| Case Study Acronym: | PIGLink |
| Long Title of the Case Study: | PIGLink – from farmers to consumers |
| Case Study Main Contact: | Alexia AUBRY |
| Countries involved and main place of the Case Study: | France |
| Part of the Food System addressed: | Food production |
A lot of data about individuals and groups of pigs are collected manually or automatically on pig farms, including animal performance (mortality, weight, consumption, reproduction) and veterinary treatments (traceability, dosage). Recent digital advancements have facilitate more extensive data collection and offer new opportunities for valorization, however it can be confusing for breeders when there are multiple dashboards for different equipment, and data needs to be recorded multiple time. In addition, standards for much of the data is lacking, making result benchmarking forbidden.
The objective of PIGLink is to fill the digital gap observed in the field, and to make data useful for the farmers and the stakeholders. It proposes to promote data interoperability by providing an open normative framework. Concretely, this involves facilitating the flow of data between equipment (e.g. connected weighing scales, water meters, syringes, dosing pumps) and management tools (e.g. technical and economic analysis software) by offering free standardized interfaces as Web APIs. The data space thus created will allow the exchange of any type of data collected on the farm, whatever its nature, format (unity, periodicity, scale) and origin, as long as it is normalised according to the PIGLink standard. Thanks to a secure data consents management, all manufacturers can accept (or not) to exchange data collected by their devices with other partners, under the supervision of the breeder himself.
To promote the valorization of data, PIGLINK will enrich existing dashboards with data and indicators. Beyond that any data collected on the farm, whether individual or related to a group of animals, can thus be more easily valorised. This circulation of data and indicators will first enrich the existing dashboards. Beyond that, we will build an example dashboard using PIGLink data coming from the different connected equipment and software, to analyse and monitor selected breeding indicators. Over time, benchmarks will also be included in this dashboard, to measure the impact of actions on different criteria (animal health and welfare, economic and technical performances).
The main motivation for PIGLink remains to improve data sharing between stakeholders: from farmers to consumers and improve day to day management of the farm.
The main objective is the creation of a data space that will be available to the partners. This open normative framework will be fed with standards which will be published for free.
Main partners of PIGLink are industrial manufacturers already present in French pig farming. They provide connected equipment which collect data, such as weighing scales, feeders and drinkers, syringes, dosing pumps and management tools. They are member of the PIGLink project committee, which meet twice a year. They will be involved in the definition of the exchanged data, in the compliance of their equipment with the standardized interfaces, in the co-construction of the dashboard and the demonstration of the pilot.
The partners listed bellow constitute the “historical partners”, with whom we will build the data space. But other industrial manufacturers will be able to join the project along the way.
The production chain is firstly addressed, thanks to the open normative framework, which will facilitate the flow of data between farm equipment and management tools. Data from slaughterhouse will complete breeding data and bring farm-to-fork elements. The case study will then facilitate the farmer’s daily management and allow him to follow strict specifications in response to consumer expectations. The building of the dashboard example, using data coming from different equipment, will process raw data into meaningful information for breeders and stakeholders.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
