Digital cow feeding, farm energy intelligence, Estonian know-how – amazing ideas at the Innovation Market at the Finnish Agricultural Machinery Fair

Do cows use implants? The answer to this question can be found at the Innovation Market (Booth Id5) at the Agricultural Machinery Fair in Helsinki, where 20+ domestic and foreign agricultural innovations will be showcased.

– Finnish agriculture is up-to-date and modern. Innovations are constantly being developed in agriculture to create new sources of income and ways to improve profitability,” says Tuija Kallio, Network Coordinator of the Finnish Rural Network.

The Innovation Market includes both promising project ideas on the verge of commercialisation and already existing products and services. This time, the joint exhibition area will highlight the results of EIP Operational Groups developed with rural development funding from both Finland and Estonia. Other innovation projects will also be on display and several start-ups will be located next to the stand. 

Be amazed by innovation

An energy-smart farm capable of being self-sufficient in electricity and heat is being developed in Western Finland: an innovation can use fresh wood chips on a farm scale and produce electricity in addition to heat. The project will add to this the ability to store electricity and will also explore the potential for on-farm carbon dioxide capture.

The Smart pig farm Operational Group aims at monitoring pigs over their lifetime. This will provide a new level of insight into factors affecting piglet health, the need for medication and growth. The vision is a smart pig farm of the future, seeking competitiveness throughout the production chain.

The Innovation Market will also see the new arrival of pollination services: native honey bees and bumblebees have been harnessed to pollinate greenhouses and growing tunnels. Pollination can be used to ensure crop yields and improve crop quality.

In addition to these and other domestic projects, five Estonian EIP Operational Groups will be showcased at the fourth edition of the Innovation Market. 

– Estonia’s Wisecow project should provide an answer to the cow implant question, as it is developing a new way of collecting data on cow welfare, reveals Kallio.

Clearing new fields with data 

On each day of the fair, the Innovation Market stage will provide current topics in agriculture. Speakers will discuss topics such as increasing profitability through the use of spatial data, cyber threats to agriculture and clearing new fields with data.

The main stage of the fair will also feature themes from the Innovation Market, such as cybersecurity threats in a digitalising agriculture. The walking tours through the fair will visit innovation sites selected by experts.

The Innovation Market is organised by the Finnish Rural Network, AgriHubi Farmer’s competence network, and the BioBoosters business accelerator and the Finnish Future Farm project of Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences.

Exhibitors at the Innovation Market

1. BIOSIVU – From hemp by-products to low-carbon building products EIP Operational Group
2. DataYield – Agile data management from farming machines and services to new business EIP Operational Group
3. FarmEnergy – rural energy communities EIP Operational Group 
4. Domestic pollinators for commercial gardens EIP Operational Group
5. Contingency plan for water management on Söderfjärden EIP Operational Group
6. Producing a virtual reality learning environment on cattle health and welfare EIP Operational Group
7. Smart pig farm –combining data EIP Operational Group
8. Climate smart farm in South Ostrobothnia EIP Operational Group
9. UVC technology for control of strawberry diseases EIP Operational Group
10. Cybernetics in dairy cow feed optimization EIP Operational Group
11. Carbon Action and their new innovations (Baltic Sea Action Group)
12. Life Cycle Analysis for Farms; Ecosystem services in biodiversity; Smart irrigation methods – Pyhäjärvi Institute
13. TREASoURcE Horizon project, MTK (Finnish Farmers’ Union)
14. Catch the Carbon Impact Accelerator (research programme and its accelerator programme funded by Ministry of Agriculture)
15. Farm Business and Leadership Growth Programme (Finnish Institute for Enterprise Management)
16. Finnish Future Farm; BioBoosters programme; FarmGuard (strengthen farms’ ability to prepare for cyber threats); Data Farm (cluster of excellence on data); Data field pioneers – renewing grain trade with communal data EIP Operational Group – Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences
17. Authentic honey meets DNA technology, Competence Centre on Health Technologies, Estonia
18. Wisecow EIP Operational Group, Estonian Dairy Cluster, Estonia
19. beefEST EIP Operational Group, Estonian Dairy Cluster, Estonia
20. WheatWatcher Horizon project, MTÜ Põllukultuuride klaster, Estonia
21. Grain Dryer digitalisation EIP Operational Group, MTÜ Põllukultuuride klaster, Estonia
22. EU FarmBook Horizon project
23. PREMIERE Horizon project
24. AgriHubi-Farmer’s competence network (Finland)
25. Finnish rural network 
26. EU CAP Network

More information about the fair: https://maatalouskone.messukeskus.com/en/

More information on Finnish EIP Operational Groups: https://maaseutuverkosto.fi/en/eip-operational-group-activities-in-finland/ 

More information on the Innovation Market

Tuija Kallio, Network Coordinator of the Rural Network Unit, tel +358 295 204 630 tuija.kallio(a)maaseutu.fi 

BioBoosters business accelerator and Finnish Future Farm project of Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences:

Senior Researcher Hannu Haapala, +358 50 597 7845,
Senior Expert Annimari Lehtomäki, +358 50 464 2563
Expert Jyrki Kataja +358 40 566 1034 

firstname.lastname@jamk.fi