Challenge

SMARTER partners have the required expertise to complete the work plan: genetics, genomics, nutrition, disease & welfare, bioinformatics, socio-economic and environmental evaluation, system modelling, farming systems and breeding. SMARTER is an EU multi-actor project with a large consortium with academic and non-academic (as beneficiaries or third-parties) from the 10 EU countries that dominate the small ruminant breeding sector (UK, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, Rumania, Hungary). Therefore SMARTER has an advantage for rapid and efficient dissemination nationally. At international and European levels SMARTER will be disseminated by EAAP and S-ICAR partners. These organisations are renowned worldwide in small ruminants. S-ICAR leads global provision of Guidelines, Standards and Certification for animal identification, recording and evaluation while EAAP improves knowledge and dissemination of research on domestic animal farming.

SMARTER will be the first genetic research of new predictors for R&E related traits with combined expertise in nutrition (UNILEON, INRA, SRUC), and health and welfare (SRUC, INIA-UY, INRA, FIBL). SRUC, UNILEON and INRA have a long experience (EU projects: genesheepsafety (2001-2004), 3SR (2010-14)) working together on genetic analyses and meta-analyses of health and welfare traits of small ruminants. Based on this expertise and experience of collaboration, these partners will also identify G*E interactions. IDELE and AUTH have experience in breeding systems (EU project: ISAGE (2016-2020)) which will complement the unique expertise of FIBL in organic farming.