Funding source
European Commission – Horizon Europe (REA)
Duration
June 2026 – May 2030
Project URL
Project information
Thematic keywords
- Climate-resilient livestock farming
- Methane emissions reduction
- Heat stress resilience
- Animal genetics
- Sustainable livestock systems
- Animal welfare
- Greenhouse gas mitigation
- Climate adaptation
- Dairy cattle
- Dairy sheep
- Precision livestock farming
Methodological keywords
- In vivo feeding trials
- Genomic prediction
- Genetic marker development
- Genotype × environment analysis
- Predictive modelling
- Decision Support Systems (DSS/DST)
- Co-creation and participatory design
- Living Labs / Future Farming Design Studios
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
- Cost-benefit and sustainability assessment
- Stakeholder engagement
- Policy analysis
Project narrative
RUMINATE addresses two major and interconnected challenges facing European livestock farming: the need to reduce methane emissions from cattle and to improve heat stress resilience in sheep under increasingly challenging climatic conditions.
Livestock farming contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, while climate change itself threatens animal welfare, productivity, and the long-term resilience of farming systems. RUMINATE adopts a holistic approach that combines nutrition, genetics, environmental data, digital technologies, and stakeholder engagement to develop practical and scalable solutions for more sustainable ruminant production.
The project will assess current livestock production systems, feeding practices, and available digital resources, while generating harmonised genomic and phenotypic datasets from cattle and sheep. Through in vivo trials, RUMINATE will evaluate nutritional interventions aimed at reducing methane emissions in cattle and enhancing heat resilience in sheep. The project will also investigate genotype-by-environment interactions and develop genomic prediction tools to support future breeding decisions.
Building on these findings, RUMINATE will develop species-specific nutritional protocols, genetic marker panels, predictive models, and a Decision Support Tool (DST) tailored to different livestock production systems. These solutions will be validated through real-world farm demonstrations and co-created with farmers, advisors, researchers, industry actors, and policymakers through a network of Future Farming Design Studios (FFDSs).
The project ultimately aims to support the transition towards climate-resilient, low-emission livestock systems while maintaining productivity, animal welfare, biodiversity, and economic viability.
WR is leading the project’s activities related to synergies and networking with relevant European and international initiatives, policy analysis, and policy recommendations. WR will establish and maintain collaborations with relevant projects, platforms, and stakeholder networks, coordinate the Network of Interest (NoI), assess existing EU and national policy frameworks relevant to sustainable livestock production, and develop policy recommendations to support the uptake of climate-resilient livestock practices.
