Good for cattle

Project: Good for cattle - quality silage by temperature monitoring and antimicrobial peptides in agriculture

Partners: University of Oulu, The Unit of Measurement Technology; Häme University of Applied Sciences, HAMK Bio, Tech and Smart units; Natural Resources Institute Finland, Production Systems

Aims: The aim of the project is to support the production of good quality silage, provide tools for proactive feeding planning and nutritional monitoring as well as maintain udder health of dairy cows.

Activities: The project utilizes rapidly developing sensor technology, digital bookkeeping and data management along with new antimicrobial compounds found from nature. In the project, the quality monitoring of silos and silage stacks during storage is enhanced by monitoring temperature of the storage lots and by developing a 3D temperature model and IoT temperature probes. On the other part of the project, peptides, originally found from bacteria living inside crowberries, are studied as antimicrobial agents in agricultural applications. The efficacy of the peptides in a teat disinfectant is tested and a first version of a product is developed. In addition, during the project an international digibale database is piloted together with international collaborators from Estonia, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands.

Funding: European Rural Development Programme for Mainland Finland 2014-2020, EIP-AGRI operational groups, EIP. Budget 299 000 €, EU funding 42%.