Smart Systems Approaches for Climate Resilient Livestock Production
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Sch of Biology
Abstract
Resilient, sustainable livestock production is a major gap in the future food system. In the UK, outdoor pig production represents 40% of the breeding herd, but production efficiency and environmental impact are particularly vulnerable to changing climate and extreme weather events. This research will integrate local weather information and precision farming technology to improve our understanding of adaptation options for extreme weather events, with a view to developing a climate-smart, resilient and sustainable production system. Individual animal tracking and monitoring will be used to quantify feeding behaviour, activity levels and non-point source manure loading. Local weather data (temperature, rainfall, wind speed and humidity) collected from the farm's weather station and high resolution short-term precipitation forecasts will be integrated with the behaviour data to develop optimised precision nutrition programs to mitigate environmental emissions for different weather conditions. Weather data and land-atmosphere gas flux monitoring will be used to estimate transport to receiving waters of manure and soil nutrients via the routes of soil infiltration and overland flow and antecedent changes in C and N greenhouse gas fluxes. Process-based modelling of soil C and N dynamics will be used to estimate the effect of manure loading on GHG fluxes in different weather conditions. Weather-informed feeding strategies and stocking practices will be investigated using animal-based and production measures, soil pore water, gas emission and surface drainage chemistry. The research outputs will improve on-farm climate services and technology integration, ensuring future outdoor pig production is sustainable and resilient to climate variability and change.
Planned Impact
The Smart Systems Approaches for Climate Resilient Livestock Production project has the potential to benefit pig farmers, the pork industry, environmental managers and policy makers. The impact of the research developed is expected to reach beyond the duration of the project, generating knowledge about climate-smart pig farming, clear adaptation, mitigation and productivity applications.
This study will provide critical improvements to on-farm climate services and technology integration and will enable important first steps to be taken towards ensuring future outdoor pig production is sustainable and resilient to climate variability and change. The project will demonstrate the use of high-resolution short-term weather forecasts to support decision making regarding feed, housing and manure management. Pig farmers will benefit directly from knowledge generated on production efficiency considering a changing climate and extreme weather events. Workshops and field days demonstrating the application of precision farming and climate services in outdoor pig production will ensure engagement with pig farmers in the region, enabling the dissemination of climate-smart practices.
The pork industry will benefit from knowledge generated in this project on climate change adaptation strategies in outdoor pig production at the regional scale. Understanding potential climate impacts on pig production and risks associated with extreme events will contribute to a more resilient pork supply chain in the region. The industrial partnerships in this project will enable the co-production of adaptation options that are fully risk-informed, strengthening understanding of risk perception, drivers for behaviour change and implications for communication and decision-making with the end-users and actors in the system. Keeping pigs outdoors will require diet adjustments to ensure nutrition is optimal for the climatic conditions. Developing optimal feeding strategies for outdoor pig production incorporating environmental emissions reduction and improving productivity will bring direct benefits to the pork supply chain. Knowledge about improving feed efficiency considering climate change and extreme weather while minimising environmental impacts will be instrumental in achieving a more sustainable pork industry, with potential applications in supply chain sustainability assessments and environmental labelling programmes.
Environmental managers and policy makers will be able to use the expected outputs of this study to minimise the environmental impacts of outdoor pig production, with emphasis on nutrient management, soil quality and greenhouse gas emissions, from the farm to landscape scales. By combining precision agriculture, remote sensing, climate science and process-based modelling, this project can contribute to measuring, reporting and verifying environmental indicators, potentially leading to reductions in emissions to water, soil and the atmosphere. Besides supporting mitigation approaches, this project will also contribute to the development of climate change adaptation policies in the sector. Through process modelling, we will explore barriers to adaptation and the governance and policy frameworks required for implementation; these models will also provide a framework for assessing the economics and effectiveness of adaptation options. Using a whole-system approach in our process modelling and analytics, we will help to inform responsible management of the environment for benefits to the industry and to society at large.
In summary, this study will integrate local weather information and precision farming technology to identify key adaptation and mitigation options in outdoor pig production, highlighting key directions for future research to develop climate-smart, resilient and sustainable production systems.
This study will provide critical improvements to on-farm climate services and technology integration and will enable important first steps to be taken towards ensuring future outdoor pig production is sustainable and resilient to climate variability and change. The project will demonstrate the use of high-resolution short-term weather forecasts to support decision making regarding feed, housing and manure management. Pig farmers will benefit directly from knowledge generated on production efficiency considering a changing climate and extreme weather events. Workshops and field days demonstrating the application of precision farming and climate services in outdoor pig production will ensure engagement with pig farmers in the region, enabling the dissemination of climate-smart practices.
