Integrating innovative TECHnologies along the value Chain to improve small ruminant welfARE management

Sharing experience between European projects!

– by G. Tesnière (IDELE)

IDELE and CNBL welcomed an Italian delegation in Aveyron as part of a cross visit of the CODECS project and the OccitaNum Living Lab. This was an opportunity for Noémie, Gilles and Germain to welcome Italian colleagues from the University of Pisa and the Pecorino Toscano Consortium, and to show them one of the 10 dairy sheep farms of the French Large-Scale group of TechCare!

 

 

On the program for Thursday July 11, 2024:

  • Presentation of the organic dairy sheep farm and facilities by Nicolas, the farmer: workforce team with 4 people; 1450 adult ewes, 320 replacement female lambs, 42 rams; 2 lambing periods per year; production of 480 000 l.; 250 ha including 170 ha cut & grazed and 60 ha self-consumed cereals; fodder drying system in shed, robot feeding canteen for fodder distribution, as well as for mulching the litter.
  • Presentation of the TechCare project and the technologies installed on the farm: individual milk meters in the roto milking parlour (60 places), weather station, temperature and humidity sensors in the shed, RFID tag reader… Interesting discussions on the use, costs and potential benefits of technologies in the dairy sheep production sector, which concluded with a tasting of PDO Roquefort cheese during a visit to the maturing cellars!

© all pictures IDELE