Kingshay was recently named as the successful UK applicant of the public procurement competition for participation as a 'User Case' (UC) in the FAIRshare Project, of which IfA is a key partner.
Confused? Fear not! We asked Simon Withers, Business Development Manager at Kingshay to provide us with more detail on what their UC will include...
"DigiFarm is our latest Digital Advisory Tool. The vision is to lead the way in data driven, evidenced based approaches to develop great people, knowledge, and skills to facilitate real improvements in animal health & welfare, sustainability & farm productivity. Vets are trusted advisors on farm and an impartial advisor on all aspects of farm management.
Due to the complexity of livestock farming there’s a whole range of data from a range of monitoring and recording systems, from different companies that limits vets to advise on just the data they produce. By harnessing multiple data sources and analysing this data in one place it provides the most trusted advisor on farm with the tools to really make a difference.
The FAIRshare User Case will focus on developing the vet farmer relationship to realise the potential that existing Digital Advisory Tools (DATS) have to really change farmers behaviour. Through initial training and ongoing support across a 6-month period the vision is to demonstrate the benefits of data utilisation and improved veterinary engagement on farm. Training materials will be developed to increase farmer engagement with DATS and the opportunities they offer.
The user case will include dairy, beef, sheep and poultry enterprises from across the UK. Currently dairy is arguably the sector with the greatest number of DATS being utilised, so Kingshay will use the knowledge that we have in this industry with engaging with vets and farmers; to translate this successfully across to the other livestock sectors.
The user case will provide evidence of how vets can significantly increase their engagement with DATS on-farm, to drive more evidence-based decisions, leading to improved proactive animal health care and facilitate a greater engagement with farmers to find solutions to even the most challenging problems."
