Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer
    Twitter LinkedIn
    • FREE Email Newsletters
    • About Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Contact Us
    Twitter LinkedIn
    Podcast
    Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer
    • News
      • Arable & Agronomy
      • Dealership News
      • Environmental Land Management Scheme/Policy
      • Event News
      • Health & Safety
      • Machinery
      • People
      • World News
    • Farm Machinery
      • Amenity & Maintenance
      • Cultivations
      • Drilling
      • Grassland Equipment
      • Harvesting
      • Muck & Slurry
      • Sprayers
      • Telehandlers
      • Tractors
      • Tractor of the Year
      • Tyres & Tracks
      • Whatever happened to?
    • Precision Farming
    • Markets & Policy
    • Profiles
      • National Arable and Grassland Awards
      • Company Profiles
      • Reader Profiles
    • Livestock
      • Beef
      • Dairy
      • Sheep
    • Magazines
      1. June 2025 issue
      2. Cereals event guide 2025
      3. May 2025 issue
      4. April 2025 issue
      5. March 2025 issue
      6. 2025 Tyre Developments supplement
      7. February 2025 issue
      8. National Arable and Grassland Awards supplement
      9. January 2025 issue
      10. December 2024 issue
      11. November 2024 issue
      12. October 2024 issue
      13. September 2024 issue
      14. August 2024 Issue
      15. 2024 Drills and Seeds supplement
      16. July 2024 Issue
      17. Cereals Supplement
      18. June 2024 Issue
      19. May 2024 Issue
      20. April 2024 Issue
      21. Tyres and Tracks Supplement
      22. March 2024 Issue
      23. National Arable & Grassland Award – Meet the Finalists
      24. February 2024 Issue
      25. January 2024 Issue
      26. December 2023
      27. Agritechnica Preview Supplement
      28. November 2023
      29. October 2023
      Featured

      Cereals event guide 2025 available now

      By Matthew TiltJune 20, 2025
      Recent

      Cereals event guide 2025 available now

      June 20, 2025

      June 2025 issue available now

      June 2, 2025

      May 2025 issue available now

      May 1, 2025
    • Events
    • Podcast
    Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer
    Livestock

    Smart technologies for sheep and goat farmers

    John SwireBy John SwireFebruary 8, 20223 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
    Smart technologies for sheep and goat farmers
    A domestic goat grazes among rough grass in Speyside, in the Scottish highlands

    A multinational project which aims to improve the uptake of digital technologies in sheep and goat farming will showcase new solutions at an online workshop next week.

    The Technology and Digital Solutions for Sheep Farming event will highlight potential innovative technologies tailored to sheep farmers’ needs on feeding, grazing, reproduction, health and flock management.

    It is being held as part of the Sm@RT (Small Ruminant Technologies) project, funded by the EU Horizon 2020 research programme, which brings together a network of researchers from the UK, France, Ireland, Norway, Estonia, Hungary, Italy and Israel, to improve awareness of newly available digital tools. 

    The first step in the project, led by Scotland’s Rural College in partnership with the Moredun Research Institute, was to carry out a survey to help researchers understand the main challenges faced by farmers and stakeholders, and their need for and interest in Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) tools and digital technologies. 

    This was followed by national workshops in September and October last year, to gather farmers’ needs in terms of tools and methods which could facilitate their farm working conditions.

    More than 100 stakeholders, including farmers, advisers and researchers, then came together at an international conference on 12 October to discuss the needs of farmers in the different countries and share practical knowledge in a peer-to-peer knowledge exchange exercise. 

    Each country and production type had to propose solutions to the farmers’ needs in two other countries, alongside the five main themes of feeding/grazing, health/welfare, reproduction, flock/herd management and fattening and milking. 

    For the UK, the main needs and solutions identified revolved around issues of fencing, measuring grassland, early identification of unhealthy animals, identifying animals at a distance or automatically, and drafting lambs ready for slaughter. 

    SRUC’s Dr Claire Morgan-Davies, Project Coordinator for Sm@RT, said: “This bottom-up approach was well received by participants, and it was pleasing to see many innovative and PLF solutions being proposed by farmers for farmers. 

    “The next step in the project will be to formalise the solutions to the identified needs and propose guidelines and farmers’ testimonies on how to implement them on farms.” 

    Dr Fiona Kenyon, from the Moredun Research Institute, said: “This project uses a variety of methods to facilitate productive knowledge exchange, and practical information from the ‘digifarms’ and commercial farmers involved in the project will be helpful to farmers throughout the UK and Europe.”

    The next national workshop in the UK will be held online on Thursday 10 February from 6.30-8.30pm.

    For more information, please contact Ann McLaren at: ann.mclaren@sruc.ac.uk or Daniel Stout at: daniel.stout@sac.co.uk, or register on Eventbrite at: https://bit.ly/32O5VTn.

     

    Tweet
    Share
    Share
    Pin
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
    Previous ArticleMaximising spring barley potential
    Next Article First Milk confirms April milk price to increase by 1ppl
    John Swire

    Read Similar Stories

    Funded vet visits to help farmers tackle endemic diseases

    June 26, 2025

    Spread-a-Bale launches new high performance spreader

    June 23, 2025

    Red Tractor opens consultation for tiered pig standards

    April 30, 2025
    Most Read Stories

    Calls for government to include food redistribution into SFI

    July 2, 2025

    Kramp launches own-brand PTOs

    July 1, 2025

    Turney Group to take on Merlo brand with new dedicated depot

    July 1, 2025
    Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer

    The UK's leading agricultural machinery journal

    Twitter LinkedIn
    © 2024 MA Agriculture Ltd, a Mark Allen Group company

    Privacy Policy | Cookies Policy | Terms & Conditions

    • Farmers Weekly
    • AA Farmer
    • Poultry News
    • Pig World

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.