https://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en/find-connect/projects/bovine-beef-innovation-network-europe
Introduction to the challenge adressed
This good practice is related to the animal health and welfare thematic area of the BovINE project and falls under the topic “Training in animal welfare for operators/farmers (handlers, transporters and slaughterhouses) and stress free drive system during weighing and transport in beef cattle”.
This good practice can be implemented by every transport company.
Description of the Good Practice
The animal welfare standard transportation was developed by the German Livestock Association. The idea is to get a digital, tamper-proofed and feasible solution to guarantee animal welfare during transportation. The procedure works as follows: the route of the transportation is planned on a digital map. Starting and finishing points are determined, as are the breaks and the duration of the breaks. The planned route is then sent to the official veterinarian for approval. The data is then transferred to the mobile phone of the driver who has to document certain checkpoints, such as state of the transporting vehicle, time and place of break, state of the stable for breaks etc. The driver also has to provide prescribed pictures to proof his documentation. If there is a deviation from the planned route the driver has to document the reason and the alternative (e.g. different motorway because of severe traffic jam). The entire documentation is carried out in an app that was specially developed for the animal welfare standard. The app leads the driver through the control points such as number of animals, temperature profile, documentation of breaks, health status of the animals, amount of water used during transportation etc. so no point can be left out. After delivery of the animals the documentation is transferred back to create journey logs, statistics for the organising company and a report for the official veterinarian.
Impact on farm performance
The farmer can be sure to deliver healthy and relaxed animals which will be to the full satisfaction of the customer. Thus trust and trade realtionships can be build which is an advantage to both.
