4D4F – Data Driven Dairy Decisions for Farmers, a Horizon 2020 project led by Innovation for Agriculture (IfA) has been approved by the EU Commission. The project which Collison and Associates authored on behalf of IfA is designed to collate and disseminate best practice in the use of data from sensors in the dairy sector. The project will start in Spring 2016 and is scheduled to run for 3 years. It was awarded nearly 2million euros as one of five Thematic Networks approved by the Commission from 38 bids received in June 2015 as a Communication and Support Action (CSA). The first meeting of 4D4F was held in Brussels on 31st March 2016.
As well as 4D4F, we are pleased to be working with IfA to develop its work on soil management and other areas where they are rapidly developing an excellent reputation for farmer focused innovation support. More details on the work IfA is doing can be found at: http://www.innovationforagriculture.org.uk/
The press release from IfA for 4D4F is as follows:
Innovation for Agriculture has been awarded a Horizon 2020 grant for its project proposal ‘4D4F – Data Driven Dairy Decisions for Farmers’. The project brings together 16 partners from 9 EU countries spread from the Baltics to the Mediterranean and from West to East. The project will investigate the technologies that are available to farmers to collect data on their cows and then how best to utilise it. It will bring together specialists from across Europe to share information. It will have an on-line presence and will conclude with a series of on farm events for farmers.
David Gardner, CEO of Innovation for Agriculture commented: ‘We are delighted to have been successful with this proposal. The ability to successfully collect data and use it to make better decisions will be a vital factor in creating a competitive advantage in the future. “The new sensor technologies that are being developed to collect data on both individual cows and the herd as a whole are really exciting and we expect that this project will help farmers get the best from their investment in these sensors. “This project is a major step forward for us, it is the first that we have been awarded and we are looking forward to working with our European partners.”
If any farmers would like to be involved in the project please contact davidg@innovationforagriculture.org.uk