1st common conference on precision livestock farming and business

On November 1st 2012, two EU-funded projects on Precision Livestock Farming (or SmartFarming) have started: ALL-SMART-PIGS (www.all-smart-pigs.org) and EU-PLF (www.eu-plf.eu).

ALL-SMART-PIGS is a project that will demonstrate the viability of smart farming technologies in European pig farming. The project will use a process of open innovation through a LivingLab to co-create smart farming applications ready for commercialization on European pig farms. These applications will be provided by innovative SMEs which will test and validate in ALL-SMART-PIGS their technological prototypes and services in real life conditions together with pig farmers and other stakeholders.

The project initiators have identified health, growth rate, feed usage and environmental conditions as key parameters to monitor at this stage. A consortium of 3 high-tech SMEs, an established provider to the European farming community, regional R&D partners and an experienced SME and Living Lab facilitator will implement the project, assess its economic costs and benefits, develop a business model for future smart pig applications and showcase that the Living Lab methodology can pave the way for innovative technologies to the market.