Sm@RT: Main lessons from New Zealand on PLF uptake in Small Ruminants

Sm@RT (Sm@ll Ruminant Technology) is a thematic network, involving 8 countries, with the objective of improving the uptake of digital and precision livestock farming (PLF) technologies by sheep and goat producers, for labour efficiency and farm profitability. In 2023, representatives of the nine partners undertook a fact-finding tour to New Zealand (NZ) to study (1) the use and uptake of innovative PLF approaches; (2) barriers to PLF uptake; and (3) means to facilitate PLF uptake, for the small ruminant sectors. Similar barriers exist in NZ as in EU, namely cost, perceived lack of return on investment, lack of producer interest, additional management input, ease to use, lack of follow-up support, data interoperability and network coverage. A further issue identified in NZ is the absence of compulsory electronic identification (EID) in sheep. Simple tools instead are used at flock level (not at animal level), e.g. weight crate and manual drafting systems to sort lambs according to weight. As in EU, PLF uptake in NZ is higher in the dairy sector (sheep and goat) both for genetic and flock management. For the emerging dairy sheep sector, some companies propose a PLF package that includes digital tools, advice and training for uptake by their suppliers. Findings from the study tour suggest the following steps for PLF uptake: 1. identify issues at farm level, 2. determine if they can be solved without PLF, 3. if not, identify potential relevant PLF tools, 4. purchase and transfer the technology. The use of digital technologies by NZ researchers is important and can inspire EU researchers for digital, landscape management and agroecological studies.