=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2030/HAICTA_2017_paper77
|storemode=property
|title=Happy Goats - A Decision Support Web App for Sustainable Small Ruminant Farming
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2030/HAICTA_2017_paper77.pdf
|volume=Vol-2030
|authors=Sotiria Vouraki,Yannis Skourtis,Dinos Psichos,Gus Rose,Georgios Arsenos
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/haicta/VourakiSPRA17
}}
==Happy Goats - A Decision Support Web App for Sustainable Small Ruminant Farming==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2030/HAICTA_2017_paper77.pdf
Happy Goats – A Decision Support Web App for
Sustainable Small Ruminant Farming
Sotiria Vouraki1, Yannis Skourtis2, Dinos Psichos2, Gus Rose1, Georgios Arsenos1
1
Laboraratoty of Animal Husbandry, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health
Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, e-mail: svouraki@vet.auth.gr
2
Integrated Information Technology and Digital Communication
Abstract. The European sheep and goat sector is characterized by low incomes
and increased production costs. There is no established farm management
methodology; farmers rely on public subsidies to remain financially
sustainable. Moreover, there is an extremely low level of innovation and
adaptation of technology. This paper proposes Happy Goats, a model-driven
decision support software which helps farmers make annual management
planning decisions by running different what-if scenarios for the future. Happy
Goats takes into account all important farm aspects (flock size, production,
feeding, grazing, prices and cost factors) and produces profit-centric reports
with simple and easy-to-understand charts and projections. Farmers are able to
visualize the impact of their choices and plan for an optimized production. The
app also provides a standalone daily feed calculator for optimal, customized
daily feeding.
Keywords: sheep, goats, web app, sustainability, decision support
1 Introduction
1.1 Current state of the European sheep and goat sector
The European sheep and goat sector faces great challenges, which must be properly
addressed to avoid further marginalization of the sector in the European agrifood
economy (Bernués et al., 2011, Dubeuf & Sayadi, 2014). One of the most pressing
issues is the fact that incomes for sheep and goat farmers are among the lowest in the
agricultural industry and depend heavily on public support (De Rancourt et al., 2006,
Dýrmundsson et al., 2006). Moreover, production costs are continuously increasing;
primarily for feedstuffs; secondarily for fuel, labor and animal health (Massot-Marti,
2008). At the same time the sector is characterized by a low level of innovation and
adoption of smart technologies (Massot-Marti, 2008).
The notion is that the majority of sheep and goat farmers do not follow an
established methodology regarding the management of their enterprises. The latter
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frequently leads to farms, which operate inefficiently and with reduced productivity
and profitability. Sustainability assessments at a Global, Mediterranean and Northern
European level have clearly shown that such farms rely on public subsidies to remain
economically sustainable (Dýrmundsson et al., 2006). These subsidies, provided by
the European Common Agricultural Policy, have decreased both production in
economically less viable areas and the competitiveness of the sector as a whole (ANT
International, 2011). A considerable number of sheep and goat farms, taking
advantage of previous per-head sheep and goat subsidy schemes, have been modeled
to aggressively maximize flock size without accounting for the negative
consequences in business and ecological sustainability (overgrazing, land erosion,
financial inability to sustain the flock on purchased feedstuffs etc.). However, such
schemes have already been phased out and replaced by grants paid to farmers who
own land rights. The above operational model, although viable in the past, cannot
guarantee any more the survival of the sheep and goat sector. Moreover, farmers are
not ready for future challenges such as the adjustments needed for removal of
Common Agricultural Policy payments (Johnson, 2004). The prevailing view is that
only farms which take up innovative solutions to modernize and rationalize their
modus operandi with an emphasis on flock size, management of feeding and grazing
residues are likely to successfully face these hardships and remain in business
(Bernués et al., 2011).
1.2 The current state of art in sheep and goat farm management solutions
In some countries and regions, technology and innovations are widespread in sheep
and goat farming. However, in general, the European sheep and goat sector is
characterized by a low level of innovation. Precision feeding, novel feedstuffs
(Molina-Alcaide & Yáñez-Ruiz, 2008), genetic characterisation of local breeds,
parasites control and farm management (electronic identification; Caja et al., 2014)
are potential innovations which however, have not been tested extensively on sheep
and goats (Dubeuf, 2014).
