06 November 2024

The kick-off of the Knowledge hub for agricultural digitalisation (Digitalisation Hub) featured fanfare, smart machines, digital technology, eight keynote speeches and an exclusive panel discussion with both farmers and representatives from the Digitalisation hub expert network.

Peter Borring as moderator for the panel discussion
Photo: Ebba Nordqvist

Around 180 people filled the room at Vallfarten on 23 October at Linköping University. Everything from advisors, students, farmers and academics from all over Sweden gathered here with a common goal: to strengthen Swedish agriculture and make it more competitive.

- We have come a long way in terms of digital technology in agriculture, but we can't stop the journey; we have to accelerate it,’ emphasised Per Frankelius, organisational leader of the Digitalisation Hub.

The challenges facing agriculture

Agriculture today faces many challenges, not least due to the drought that is becoming increasingly severe in Europe. Another challenge is to manage all the modern and in many cases advanced digital technology on the farms, something that some farmers may experience concern about.

Beatrice Magnusson from Linköping Science Park and representative of IoT World and Secure Tech Hub, gave examples of the black headlines that can scare farmers to take the step towards the technology of the future. But as a solution to the problem, she explained how to avoid cyber attacks and other types of intrusion on your farm. This includes being careful to connect to your own network, restricting access to the systems of employees.

Raising awareness

One of the speakers at the kick-off was LRF's President and CEO, Anna Karin Hatt. She expressed great joy that this knowledge hub actually ended up at Linköping University, given their strong expertise in AI and data. She also gave a nod to Östergötland, which is one of the most prominent rural regions.

Anna Karin Hatt, President and CEO of LRF
Photo: Ebba Nordqvist
- You can't implement what you don't know. Technology can give us many opportunities, but we need to spread that information,’ says Anna Karin Hatt.

 

The overall goal of the Digitisation Hub is to increase knowledge in digitisation; today there is a lot of research that does not reach farmers, and much of the technology available in various areas could be applied to agriculture. It is therefore important for the Digitalisation Hub to put on its boots and go out to the farmers, to uncover the needs that currently exist on the farms.

The benefits of digital technology

In terms of digital technology in practice and which can facilitate and streamline agriculture, you could listen to David Askenteg from Väderstad, who showed their SeedEye system, Per-Anders Algerbo from RISE with their drone that can read weeds in the fields, Carl Oscar Paulrud from DeLaval talked about their concept Push and Pull and Thomas Klingström and Patricia Ask-Gullstrand from SLU who illustrated their product GigiCow which can read cross weed stress in real time.

The day ended with an exclusive panel discussion with representatives from the organisations that are part of the Digitalisation Hub's expert network, as well as farmers Eva Ohlsson from Bergs sätteri and Victor Johansson from Bleckenstad gård, led by Peter Borring.
Something that was recurring among the organisations was the customers' view of digitalisation, which can be explained as two camps. One side questions the benefits of going completely digital, where many do not even have BankID, while the other side shows a great interest in digital technology such as virtual fences.

Want to know more about the Digitalisation hub or get in touch with us?

Eartagged sheep in a flock

Electronice eartags

Electronic identification (EID/RFID) using, for example ear tags or chips allows animals to be quickly identified. There are low-frequency, short-range systems and high-frequency systems that can read several animals at once.

Sheep with her lamb

Pregnancy scanners

Checking pregnancy, counting foetuses and assessing foetal age in ewes using ultrasound offers several significant advantages that contribute to improved welfare and production.

Close up on a sheep

Automatic weighing

Automatic weighing of animals provides valuable information on growth, pasture quality and animal health without requiring much labour.

Envioronment and knowledge

Pigsty

RFID-readers

Electronic ear tag readers are used to facilitate the identification and counting of animals in an efficient and reliable manner. These readers come in two main types: handheld and stationary.

Pig snorkellers

Eating time management

A growing number of wet feed suppliers now offer advanced systems that integrate sensors to monitor and measure pig appetite.

Pig in a yard

Digital pig counter

With a pig counter, pig farmers can count pigs of all sizes and colours with a very high accuracy. This is done with a camera that is mounted where pigs pass during a move, for example in a corridor.

The knowledge hub for the digitalization of agriculture

Latest news from Linköping University

Police.

New research strengthens municipal crisis preparedness

A new research project at Linköping University is investigating how leadership can be improved to strengthen and organise municipal crisis preparedness.

A bottle of champagne with Sectra on its label

Sectra – a world-leading company with roots in LiU research

It started as an extra assignment for four researchers and grew into a cutting-edge company in medical IT and cybersecurity. Follow Sectra’s journey from its roots at LiU to the global business it is today.

Shaping AI technology for the benefit of society globally

To explore similarities and challenges faced by Europe and Japan in the digital transformation era and to foster cross-border collaboration and knowledge exchange - researchers and industry professionals from Europe and Japan met at LiU.