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The Skylark foundation in the Netherlands brings together 400 arable farmers and 60 knowledge and supply chain partners and covers almost 9% of the country’s arable land. The participants share knowledge based on 10 sustainability indicators (soil fertility, nutrients, local economy…). The farmers can use this knowledge to improve their farm management. Find out more.
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“Benchmarking helps me to identify our strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes they’re not where you think they are.” Adrian Joynt – UK farmer who uses the benchmarking tool Farmbench which collects farming data from across the country. Farmers can make informed decisions on potential changes to their farm management practices which can eventually help them to manage risks. Read on.
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Find out more about Farmbench in this video
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The call for the next three EIP-AGRI Focus Groups will be launched by the end of the month. Watch this space!
- Moving carbon from source to sink in arable farming
- Circular horticulture
- Enhancing production and use of renewable energy on the farm
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With a fast growing number of Operational Groups up and running, the seminar ‘Moving EIP-AGRI implementation forward’, held in Athens on 10-11 May, focused on further improving EIP-AGRI implementation. Participants shared experiences, identifying approaches and tools that are useful for Managing Authorities and Paying Agencies to support Operational Groups through rural development programmes. Download the presentations and seminar documents.
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Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) can help both agricultural businesses and ICT companies to become more competitive, connecting users across the value chain. This EIP-AGRI seminar on DIH took place on 1-2 June 2017, in Kilkenny (Ireland). Through interactive sessions, participants identified the priority actions to further develop DIHs in agriculture. Download the presentations and documents.
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The AIS 2017, which will take place in October in Lisbon, will gather over 500 farmers, local action groups (LAGs), rural businesses, start-ups, RDP managing authorities, NRNs, researchers, advisers and NGOs. It aims at promoting cross fertilisation between multi-actor innovation initiatives, raising awareness about innovation and digitisation opportunities for agriculture and providing input for EU innovation policies for agriculture and rural areas after 2020. Find out more.
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Are you a farmer, researcher or a company that has developed an innovative solution for one of the following needs of the organic sector: improving soil quality in organic arable farming, appropriate and robust livestock systems, innovation for sustainable diets? Apply for the 2017 TP Organics’ Call for Innovations before 31 July. Winners will present their solutions at the Organic Innovation Days.
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The IoF2020 project accelerates the uptake of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in the European farming and food chains to strengthen competitiveness and sustainability. The project will foster an ecosystem of farmers, food industry, technology providers and research institutes. Check out their website, a unique hub where with information about news and events from the domain of IoT and agri-food.
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Smart-AKIS promotes smart farming technologies “which make farming easier, more interesting, and more environmentally friendly” (www.smart-akis.com). Their free Smart Farming Platform provides tools for disseminating and facilitating the use of Smart Farming technologies. It is open to farmers, advisory services, agriculture consultants, and farming equipment providers, setting up an open community. Register on the platform.
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Almost €260 million in funding is available through the LIFE 2017 calls in the fields of waste management, circular economy, resource efficiency, climate change mitigation and water. The call targets “close-to-market projects” which propose a new solution to environment and climate challenges and have a level of technical and business readiness. Deadlines are in September.
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Do you have a service, product, or business idea that uses satellite navigation in agriculture or forestry? Then sign up for the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC). If you have solutions which rely on Earth observation data, then sign up for the Copernicus Masters. Both of these competitions provide cash prizes, business support and networking opportunities. Find out more.
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Did you know that all previous versions of this newsletter can be found on our website, and that they also have been translated into Romanian, Hungarian and Estonian?
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Helena McMahon
