Chapter 17: Practical experiences of IoT applications for pig, broiler and cattle beef production: IoF2020 meat trial

Internet of Things (IoT) technology offers a significant potential for livestock farming, as animals and their living environments can be monitored and relevant insights can be extracted from the data gathered. As part of the IoF2020 project (Internet of Food & Farm 2020, 2017-2021, EU H2020 programme) IoT devices were tested and demonstrated in six use cases for livestock farming for meat production. The results and lessons learned give insights in how IoT devices can technically and practically be used in livestock farming and how companies can create businesses from the technologies. The use cases are part of the meat trial of the IoF2020 project and each developed IoTbased products to solve one or more specific challenges that the livestock sector faces. The products were developed in close collaboration with the end-users, who are mainly livestock farmers and meat processors, who helped to formulate requirements, provided their facilities as a testbed and gave feedback to improve the products. The use cases cover three livestock species: pigs, broilers and beef cattle. Diverse IoT solutions and products were developed, including sensors for health and welfare monitoring, environmental monitoring, location tracking and feed silo monitoring. In addition, business intelligence dashboards, transparency/traceability systems and auditing services were also developed. The use cases had installations in 64 sites (farms, slaughterhouses) in 10 different EU countries. In this chapter, we present the objectives, results, challenges and lessons learned from the use cases. We also discuss the stakeholders involved and the business models that have been developed. Feedback from end-users proved to be crucial for steering the developments in the right direction.

ISBN:978-90-8686-382-2

Publication year:2022

Accessibility:Closed