In terms of farm management, there is notable shortage of suitable tools that
would facilitate sheep and goat farmers to make management planning decisions
based on the analysis of relevant data and information and to apply well proven
methods for production optimization and profits maximization. Such tools include
RISE (Hani et al., 2003), Cool Farm tool (CFT, 2015), MOTIFS (Meul et al., 2008)
and PG tool (Gerrard et al., 2012) as well as a number of Australian tools (THE
FARM TABLE).
Most of the existing sheep and goat solutions are operating offline (the farmer has
to purchase the software once and install it on-farm) and can be characterized as
either:
• Complicated/time-consuming: These herd management solutions offer historical
per-animal records for health, performance and breeding and produce the
relevant reports. Note that regular data entry into such systems takes several
hours and is discouraging for the farmer.
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• Specialized/isolated: Many smaller stand-alone solutions have been developed to
address specific needs such as feed formulation, GPS-enabled animal tracking
and stand-alone financial and accounting suites.
However, none of the existing solutions offer tangible decision support
capabilities. They do not focus on planning advice for profitability in terms of
revenues and expenses, while their archaic user interfaces and the financial and time
investment required by the farmer has kept adoption rates extremely low.
2 Objectives
Taking into consideration the issues above, our team has designed and developed
Happy Goats (Figure 1), an innovative solution that tackles specific barriers
hindering the evolution of the sheep and goat sector. Happy Goats is a model-driven
decision support web app for sustainable small ruminant farming. It drives impacts
in 3 distinctive dimensions:
• facilitate sheep and goat farmers of all types and sizes to make annual
management planning decisions by running various what-if scenarios: With
Happy Goats, farmers create future scenarios which take into account flock size,
production, feeding, grazing, labour, costs and income based on required and
optional (default values provided) information about their farm. In return, the
model estimates critical information such as energy and protein calculations,
predicted milk production, the effect of different feed practices, subsidies and
profitability. All of the above are illustrated with simple easy-to-understand
charts and projections, which help farmers visualize the impact of their choices
and plan for an optimized production.
• support the optimization of milk and meat production in sheep and goat farms:
Happy Goats offers simple human-readable advice based on energy and protein
balance, yearly animal weight change, milk production change and other
parameters. This way it helps farmers towards optimal production and higher
profitability while also eliminating dependence on public subsidies.
• provide added value to the offerings of consultants who support sheep and goat
farmers: As farmers are not so keen on adopting new technologies, Happy Goats
addresses additional actors of the sheep and goat value chain, mainly
veterinarians, Zootechnics professionals/consultants and co-operatives. These
groups can benefit by offering their clients a new and innovative product, which
can improve the quality of their services and create long-term relationships
between farmers and consultants.
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Fig. 1. Happy Goats website
3 Software development
Data from the database of the Laboratory of Animal Husbandry were used to set
default values and acceptable ranges for those parameters that characterize a farm
(flock size, milk yield, ration, grazing, product prices, costs, etc.). An algorithm was
developed based on energy and protein requirements of different categories of sheep
and goats, according to their production stage, in order to assess nutritional
management and its impact on farm economics. Default values for forage and
concentrate feeds as well as the equations for calculating nutrient requirements of
animals were obtained from existing literature (Alderman & Cottrill, 1993, CSIRO,
2007, McDonald et al., 2010). Based on the above, a web-based application was
developed allowing users to enter data into designated web forms. Data input is
checked for correctness and then compared with theoretical minimum and maximum
limits per category. The data of each farm is centrally collected and stored securely
on the cloud. Thereafter, the latter data are processed with a model algorithm, which
provides results that serve as a guide to management decisions.
