Inspirational idea: Using data to manage environmental impact of livestock farming

Online application provides recommendations to farmers in France on overcoming sustainability challenges of livestock and mixed-crop production.

Climate change, water quality, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, these are all important issues for livestock producers. A digital application has been developed in France which uses specific data collected on-farm to provide cattle, goat and sheep farmers recommendations to reduce environmental impact. 

Livestock production systems, particularly ruminants, have been subject to criticism at European and global level due to their environmental footprint. This has led the sector to a search for more environmentally and animal friendly production methods which also allow the improvement of the economic and social aspects of livestock farming. 

At the same time there is an increasing number of digital technologies and data-based solutions available for the farming sector in the EU to enable farmers to work more precisely, efficiently, and sustainably, improving decision-making and farming practices, helping increase farm performance overall.

In France, Idele (Institut d’Elevage) has developed a data-based online application called CAP’2ER®. Thirty sets of activity data are entered into the programme to determine agro-ecological indicators. These data are divided into five categories: livestock, manure management, fields, feed, and energy consumption. Examples of these include: total annual fuel consumption, animal productivity (fertility, growth, marketing age), feed purchased, manure quantities and management, number of trees and thickets, shrubs, hedges, grass strips, stone piles and stone walls, and water bodies on the farm. 

From the analysis, the farmer receives an overview report and recommendations taking into account water and air quality, biodiversity, greenhouse gases, carbon sequestration capacity and the amount of nutrients produced for human consumption. The report visualises these aspects within easily understandable graphics and numbers.

It compares each farm to reference values corresponding to the same production system. Benoît Gavaland, beef farmer in Western France was enthusiastic about using the application: “Environmentally friendly and economically viable animal husbandry techniques go hand in hand, by contributing to environmental protection, we also improve the economics of animal husbandry.” 

Idele maintains and updates the programme, based on current data and feedback from a committee of agricultural organisations. The programme is made available for advisory services in France (who pay a licence fee), and Idele provides training to farmers.  

The application was tested in several European countries during the LIFE Beef Carbon and the LIFE Green Sheep projects. Today it has already carried out 23 000 farm evaluations in France. As an example, at the Pamplie dairy cooperative, 15 farmers have recently carried out the CAP’2ER evaluation for their dairy farms.  

One of the farmers and president of the cooperative, Jean-Pierre Germain said “Farmers and the dairy industry are motivated to use this tool, not only because it helps improving the economic and environmental performance of the farms, but also looking to the future and the potential support for ecosystem services.”  

A European version of the tool is now available, which uses a common methodology connected to national references. The tool is being translated into English. 

The large number of farms involved has highlighted options for using farm data to reduce the impact of farming on the environment. Results have shown that the application helps farms to reduce from 6 to 15% of their greenhouse gas emissions. Recently, the tool has been certified by the French low carbon standard for certifying carbon reductions. Its application on farms rewards farmers for their efforts applying mitigation practices.  

Background information

On 9-10 December 2021, the European Commission and the EIP-AGRI Support Facility organised the online workshop “Farm data for better farm performance”. The workshop was an interactive EU-level event, dedicated to networking amongst participants from innovative projects and relevant initiatives related to farm data.  

The workshop report includes the main outcomes of the discussions and possible knowledge gaps and further needs in terms of research or practical application. 

Project information

Contact: Catherine.brocas@idele.fr 0033 6 48 27 30 59

• cap2er.fr
• LIFE Beef Carbon
• LIFE Green Sheep
• LIFE Beef Carbon final seminar

More information on the Carbon Farming initiative.