Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO)

Social Sciences Unit

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At the Social Sciences Unit of ILVO (Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research) we perform research on the economics of farm management and animal health to support optimal decision making in agricultural businesses. Farmers´ decisions to invest in precision farming that supports animal health management depend largely on the profitability of the sensor system. Although sensor systems are developed for early detection of animal health problems, most of the sensor information is not linked to economic performance. Insights are needed on the economic benefit for the farmer when using sensor systems and ideally, these become integrated in an overall decision support to the farmer. With our scientific experience in production economics, in mathematical programming techniques to find optimal solutions, in developing and implementing practical decision support systems in the field of sustainable agricultural production, we can help to build tools that support these decisions. Our part in the ICT-AGRI call can focus on the economic benefit of sensor system of the early detection of animal health problems at individual farm level and to support the successful integration of sensor systems in decision support.