4 Software features, impacts and benefits
1: Profit-centric reporting –factors which affect profitability: Happy Goats requires
the user to enter information regarding all important farm aspects such as flock size,
milk production, processing, feeding, grazing, work hours, land size, prices and
detailed cost factors (Figure 2) and with the use of an energy and protein based
algorithm it provides results shown in Euros. In particular, the app estimates the total
farm income, costs and profit as well as profit per ewe in relation to production
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estimates such as milk change and weight change of lactating ewes (Figure 3). It also
provides charts of various income and cost components as well as feed costs and
variable costs per animal category (Figure 4). Therefore, farmers may now
understand their cost structures in depth, identify which factors affect profitability
and be incentivized to utilize additional sources of income. Moreover, it generates
simple to understand projections such as flock size vs profit and concentrate fed to
lactating ewes vs profit (Figure 5). These projections help farmers understand the
dynamics of their farm with a special emphasis on optimal flock size and feeding
practice. Taking into consideration all the above, farmers benefit through tighter
control over revenues and expenses, ability to plan for increased profitability with
similar or lower costs and elimination of dependence on public subsidies.
Fig. 2. Create / edit scenario form. Here, the farmers are asked to enter all of their farm data in
terms of production goals, feeding and grazing, incomes, costs and prices, using an easy and
intuitive web interface.
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Fig. 3. Overview of a farm: Basic farm data: income, costs and profit per animal. Farm
scenarios calculated projected values such as milk production change and weight change of
lactating animals, based on their energy and protein balance.
Fig. 4. Section of the report page; Graphical representation of farm income & costs and costs
per animal.
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Fig. 5. Projections of flock size vs profit and
concentrate fed to lactating ewes vs profit.
2: What-if scenarios: The app provides an action plan by simulating different what-if
scenarios for the future. The users can freely experiment with all important factors
which affect profitability and create/compare many different scenarios until they are
satisfied. Moreover, they are provided with human readable advice which helps them
towards testing more viable solutions. Through this process, farmers are able to make
management planning decisions which will eliminate farm inefficiencies and
optimize production.
3: Daily feed calculator: Happy Goats provides a standalone feed calculator (Figure
6) which can be used by consultants to develop daily feed rations for all animals
(ewes/goats, rams/bucks and lambs/kids). The user inputs information regarding
animal weight, milk production goal and week of pregnancy (for females) and daily
weight gain (for young animals). Based on the above the model calculates energy and
protein requirements. Then, the users experiment with amounts to be fed from a
range of forages and concentrate feedstuffs, taking into account both their nutritional
values and their current costs, in order to develop an optimized and customized daily
feed ratio. Hence, Happy Goats daily feed calculator can help farmers optimize
animal feeding while minimizing feeding costs.
Fig. 6. Standalone feed calculator with results.
5 Development and progress
Happy Goats was developed within EU’s FI-PPP program (SmartAgriFood2
accelerator). In 2015 the development of the original prototype app was completed. It
went through a process of competitive selection and based on its solid functionality
and business pitch made it to the final phase of the EU business accelerator project.
In 2016 Happy Goats underwent several field trials in Greece and Austria and is now
in the go-to-market phase.
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6 Conclusions
Happy Goats is a decision support web application, which introduces for the first
time the concepts of profitability versus flock size optimization and efficient
management for small ruminant farms in Europe. With this concept, the app goes
beyond the few existing competitive products, which focus on finances or animal
breeding, without adopting any comprehensive methodology to come up against the
troubles that have been afflicting the sector. With Happy Goats, farmers will be able
to estimate both financial figures such as income and costs and production related
figures such as required feed for their goals of milk and meat production. Thereby,
farmers will be able to better respond to the sector’s challenges. Furthermore, Happy
Goats can benefit additional actors of the sheep and goats farming value chain by
diversifying and deepening their services offering.
Acknowledgments. In its current evolution, Happy Goats is a collaboration between
the Laboratory of Animal Husbandry, School of Veterinary Medicine of the Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki and Integrated ITDC, a software company. Happy Goats
is based on SSRF-DSS, an EU-funded project through the SmartAgriFood2
accelerator with the collaboration of ZALF (Muncheberg, DE) and the Institute of
Social Ecology (Vienna, AT).
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