Big data and Agri-food Simon Davis – Head of Partnerships 4th November, 2017 Talk about a dimension of precision agriculture Big data and relationship with agri-food sector

A few thoughts…. Measuring performance Data and technology Agrimetrics role Cover measuring performance and associated challenges Role of data and technology Our role as an organisation in bringing both together Sneek in lots of different animals to attempt to keep everyone happy!

A very brief background to Agrimetrics…. Agri-tech strategy launched in 2013 - £90 million of Government funding for Centres for Agricultural Innovation Apply innovation in Tech into the Agri-food sector The Big Data Centre of Excellence – a tech start up with UK Gov investment

Performance – why measure it in animal production? Drive efficiency (e.g. Feed Conversion) Continuous improvement (e.g. Public health) Understand & mitigate risks (e.g. Disease) Provides confidence (e.g. Consumer) Maximise potential (e.g. Profitability) Why performance? So many benefits to the agri-food system Efficiency – Become more productive Mitigate risks – Ensure we are producing sustainably both now and in the future Confidence - Meet others expectations that we are doing the best we can to protect them Potential – Become more profitable

But many performance variables are interconnected Economics: Consumer prices Investments Jobs Societal: Urbanisation Nutrition & welfare Living standards Chronic disease Pop. growth Environment: Climate change Land use Air/water quality Geopolitical: Trade agreements Legislation BREXIT! WEF global risk report that links the economic, societal, environmental and geopolitical variables with current global macro trends Apply to livestock E.g. Growing middle class in China, increased consumption as sign of wealth, and impact on meat production, land use, GHG emissions, trade agreements all around the world

Evidence exists in silos across the industry International Org’s e.g. Disease, Production, Consumption, pricing, trade…. Consumers e.g. shopping habits, preferences, feedback…. Farm e.g. Farm management, herd health, calving rates, production, feed intake…. Food industry e.g. GHG surveys, animal welfare audits, product quality, complaints, sales, volumes, waste…. Ag service e.g. Vet records, Assurance schemes, Scientific lab’s, GHG surveys…. UK Gov. e.g. Farm/Abattoir inspections, imports/exports, movement surveys, public health records, vet records…. Public and private sector Different forms In isolation Tackling the same challenges! Scientific community e.g. genetics, phenotypes, disease risk, environmental quality, land use….

There is more evidence on the way…. EID’s Traceability Animal history e.g. weight, breed, disease Rumen bolus Movement Lying/standing pH/temp/digestion Collars GPS/Movement Disease risk/mapping Grazing Cameras Health & welfare Body condition/fat levels EID = Electronic Identification Device Collars – predicts oestrus in cattle by monitoring step count data Cameras – infrared as detection of heat, inflammation and injury

Captured in real time ….More data ….More insights ….More often ….More specific ….More consistent One piece of kit can generate 100,000’s-1,000,000’s of data points per animal per year!

More joined up thinking on performance is required…. From this… To this… To inform this… Better inform targets been set Reshape targets

Agrimetrics technology can support this Integration of these diverse forms of performance related agri-food data Making the data more accessible for the industry as a whole Transforming the way we generate insights Transforming = in real time, for individual animals, using machines to predict future risk and develop EWS Machine learning example = predictive shopping list, predict disease outbreaks Accelerating innovation and growth for businesses and UK plc

What makes us different? Independent – facilitating data exchange Data science, scientific and industrial expertise Market leading technology Independent operating across the entire agri-food system Not about having the data in one place!

Delivered through our data market Supply Infrastructure Vet records Data Welfare benchmarking tool Improved public health Buy Agrimetrics platform Movement Climate change/disease risk model UK AMR strategic policy Abattoir inspection Partner Can still for now treat performance in isolation but built on an interconnected evidence base Weather API

Our approach – Defra Nat Cap tool

Defra’s challenge on performance As a Defra Group Adviser I want to provide robust, national data on the environment, set in a local context so key stakeholders can agree where to enhance Ecosystem Services, by investing in Natural Capital https://app-beta.agrimetrics.co.uk/dashboard/#/defra

Agrimetrics Defra Natural Capital Tool

Comparing ecosystem services across different parishes Could we reconnect the livestock system in a similar way?

The Tech bit - Usual design No context between pages/data No flow – can reach a dead end

Agrimetrics approach Data integration layer converts multiple datasets to one Allowing comparisons of data User focused RDF

Others can innovate and new data can be added

A recap…. Measuring ‘Animals for food’ performance….is challenging as there are many interconnected variables, addressed in silos Data and technology….there are new ways of collecting, integrating and analysing data Agrimetrics role…. Integrating data across the sector Making data more accessible Enabling you to improve your own performance through better decisions, products and services

To finish….