DIGIFARM
Development of digital technical and economic efficiency indicators to improve performance of dairy farms
Scheda del progetto
Società Agricola Le Colombaie Srl
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Piacenza-Cremona
DIGIFARM aims to improve the technical-economic efficiency of livestock farms, from field to stable, and enhance economic and environmental sustainability through digital solutions to make the dairy supply chain more resilient. The primary objective of the project is to develop and utilise advanced monitoring systems for land, crops, livestock, and biogas, thereby providing farmers with guidance on future managerial choices to maximise production performance, even in the context of seasonal climate change and fluctuations in milk prices and various raw materials.
Contacts:
Andrea Zaniboni
pcolombaiesrl@colombaie.info
The production of milk and the economic yield of a dairy farm are influenced by factors related to both the animals and their management. In a dairy cattle operation, for example, overall feeding costs can account for up to 60%. The challenge, therefore, is to define an appropriate nutritional strategy capable of maximising the efficiency of food conversion into milk, allowing for an increase in both the quality and quantity of production.
DigiFarm aims to synthesise the various factors of interest at the farm level, which are numerous and sometimes disconnected from one another, by employing easy-to-understand multivariate synthetic indices that can be managed by professionals. This will facilitate "simplified" benchmarking analyses and enable appropriate monitoring of the efficiencies and effectiveness of production factors. The innovation proposed in DigiFarm will initially focus on the regions of Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, and Piedmont, and will then be extended to the entire national territory with appropriate adjustments to the indices, modified for use in different national production contexts, whether smaller or more extensive.
The use of substantial efficiency indices can be crucial for highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of a farm, thereby providing guidance to farmers on future managerial choices. With precise information on the quality of feed and how it is digested by the animals, it will be possible to assess the actual availability of the main nutrients in the diet and optimise it for each individual nutrient. These results will showcase a farm's efficiency from a nutritional perspective and will draw new attention to the factors influencing the productive performance of the herd and the farm's profitability.