Beef farmers are beginning to embrace technology that increases profits thanks to a new peer-to- peer programme.
The project is working across Europe to provide training for farmers to adopt new technology that will boost productivity and address issues of food security.
EIT Food’s Focus on Farmers project includes a partnership between the University of Reading and livestock supplier ABP which is supporting beef farmers in the UK.
Farmers who have benefited include more than 3,800 Italian cheese farmers, thousands of farmers who use combine harvesters, and the UK beef industry.
Beef farmer James Evans from Shropshire has been working with the project and is supporting his peers to adopt new technology.
James Evans said: “Using technology on the farm is often strange and a new process for many farmers but once they can see the effectiveness and how it can help their own business it can be quickly adopted.
“I don’t think the beef industry does enough to introduce new technology on farms, more practical demonstrations is key to letting farmers feel confident to buy and use it.
“It feels like the top 10% of the industry adopt new technology, and yet the majority still rely on traditional methods that they have used for many years.
“Sometimes technology such as weighing tells farmers uncomfortable truths that they need to react to,” he said.
“The biggest challenge beef farmers face is profitability: we still fall short of basic physical measures compared to poultry, pork and dairy and that’s where technology can make the biggest difference.
“It’s simple things like helping farmers to understand that getting more cows in calf or reducing feed costs are still being missed and that’s why this project is so important.”
Mr Evans has been adopting new technologies on the farm for several years now, using EID, electronic weighing, cattle management programmes, feed weighing and using EBV’s in his breeding programme.
“Using technology on farm is not always straight forward due to the environment that we have to work in, which are often wet and difficult conditions. Lots of trial and error over the years has ensured we have adapted the system to suit our requirements,” he said.
Dr Gillian Rose, from the University of Reading who leads the EIT Food Focus on Farmers project added: “The reality is that beef farmers in particular have been slow to adopt new technology that can help increase their productivity.
“At a time when red meat consumption is being scrutinised around climate change, farmers need to ensure they can up their game to remain competitive.
“In most cases, the technology we’re talking about isn’t expensive robotics or cow Fitbits either. The adoption of simple tech can make a big difference.”
The EIT Food Focus on Farmers project has also worked in collaboration with agriculture technology firm John Deere to showcase and support farmers to understand the benefits of technology.
The company has focused on developing novel teaching methods to enable their dealers to train and support farmers using technology on their combine harvesters.
Thousands of farmers throughout Europe have already benefitted from this project.
In addition, AIA (Associazione Italiana Allevatori) has also been working with PDO cheese farmers throughout Italy, having reached more than 3,800 farmers.
