After four years of research, the European ClearFarm projectcoordinated by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and funded through the European Commission’s H2020 programme, comes to an end at a key moment for livestock farming on the continent, amid the mobilization of different social and economic sectors to champion a revision of current European legislation animal welfare.
Thanks to the work of a multidisciplinary team, we were able to design and validate a digital platform that integrates and displays in real time the information collected through various sensors installed on dairy farms. The research has also enabled major advances in knowledge about the remains of measuring the animal welfare from pigs. The resulting device allows consumers and farmers to make informed decisions about purchasing food of animal origin and caring for livestock at different stages of their lives.
The final act of the project, “Animal welfare is central to the food chain in Europe. Digital innovation for a sustainable transition”, will take place in hybrid format in Brussels and then via YouTube February 14th and will collect key actors from different parts of Europe to reflect on the use of new technologies to improve animal welfare throughout the food chain. The first part of the event will focus on similar research experiences from other ongoing EU-funded initiatives in the field of animal welfare and digitalisation. The TechCare, aWISH and PPILLOW projects will present common challenges and notable developments, and their coordinators will reflect on how research collaboration between different initiatives adds value to the improvement of the agricultural industry across Europe.
Practical demonstration of the European ClearFarm project
ClearFarm proposes to use PLF (precision animal husbandry) technology and integrate animal-based data to improve the animal welfare throughout the entire production chain. Regulators, consumers, producers and policy makers, among others, participated in the design of the new solution.
At 12:00 there will be a practical demonstration, intended to familiarize the general public with the possibilities of the system ClearFarmwill serve to facilitate the entire development process and the details about platform operation.
The presentation will be given by the leaders of the different work phases: Xavier Manteca, from the Department of Animal and Food Sciences of the UAB and project coordinator; Elisabetta Canali, from the University of Milan; Eddie Bokkers and Paul Ingenbleek from Wageningen University (WUR); Joan Serra, from the Department of Information and Communications Engineering at UAB, and Jarkko Niemi, from the Natural Resources Institute of Finland (LUKE).
And cross-sector panel with representatives from agriculture, industry, academia, NGOs and government Participating in the final roundtable will be: Poll Llonch, from UAB and technical coordinator of ClearFarm; Miguel Ángel Higuera, from Copa-Cogeca; Andrea Gavinelli, from the European Commission (EC) Directorate General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE); Mar Maestre, from the consultancy ICF, and Inés Ajuda, from Eurogroup for Animals, will participate in the round table led by environmental journalist Andrea Bertaglio. The debate, scheduled for 2 p.m., will focus on the challenges of developing innovative solutions for the comprehensive assessment of animal welfare and the contribution of ClearFarm to the current needs of the various interest groups.