New developments have been tested and tested in practice at the Innovation Farm for a year now. The “Innovation Farm LIVE” format provided a special insight into the daily research work. On Friday June 11th, 2021 there was a live report on the latest activities from Wieselburg. Experts, specialist editors and practitioners discussed the opportunities, benefits and potential of digital technologies.

Areas of InnovationFarm

The three areas “Assistance Systems and Robotics”, “Animal Health and Animal Welfare” and “Resource Efficiency and Precision Farming” cover the current topics of the Innovation Farm. Christian Fasching, Alfred Pöllinger-Zierler and Edina Scherzer from the HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein team presented the following innovations in Innenwirtschaft :

• The Butler Gold from Wasserbauer, a feed pusher robot, ensures that the animals are regularly provided with loosened and well-mixed food at the feeding table.
• Nedap's heat detection sensor records vital data from cows. Very satisfactory heat detection rates were achieved on the practical farms.
• The rumen sensor from smaXtec measures the rumination time directly in the rumen of the dairy cow. Any deviations will be reported immediately to the supervisor.
• Positions of alpine animals are monitored using pasture GPS. In addition to monitoring the movement pattern, the geofence function can be used to trigger an alarm when animals leave a certain area.
• The Lely Collector manure removal robot ensures clean walking surfaces by sucking up the resulting feces and urine. In comparison to conventional manure removal systems, it is not tied to fixed manure axes.
• The SenseHub sensor from Allflex, attached to the collar or ear, collects health data in real time. The data is available via app or online. The advantages of this technology are examined with regard to optimal cooperation with the caring veterinarian.

Image ID: Christian Fasching, Edina Scherzer and Alfred Pöllinger-Zierler represented the Innovation Farm location Raumberg-Gumpenstein (Photo: Paul Gruber, BMLRT).

Between the blocks, statements from executives of the manufacturing companies were broadcast and video questions from pupils and students were answered. Since the media plays an important role in the transfer of knowledge, the challenges were discussed in a talk with editors from agricultural media.

Panel discussion at the end

The culmination was a panel discussion. In addition to the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Regions and Tourism Elisabeth Köstinger and the President of the Austrian Chamber of Agriculture Josef Moosbrugger , LH Deputy. Stephan Pernkopf (Lower Austria), State Councilor Johann Seitinger (Stmk), Franziska Fröschl , farmer and representative on the Maschinenring federal board, and Timo Küntzle , journalist and agricultural engineer, took place on the podium.

Markus Gansberger, project manager of the Innovation Farm, and Franz Handler , head of the Digitalization in Agriculture Cluster (both HBLFA played a key role in the successful course of the event .

The “Innovation Farm LIVE” event was recorded and can be viewed at www.innovationfarm.at .