage. The meeting participants also visited a poultry farm in Gostków, the owners of which (the company Aktiw sp.z o.o.) are interested in participating in the projects' part consisting of testing ICT solutions in practice.

A survey is currently underway to verify farmers’ approach to ICT technologies used in livestock production. The poll is on the project website.

The project will last until the end of March 2023.