Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Eu PiG (EU Pig Innovation Group)

Teaser

EU PiG is a thematic network to increase the health, welfare, meat quality and use of precision farming within the European Union (EU) pig industry. Funded by the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, EU PiG fosters the development and dissemination of...

Summary

EU PiG is a thematic network to increase the health, welfare, meat quality and use of precision farming within the European Union (EU) pig industry. Funded by the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, EU PiG fosters the development and dissemination of practice-based innovations in pig farming, targeting key challenges faced by the pig industry across the EU. EU PiG commenced on 1st November 2016 with an expected project duration of 36 months. EU PiG spans 13 countries, encompassing 93% of the EU’s pig meat production (92% of slaughterings) and 90% of the EU’s pig herd (88% of the breeding herd) in 2016.

The project adopts the interactive model of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP), putting farmers at the centre of practice-based innovation, adapting and developing new and existing scientific knowledge to produce implementable solutions, which can then be shared across the network. In EU regions, multi actor ‘RPiGs’ (Regional Pig Innovation Groups) come together to target specific challenges for the pig industry. EU PiG partners have been active to stimulate the establishment of these ‘multi-actor’ groups, and the network will link these cross-border, so that innovations identified in one country/region, can be shared with another. The project aimed to establish 32 (8 per year) of the most innovating pig farmers across Europe to demonstrate best practice, and push boundaries in the application of new knowledge. These innovative farmers are to be decided through a Grand Prix of innovation, with winners decided by the RPiGs.

Specific objectives are, to:
- Map and consolidate existing knowledge from producers, advisers and the EU research base on four specific themes (health management, precision production, welfare and meat quality)
- Stimulate dialogue and knowledge exchange between ‘actors’ in the industry including producers, producer groups, innovation support organisations, levy/development boards and researchers to enhance farm-driven innovation
- Close the gap between research and commercial pig production by facilitating the application of science led innovations into practice
- Facilitate user driven knowledge exchange by identifying and sharing best practice within the industry (both nationally and internationally)
- Develop and disseminate end user material to demonstrate best practice and affect behaviour change by EU pig producers
- Encourage the sustainable integration of science and practice through innovation by enhancing dialogue between the scientific and farming/advisory communities

Work performed

- An initial outline of the project management structure for EU PIG was agreed between partners during the application stage. Partners have now reviewed and agreed the project management structure for the duration of the project; details are summarised within the final project management structure document
- The framework for both the project website and online basecamp have been drafted
- Our first steering group meeting was held at the end of January 2017
- 13 RPiGs are now established across Europe involving 19 partner organisations
- Website (EUPiG) has been constructed to aid in the dissemination of materials, this is an open source learning platform. The network of participants is clearly visible and \'grows\' each year, offering an increased range of dissemination materials. The case studies are supported by a range of materials
- In year 1 248 entries of innovative practices across Europe based on 4 thematic areas: - Precision Production, Animal Health, Animal Welfare, Meat Quality. In each thematic area 8 challenges were identified by the 13 RPiGs
- The 248 entries were reduced to a top 10 (5 for each challenge) by the WPLs
- From the top 10 an ambassador was identified for each challenge by the RPiGs who used a scoring system to rate the entries based on technical and industry relevance
- WPLs produced a literature review supported by the ambassadors which formed the basis of a technical report
- A second face to face steering group meeting was held in Italy in January 2018
- Ambassadors and WPLs have produced a range of materials that can be used to disseminate the innovative practices
- 8 Technical reports have been completed which will form the base of the dissemination materials for each RPiG
- The website has been populated with dissemination materials including virtual tours, videos and phot stories from year 1, for the 8 ambassadors
- There are 230 entries for year 2 across the same 4 thematic areas but with 8 new challenges
- Shortlisting of these entries will be completed prior to a meeting on the 4th June to establish criteria for scoring by the RPiGs

Final results

The first 18 months of the project have laid the foundations to capture and stimulate innovative actions and thinking, which will help the EU pig industry to progress and become more sustainable.
Prior to the project there was no network for the communication of technical information that could lead to the increased effectiveness of industry practices against the 4 thematic areas of:
- Precision Production
- Animal Health
- Animal Welfare
- Meat Quality
- There are now 13 RPiGs, involving 19 partners linked via digital media including the EUPiG website
- The EU now has 8 ambassadors (year 1) and a further 8 ambassadors are identified (Year 2) bringing ambassadors and case studies to a total of 16.
- There are dissemination materials including technical reports that would allow EU producers to increase the effectiveness of their enterprises based on these 8 challenges.
- The common language (English) is functioning well for researchers and advisors, but it limits cross border dissemination to farmers. Additional effort will be made to offer webinars and videos in local languages, using ‘voice-over’ and subtitles, producing and translating some deliverables in other languages and stimulating the transfer of English-language news and end-user products by advisers to farmers in their own language.
Upcoming initiatives and competitions
The 2019 challenges have been identified and RPiGs are in the process of identifying possible entrants. The topics are:
Welfare - Strategies to reduce aggression between animals - Management systems, novel techniques or technologies that lead to a reduction in the aggression between production animals
Welfare - The quality of the farm atmosphere - in connection with the health of the breeders and the animals
Meat quality - Replacing GMO in soy in for feed production - In some countries retailers ask explicitly not to use any feedstuffs that are derived from GMO material
Meat quality - Strategies to open farms to public to improve transparency of animal production and trust in consumers - Pig farms increasingly are object of public concern related to animal welfare, to environmental sustainability and the use of antibiotics
Precision - Reducing piglet mortality - Still births or “mortality until weaning”, also in hyperprolific sows – where do you gain the highest effect
Precision - Dashboard systems/benchmarking - (nudging-, motivation) systems to easily identify reduced performance increased costs – keep the production on track
Health - Early warning of diseases and production errors - Novel technology, thematic systems and predictive modelling
Health - Influence of gut health on disease and production data - Tools, systems and methods of monitoring gut health. Novel approaches to ensuring appropriate gut health development

Website & more info

More info: http://www.eupig.eu.