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A consortium of farmers, vets, nutritionists, buildings specialists and technologists is looking at how harvesting ‘real time’ information direct from the piggery will lead to more accurate and relevant decision-making and management changes.
Led by Dr Sadie Douglas, the consortium comprises D C & R J Allen & Partners, ARM Buildings Ltd, Farmex Ltd, Garth Pig Practice Ltd, J M Sankey, D A & E M Skinner, Stockcroft Ltd and Yorkwold Pigpro Ltd. Additional support is provided by sub-contractors Primary Diets and Dicam Technology.
“The objective is to commercially pilot the Barn Report Pro system which captures ‘live’ on-farm data enabling cash-saving management decisions to be made rapidly rather than retrospectively,” said Hugh Crabtree, Farmex managing director and one of the prime-movers behind the project.
As part of this, farmers are using monitoring systems — including in-pen growth sensors — which will beam data direct to the farm’s computer. This helps identify specific areas where efficiency can be improved such as energy use, reduced water waste, improved feed conversion and intake, and temperature control.
Monitoring will also alert farmers of any failures of, for example, feed or water delivery systems.
Funding is being supported by a 40 per cent grant from the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK (IUK)
June 22, 2016 - Farmx
