Digital Dairy Chain awards further £1m to innovative projects

_{The five winning projects faced competition from across the sector.}

Digital Dairy Chain, the collaborative Strength in Places funded project led by SRUC, has announced the successful winners of the 2024 Collaborative Research & Development Grant Competition, managed and awarded independently by the UK's national innovation agency, Innovate UK.

The projects being awarded in this round are:

• a fast response monitoring device to detect early-stage bovine respiratory disease to support the UK dairy industry amid labour shortages and rising costs. Early diagnosis allows timely intervention, reducing antibiotic use, improves animal welfare and boosts milk yields (Project lead: Albasense)
• integrating sensor technology to enhance manure management with environmental benefits such as reduced pollution, improved soil health, increased crop yields, and social benefits through empowering farmers with technology (Project lead: Culquha Farm)
• an app and digital tool that will allow farmers to analyse heat stress and the impacts of cattle with the aim of improving animal welfare, productivity, and future development of building designs to mitigate heat stress (Project lead: Galebreaker)
• biorefining waste milk from the dairy industry to create a casein-based fibrous growth material for horticulture that will serve as an alternative to traditional fertilisers and peat (Project lead: Grouse Fibres)
• decarbonising heat for dairy farms and dairies by integrating four innovative technologies: solar thermal heating, a solid-state heat pump, a steam heat pump, and a cutting-edge sensor system to be implemented at Appleby Creamery in Cumbria. (Project lead: Soltropy).

This is the second round of funding following the winners from the previous round receiving £2 million. The five 2024 winning projects this year faced strong competition from across the sector and have been awarded almost £1m between them.

Funding totalling £3m was available from the Digital Dairy Chain with the aim of supporting innovative projects focused on improving dairy production and the supply chain in Cumbria and the South and West of Scotland.

The collaborative and business-led projects have each received grants of between £150-250,000 which will be invested in work taking place across Digital Dairy Chain’s geographical reach. Projects had to show a realistic potential to support business growth, scale-up, and create jobs for the sector within the region.

Stuart Martin, Programme Director of Digital Dairy Chain, said: “The calibre of applications we received for this final round of R&D competition funding was once again exceptionally high. The winning applications faced stiff competition and are all very deserving of the funding. These are groundbreaking ideas across several innovative subject matters, which will have significant implications for dairy productivity and sustainable production on a national level.”  

One of the winning projects is from Albasense, a University of the West of Scotland spin-out organisation, which is developing a fast-response device to monitor carbon dioxide in breath for early diagnosis of bovine respiratory disease, which is currently costing the dairy industry £60-80 million annually. It is thought through early diagnosis it will allow timely intervention, reduce antibiotic use, and improve animal welfare which in turn will boost milk yields by 8%.

Robert MacIntosh, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation at University of the West of Scotland, said: “We’re delighted that Albasense has received funding from Digital Dairy Chain. The funding will be used to address both the economic and the animal welfare challenges facing the dairy industry .

“The University of the West of Scotland has a proud tradition of producing research that makes a demonstrable impact. This project is another great example of excellent, relevant, and purposeful research, aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It really showcases our commitment to sustainability, transforming our world and improving lives.”

The team at Albasense are collaborating with Wideblue, Paragon Vets, and McCaskie Ltd on their project.

For a full summary of all projects awarded Collaborative R&D Competition funding over 2023 and 2024 visit www.digitaldairychain.co.uk

Posted by SRUC on 19/11/2024