An app and digital tool to allow farmers to analyse housed environments for their cattle has been awarded a grant from the Digital Dairy Chain.
As one of the winners of the 2024 Collaborative Research and Development Grant Competition, the A-SHED project focuses on addressing heat stress in dairy cattle based in south-west Scotland and Cumbria due to rising temperatures in the UK.
In partnership with Galebreaker, Cambridge Animal Technologies and SRUC, the project aims to develop two key tools. These tools include a real-time app that assesses heat stress risk for dairy herds using live temperature-humidity data, and a digital tool to improve or modify farm buildings for better heat resilience. The project will also gather data on farmer perceptions, monitor dairy shed conditions, and assess the impact of heat stress on cattle.
A-SHED is one of five projects being awarded by the SRUC led, UK Innovation and Research fund project Digital Dairy Chain. This round of winners sees £1m being awarded across five worthy projects in South-West Scotland and Cumbria.
The collaborative and business-led projects have each received grants of between £150,000 to £250,000 which will be invested in work taking place across Digital Dairy Chain’s geographical reach. Projects had to show a realistic potential to support business growth, scale-up and create jobs for the sector within the region.
Programme director of Digital Dairy Chain, Stuart Martin said: “The calibre of applications we received for the final round of the R and D competition funding was once again exceptionally high. The winning applications faced stiff competition and are all very deserving of the funding.
“These are groundbreaking ideas across several innovative subject matters, which will have significant implications for dairy productivity and sustainable production on a national level.”
Other winning initiatives included a project from University of the West of Scotland’s Albasense. The organisation is developing a fast-response device to monitor carbon dioxide in breath for early diagnosis of bovine respiratory disease, an issue which is currently costing the dairy industry £60-£80m annually. It is believed that through early diagnosis there will be time for intervention, reduced antibiotic use and will likely improve animal welfare which in turn will boost milk yields by 8%.
Robert MacIntosh, pro-vice chancellor of Research and Innovation at University of the West of Scotland said: “We are delighted that Albasense has received funding from Digital Dairy Chain. The funding will be used to address both the economic and the animal welfare challenges facing the dairy industry.
“The University of the West of Scotland has a proud tradition of producing research that makes a demonstrable impact. This project is another great example of excellent, relevant, and purposeful research, aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It really showcases our commitment to sustainability, transforming our world and improving lives.”
Other projects awarded funding included a Digital Manure Management initiative through Culquha Farm. This project integrates sensor technology to enhance manure management with environmental benefits such as reduced pollution, improved soil health, increased crop yields and social benefits through empowering farmers with technology.
Another was DairyPeat, a project from Grouse Fibres and SRUC focused on biorefining waste milk from the UK dairy industry to create a casein-based fibrous growth medium for horticulture. DairyPeat’s aim is to generate a sustainable alternative to traditional fertilisers and peat
The last initiative awarded funding was the Decarbonised Digital Dairy project. Led by Soltropy, this project aims to reduce carbon emissions and costs by providing decarbonised heat for dairy farms. By integrating four innovative technologies: solar thermal heating, a solid-state heat pump, a steam heat pump and a cutting-edge sensor system to be implemented at Appleby Creamery in Cumbria. The Digital Dairy Chain is a UK Research and Innovation funded project, with a budget of £21m to transform the dairy sector and uplift the rural economy, via grant funding and sustainable solutions.
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