Professor Siobhan Mullan Awarded €3m Horizon Europe Thematic Network Grant for TransformDairyNet Project
Professor Siobhan Mullan, Chair in Animal Welfare & Veterinary Ethics, has been awarded a €3m Horizon Europe Thematic Network grant for the TransformDairyNet project to co-ordinate the activities of 25 European partners aiming to share farmer-generated practical knowledge about cow-calf contact dairy farming.
Modern European dairy farming is based around a system where calves are removed from their mothers early in life, usually within a few hours. Removing the dairy calf from the dam shortly after birth is a primary ethical concern for European citizens. Allowing calves to stay with their dams or a foster cow for months rather than hours/days, champions animal welfare through promoting normal, pleasurable cow and calf social behaviour, calf growth, social competence and play. Importantly, providing cow-calf contact is also the most consumer accepted ethical practice for increasing the sustainability of dairy systems.
Many farmers across Europe are doing their own practical research and finding ways to manage their dairy farms where cows and calves can spend time together. TransformDairyNet will support innovation in this area through national and European networks of facilitated groups of farmers conducting on-farm 'living labs' and harvesting and sharing the knowledge produced in a range of farmer-friendly formats.
For more about Professor Siobhan Mullan’s work, please see: (opens in a new window)https://people.ucd.ie/siobhan.mullan