The pork industry will benefit from knowledge generated in this project on climate change adaptation strategies in outdoor pig production at the regional scale. Understanding potential climate impacts on pig production and risks associated with extreme events will contribute to a more resilient pork supply chain in the region. The industrial partnerships in this project will enable the co-production of adaptation options that are fully risk-informed, strengthening understanding of risk perception, drivers for behaviour change and implications for communication and decision-making with the end-users and actors in the system. Keeping pigs outdoors will require diet adjustments to ensure nutrition is optimal for the climatic conditions. Developing optimal feeding strategies for outdoor pig production incorporating environmental emissions reduction and improving productivity will bring direct benefits to the pork supply chain. Knowledge about improving feed efficiency considering climate change and extreme weather while minimising environmental impacts will be instrumental in achieving a more sustainable pork industry, with potential applications in supply chain sustainability assessments and environmental labelling programmes.
Environmental managers and policy makers will be able to use the expected outputs of this study to minimise the environmental impacts of outdoor pig production, with emphasis on nutrient management, soil quality and greenhouse gas emissions, from the farm to landscape scales. By combining precision agriculture, remote sensing, climate science and process-based modelling, this project can contribute to measuring, reporting and verifying environmental indicators, potentially leading to reductions in emissions to water, soil and the atmosphere. Besides supporting mitigation approaches, this project will also contribute to the development of climate change adaptation policies in the sector. Through process modelling, we will explore barriers to adaptation and the governance and policy frameworks required for implementation; these models will also provide a framework for assessing the economics and effectiveness of adaptation options. Using a whole-system approach in our process modelling and analytics, we will help to inform responsible management of the environment for benefits to the industry and to society at large.
In summary, this study will integrate local weather information and precision farming technology to identify key adaptation and mitigation options in outdoor pig production, highlighting key directions for future research to develop climate-smart, resilient and sustainable production systems.
| Description | Our investigations concluded that Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) decreases when outdoor pigs are introduced into an arable rotation in the current management system, but there was more of a decrease in SOC for arable rotations alone. The optimum scenario is to have a mixed farming rotation, with a more frequent rotation between pigs and arable. This is a positive message for the UK pig industry, as it provides an opportunity for pigs to improve SOC and become part of the solution, rather than the problem. Reducing the length of time that pigs are on the field and intercalating with other land uses can potentially mitigate those losses. We also observed that whilst high protein diet had a protective effect on pigs against some of the effects of heat stress, they also excreted more N in faecal matter, which has a potential environmental impact. It's important to consider the trade-offs in animal welfare and environmental impacts when exploring climate resilience management. These findings provide an opportunity to explore a range of management options to mitigate these impacts. Furthermore, drones can be used to monitor pig activity levels and use of their outdoor areas - they may also potentially be able to spot changes in activity linked to biosecurity hazards and disease. |
| Exploitation Route | Our findings provide an opportunity to explore a range of management options to mitigate against climatic impacts and provide a key driver for change. Livestock farming can play a key role in regenerative agriculture practises and become part of the solution. We are looking to explore its role in ongoing and future studies. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
| URL | https://www.ukclimateresilience.org/news-events/smart-systems-approaches-for-climate-resilient-livestock-production-webinar/ |
| Description | From a commercial perspective, our investigations into dietary adaptation strategies to alleviate heat stress in sows revealed that in the summer there may be a beneficial effect of protein supplementation to gilts in terms of improved litter growth and weaning weights. The rotation practices modelled also provide opportunities to ameliorate current rotation practices which will improve soil health, for example by having a two- or three-year rotation of pigs with permanent grassland underneath them as part of an arable rotation. Trade-offs between environmental factors and commercial factors can be further explored. The implementation of these findings are being considered at the University of Leeds commercial farm, and by Karro Food Group (our Project Partner). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
| Description | QR-SPF Funding - Research activity supporting evidence-based policy making |
| Amount | £34,380 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Leeds |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2020 |
| End | 03/2020 |
| Description | Producer Partnership - WM Morrison's |
| Organisation | Morrison Supermarkets plc |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | We have contributed expertise and intellectual input into an in-depth literature review on the use of Enrichment in global pig farming systems to help Morrisons inform their farmer network of good practise |
| Collaborator Contribution | Sophie Throup has joined our PigSustain Stakeholder community, contributing her industry expertise that has fed into the development of the systems model in PigSustain, alongside access to the Morrison's farming and consumer network |
| Impact | Main output is a Literature Review completed in January 2020. Collaboration is multi-disciplinary - including animal scientists, environmental scientists, modellers, computer scientists, statisticians. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Producer partnership - Karro Food Group |
