SmartCow: integrating research infrastructures to foster innovation in the European cattle sector

Theatre 1SmartCow is an H2020 Research Infrastructure European project which integrates key European cattle research infrastructures to promote their coordinated use and development, and thereby help the European cattle sector face the challenge of sustainable production. SmartCow has been launched on 1st February. This session shall just introduce the project (which has not achieved any results yet). Covering all the relevant scientific fields and the diversity of cattle types and production systems, SmartCow will provide the academic and private research communities with easy access to 11 major research infrastructures from 7 countries of high quality services and resources. These are needed to develop innovative and ethical solutions for efficient use of animal and feed resources that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote animal welfare and healthy livestock. SmartCow combines strong scientific and technical skills in animal nutrition (in vivo methods for nutrient utilization and emissions measurements), genetics (genotyped animals, phenotyping capabilities), health and welfare (sensors and automatic recordings of physiological and behavioral traits) and ethics in animal experimentation. A central promotion and management of transnational access to the research infrastructures will provide access to around 10,000 cow-weeks and facilitate up to 30 research projects. Networking activities will harmonize and standardize procedures in animal care and measurements, design of experiments, data recording and analysis thanks to a cloud-based data-platform. Joint research activities will produce refined methods and proxies to evaluate feed efficiency and emissions, develop new protocols to reduce the use of animals and produce new methods to exploit sensor data for cattle husbandry. Promotion of transnational access and dissemination of SmartCow outcomes will be supported by a Stakeholder Platform composed of pre- and post-farm gate industry, farmer organizations, NGOs, policy makers at national and EU levels