The uptake of new digital technologies has been slow because many sensor technologies, are expensive for farmers, while they are often limited to a small range of applications.The ET4D project focuses on the dairy sector and aims to link the information provided by various sensors and develop a methodology and software tools for an automatic generation of reports tailored for different target groups based on the collected sensor data. To this end, the project will expand and validate an existing data management system (DMS) with embedded sensors. ET4D will also assess the potential for incorporating data from external sensor systems and the applicability of a reduced sensor system for very small farms. Our system will be tested in dairy cattle barns in multiple countries, representing different technological, climatic and socio-economic conditions, after assessing and improving the quality of the internet connection in the selected farms. Social science methods will be used to study the expectations and information needs of potential data users along the dairy value chain. We develop a scoring methodology for data filtering and aggregation algorithms to extract relevant information from the DMS. Finally, we will develop a modular web application to make the information obtained from DMS available tailored to the needs of stakeholders.
AKI will contribute to the testing and development of the DMS system by selecting a local dairy farm and to the design and implementation of social science studies to assess the information needs of potential data users along the dairy value chain.
Title
Development of a practical data management system with embedded sensors for improved environmental management and transparency of dairy farming
Project acronym
ET4D
Project ID
2023-1.2.1-ERA_NET (ET4D)
Duration
1 October 2022 to 31 April 2026
