Ireland’s Teagasc spearheads new European beef network for sustainable livestock

29 Jan 2020 --- A new trans-European beef network, called BovINE, aimed at addressing the sector’s sustainability challenges has been launched by Ireland’s Agriculture and Food Development Authority, Teagasc, in conjunction with EU research and farming partners. Teagasc was granted €2 million (US$2.2 million) by the EU to develop this project, which will be shared with 17 EU partners. FoodIngredientsFirst speaks to Maeve Henchion, Head of Department of Agrifood Business and Spatial Analysis of Teagasc, to discuss the knowledge exchange between scientific and farming communities at an international level.

“The beef industry is facing many sustainability challenges which encompass economic, social and environmental sustainability. The solution to these challenges often rests with farmers themselves, or with research that has already been done. The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), for example, reports that greenhouse gas emissions from the sector can be significantly reduced through the “wider use of existing best practices and technologies,” says Henchion.

The newly launched BovINE network project operates with the aim of identifying existing practices and technologies that can address many of today’s challenges, and present them in the BovINE knowledge hub as a central repository for beef farmers, associations, advisors, veterinarians and other interested parties.

The BovINE knowledge hub as a central repository for beef farmers, associations, advisors, veterinarians and other interested parties.“BovINE takes a bottom up approach to identifying farmers’ needs. Each year we will ask farmers to identify their most urgent needs and we will respond to these needs in two ways,” explains Henchion. “Firstly, drawing on the international network of our 17 partners – which includes farmer associations, breeder associations, agricultural advisory organizations and applied research institutions – we will look to identify and share examples of solutions used by other farmers across the EU-wide network.”

“Second, drawing on the same network, we will identify solutions from research results that have not yet been put into widespread practice. Any proposed solutions that have not yet been applied in practice will be subject to scrutiny in a demonstration farm context, before being promoted for widespread adoption,” she adds.

BovINE will link researchers, advisors, farmers and other relevant stakeholders across nine EU member states to stimulate the exchange of knowledge and ideas at an international level under the headings: socio-economic resilience, animal health and welfare, production efficiency and meat quality and environmental sustainability.

The BovINE project will cover 75 percent of the suckler cow population in Europe and 70 percent of beef output. Focused on responding to farmer-identified needs, the project aims to provide beef farmers with access to information about innovations that could improve the sustainability of their farms and the wider industry.

Consumers increasingly expect companies to invest in sustainability, with “The Sustain Domain” coming in as Innova Market Insight’s third Top Trend for 2020. The market researcher has indicated that 85 percent of, on average, US and UK consumers expect companies to invest in sustainability in 2019, up from 64 percent in 2018. 

Bridging scientific and farming communities
When asked about the improvement of knowledge sharing between scientific and farming communities across the EU, Henchion comments, “Yes, it has definitely improved. This has arisen partly as a result of the development of new research instruments by the European Commission (EC). They have recently funded what they call ‘thematic networks.’ These networks aim to collect existing knowledge from research and practice and turn this into useful and easily understandable material for use by farmers, foresters, advisers and others.”

“The approach taken to collating this knowledge recognizes that ‘expert’ knowledge needs to be combined with ‘practitioner’ knowledge to create effective solutions. It is only through combining the knowledge from both the scientific and farming communities that we can really apply scientific knowledge to addressing farmers’ needs,” she adds.

New research instruments by the EC are bridging the gap between scientific and farming communities.Speaking on the topic of how technology/data sharing has helped improve the livestock industry in recent years, Henchion highlights, “We have a great example in Ireland that arises from having data about the genetics of the bull which sired the calf right through to the meat yield of the adult animal at slaughter.”

“These data sets are captured and used to improve the genetic status of Irish livestock as a result of an organization called the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), which is largely funded by a farmer-levy. The cattle breeding database which ICBF maintains helps farmers to make decisions on selecting bulls for breeding (through artificial insemination) and helps to guide national strategies for genetic improvement,” she details.

Overseeing 18 partners across nine member states, Henchion underscores BovINE network’s eclectic knowledge pool spanning across broader European food supply chains. “We will be able to consider production systems ranging from extensive pasture-based systems to intensive feedlots, from Estonia to Ireland. Having the shared goal of seeking to address the needs of the 255,000 beef farmers who produce approximately 7.6 million tons of beef per annum from a herd of 88 million cows will help to keep us all focused,” she concludes.

By Benjamin Ferrer