| Organisation | Karro Food Group |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The research team have contributed expertise and intellectual input in systems modelling, experimental design, and the scientific method to the partnership. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partners have provided access to data across multiple farm sites and access to facilities. They have provided industry expertise that has fed into the development of the systems model. This has led to a follow-on project ( Smart Systems Approaches for Climate Resilient Livestock Production ) whereby Karro are a named Project Partner contributing £145k in-kind to the project by granting access to farms/livestock/data from > 20 farm sites |
| Impact | A successful KTP award (2019-2022) and a NERC Climate Resilience award (2019-2020) have been awarded out of this partnership, as reported under 'Further funding'. Collaboration is multi-disciplinary - including animal scientists, geneticists, environmental scientists, water scientists, atmospheric scientists, soil scientists, animal nutritionists, modellers, climate change experts, computer scientists, engineers, statisticians. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | ADAS visit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The ADAS Livestock team visited the National Pig Centre to learn more about the research that we do. We provided a detailed overview of projects linked to the facility and our research findings, including ClimatePig and PigSustain. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/NatPigCentre/status/1600858003301085187 |
| Description | Article in Pig World |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The PigSustain vision technology for disease detection developed in WP3 is featured in an article in PigWorld page 38 (https://cloud.3dissue.com/176015/176388/205836/PGWLOCT21/index.html#) which focuses on the National Pig Centre at Leeds. Prof Lisa Collins was interviewed by a journalist who completed the detailed write-up. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://cloud.3dissue.com/176015/176388/205836/PGWLOCT21/index.html# |
| Description | BBC Radio 4 Farming Today |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The research team at the National Pig Centre were interviewed to be part of BBC Radio 4's Farming Today programme during their pig-themed week. The show explores different rearing systems in the UK industry and potential trade offs - Research of which has been informed by projects like PigSustain and ClimatePig. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001jl21 |
| Description | CIEL Industry Showcase |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | CIEL Industry members attended an open day at the National Pig Centre, where the research team presented various projects and research findings to inspire future project work and opportunities for collaboration, including pipeline activities for PigSustain and ClimatePig. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/CIELivestock1/status/1602320540068610048 |
| Description | FSNet Africa Visit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 50 academics and postdoctoral researchers visited the UK as part of the Food Systems Africa Network delegation. During their visit, we presented an overview of pig research and findings from PigSustain and ClimatePig to share best practice and inspire future international research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Farmers Weekly Article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The National Pig Centre at the University of Leeds featured in a special edition of Farmers Weekly as part of their 'What's in Your Livestock Shed?' series. In the article we showcase all of the technologies and pig research taking place linked to the National Pig Centre facility and research team, including PigSuatain and ClimatePig. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.fwi.co.uk/livestock/whats-in-your-livestock-shed/whats-in-your-livestock-shed-visits-an-... |
| Description | Future of Farming Campaign |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Lisa Collins contributed to the Future of Farming 2019 campaign in New Scientist magazine. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.businessandindustry.co.uk/farming/smarter-farming-for-higher-profits-and-lower-environme... |
| Description | Nexus Member visit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Members of the University's Nexus community visited the National Pig Centre to learn more about the research that we do and the projects linked to the facility, including PigSustain ClimatePig. Visitors included representatives from different industries and businesses in the local region. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Strategic Priority Fund UK Climate Resilience Programme Workshop 14th & 15th Nov, Leeds |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | All PI's of the SPF Climate Resilience Programme were invited to participate in a workshop and present their individual research projects, identify common themes and emerging impacts, whilst building the future funding programme |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Sustainable Livestock Webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Two members of the research group hosted a 40 minute lunchtime webinar for the Global Food & Environment Institute as part of their seminar series. The webinar focused on sustainable livestock production and therefore drew reference to research findings from PigSustain and ClimatePig to share this with a general audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o3ZtMyP-pU |
| Description | UK Climate Resilience Programme Webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Approx. 50+ stakeholders and researchers attended the CLIMATE RESILIENCE WEBINAR SERIES 2021, where Prof Lisa Collins presented our key findings from the project in collaboration with Steve Urwin from Karro Food Group (our Project Partner). The webinar included a 15 minute interactive Q&A with the Panel Members, which sparked some interesting discussions around key findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.ukclimateresilience.org/news-events/smart-systems-approaches-for-climate-resilient-lives... |
| Description | Wageningen Uni visit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Two senior academics from Wageningen University visited to discuss opportunities for future pig research collaborations |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission Case Study |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The project was published online as a Case Study as part of the official launch of the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission in March 2021. The Commission's focus will be on reducing carbon emissions as quickly as possible, and ensuring people in Yorkshire are prepared to cope with the impacts of climate change, such as flooding, heatwaves and sea level rise. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://yorksandhumberclimate.org.uk/climatepig |