The project will cover all stages of SR production and build on state-of-the-art animal welfare approaches to develop and validate innovative tools, early warning systems and indicators for efficient identification of welfare issues, which can be included in welfare management models.The overall objective of TechCare is to demonstrate innovative approaches and appropriate business models to monitor animal-based welfare indicators and improve welfare management in small ruminants (SR) systems using precision livestock farming (PLF) technologies along the whole production chain, enabling all stakeholders, from farmers to consumers and regulators to choose animal welfare friendly products. TechCare will tackle the challenge of using innovative and low-cost technologies, adapted to small ruminant systems across the EU.
The specific objectives of the project are:
- To prioritize SR welfare issues along the whole value chain and in a spectrum of systems and conditions.
- To co-design/co-develop innovative approaches to improve animal welfare management by using PLF technologies with stakeholders.
- To identify, prototype and test different innovative PLF technologies for measuring prioritised welfare issues and animal-based indicators.
- To establish integrated data management approaches along the whole value chain with a focus on improved animal welfare management.
- To validate a set of ‘ready-to- use’ PLF technologies under large scale farm conditions in different operational environments, focusing on animal welfare management and improvement.
- To define and propose relevant, innovative and sustainable business models to boost PLF technologies uptake to improve animal welfare.
- To establish progressive communication and dissemination of project’ outputs by different channels and ensure an efficient exploitation of results.
