Digital and Data Technologies for Livestock Tracking

In line with the farm to fork strategy, the headline ambition of a Digital Age – the EU data strategy strategy^[1] in particular - and the common agricultural policy (CAP), a successful proposal will support capacities to understand, develop and demonstrate the potential of digital and data technologies for livestock tracking in the public and private domains. It is therefore expected to indirectly support the enhancement of the sustainability performance and competitiveness in agriculture, the development of innovative governance models, and strengthened capacities for implementing, monitoring and evaluating common policies through research and innovation and through interlinking actors and relevant initiatives.

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Strengthened sustainable livestock production through increased capabilities for the generation of livestock related data sets (including in the field on animal health and disease prevention);
• Strengthened the resilience and transparency of supply chains through the use of digital technologies;
• Enhanced capacities in policy monitoring and evaluation in the field of agriculture, environment, climate, and sustainable finance.

Data and digital technologies are currently used for many purposes in and for livestock farming, both in the public and private domains. Livestock and its attributes are tracked for instance in the context of implementing the CAP, for disease prevention and mitigation, as well as to facilitate production and the management of supply chains. Sensors, for instance, allow for collecting multiple information, e.g. on health conditions or medical treatments of livestock, location and environmental conditions. They may facilitate, e.g. more tailored and precise treatment of animals and to reduce inputs, of e.g. antibiotics, and costs. Livestock tracking may also e.g. support climate mitigation by assessing livestock density against land carrying capacity and reduce soil disturbance and compaction. It may also facilitate the provision of information to consumers on the products offered and enhance transparency along the supply chain and offer a means to against legal commitments of livestock densities, e.g. in the context of CAP strategic plans.

Frequently (public) registers are not interlinked and approaches towards data collection on livestock across Member States vary. Private sector efforts in livestock tracking are frequently not systemised and not scaled up. The potential for synergies between public and private sector initiatives in livestock tracking appears not to be fully explored and exploited.

Proposals should address the following:

• Elaborate on the potential for the generation of data sets through the development and applications of digital solutions to track livestock.
• Elaborate the opportunities of linking tracking efforts to sensor information providing information on animal health (and welfare) using the potential of innovative technologies;^[2]
• Develop concepts for data-based solutions for the private and public sector to track livestock and its conditions (including geospatial information) under consideration of multiple possible application cases, such as administrative purposes and legal commitments, labelling, predator and pest prevention; this activity should include an assessment of possible socio-economic and environmental effects, including the potential for reducing administrative costs and for policy monitoring, which could be achieved through the use of the data sets.
• Highlight the potential of and elaborate concepts for upscaling of data-based digital solutions for livestock tracking to EU (and international) level.
• Bring together key stakeholders from the public and private domain to explore – among others - opportunities to implement identified data-based and digital solutions, as well as to share data.

Proposals should consider existing and forthcoming data bases/ registers related to livestock as well as (forthcoming) sector-specific and horizontal legal requirements in the EU, including in the field of digital and data technologies. Proposals are expected to take stock of livestock tracking initiatives in the private domain, including in third countries and to draw lessons learnt, as well as of digital tracking technologies used in other sectors/ domains. Proposals are encouraged to explore interlinks with other innovative technologies, such as genomics, and application cases, such as recording breeding traits. Proposals are encouraged to reflect on the aspect of affordability of digital technologies as well as on the potential effects of livestock tracking for producers, food processors, and consumers. Proposals are encouraged to involve representatives of the public administration from all EU Member States and of relevant EU institutions,^[3] as well as to link up to/ exchange with relevant EU funded projects, including projects funded under Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe Programme.

In this topic, the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not a mandatory requirement.

[1] COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE

COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS - A European strategy for data (see: EUR-Lex - 52020DC0066 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu)).

[2] A successful proposal may take advantage of the opportunity to integrate new phenotypes issued from tracking and sensors in certain breeding programmes.

[3] Here, the involvement of representatives of all EU Member States and relevant EU institutions does not refer to the formation of the consortium but to the involvement of those actors in the work of the project. The European Commission can support a selected proposal in establishing contact to relevant EU institutions.