BovINE (Beef Innovation Network Europe) is planning to host a national meeting online next month for Irish beef farmers.
The network, which is funded from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 rural renaissance programme, is aiming to address the sustainability challenges faced by beef farmers across the EU.
It brings together farmers, farming organisations, advisors, researchers and other stakeholders to develop practical innovations that can be implemented on beef farms immediately.
The BovINE project’s Knowledge Hub, which contains more than 400 posts on research and on-farm practices, has logged 2,000 visits by individual users accessing over 25,000 page views in less than a year.
The online hub for farmers and advisors is organised across the four main themes of animal health and welfare; socioeconomic resilience; production efficiency and meat quality; and environmental sustainability.
“The BovINE Knowledge Hub holds a wealth of knowledge validated through on-farm demonstrations and practice and through research,” Kevin Kinsella, network manager of the BovINE project in Ireland, said.
“With the beef farming sector and community challenged across many fronts here in Ireland, it is essential that the knowledge needed to meet the expectations of regulators, the market and consumers to improve the sustainability of the sector reaches those who need and will use it – the farmers.
“Through our national meeting in Ireland, which will be held online on Tuesday, October 25, organised by the national BovINE team, more Irish beef farmers will be provided with direct links to the knowledge hub, enabling them to access and utilise the information they need.”
The meeting is among nine BovINE national meetings for farmers and their advisers in Belgium; Estonia; France; Germany; Ireland; Italy; Poland; Portugal; and Spain.
The network will also launch a communications campaign across social and the specialist media in all languages.
“Joined-up thinking across EU member states has major potential,” Dr. Richard Lynch, Teagasc BovINE project manager, added.
“As farmers, advisors and researchers, we could achieve so much more working together and sharing knowledge in the EU. BovINE provides an ideal hub to facilitate this.”
Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) National Livestock chair Brendan Golden, who is beef farming in Co. Mayo, recommended that other farmers join the project.
“The BovINE Knowledge Hub is very useful as it enables farmers [to] find answers for the challenges facing the sector.
“The BovINE project is really important for the whole beef sector across Europe as it allow us to share problems and solutions,” Golden added.