The creation of the Glanbia MilkFlex Fund complements Glanbia’s existing Price Volatility Programme by providing competitively priced and appropriately structured dairy farm finance. This product is designed to match the cash flow generated by a dairy farm enterprise, with no repayments at times of low prices and increased repayments at times of high prices. A key feature of this innovative loan product is that it has inbuilt ‘flex triggers’ that adjust the repayment terms according to movements in the Glanbia milk price, thus providing farmers with cash flow relief when most needed. MilkFlex is an innovation that represents a paradigm shift in the funding model currently applied in the European Dairy Industry, where fluctuations of more than 50% in milk prices have been recorded in recent years.

Dcoop aims to foster the use of new technology among its members by encouraging ongoing activities over time, with the aim of increasing the efficiency and profitability of its product value chain. The first phase consists of digitalising and monitoring agrifood data. This is being done using systems that gather agroclimate data to control on-field processes and industrial processes. The strategy aims at creating a sustainable agrifood sector by developing models that minimise the impact of extreme events, provide forecasts and adjust irrigation, use of fertiliser and on-field phytosanitary treatments. The aim is to achieve greater technical, environmental, energy and economic efficiency, thus increasing the added value for final products.

An increasing number of forest owners are living in cities far away from their forest properties. Metsäverkko provides the best tools in our sector for managing forest property: digitally mapped forest resource data, customer data, investments in cooperatives, electronic commerce of wood and forestry services, forest tax accounting and specialized online stores.

In the period of April-May 2017, 30% of food and 40% of forestry services were sold online, leading to remarkable cost savings. Online sales clearly provide a better customer experience (Net Promoter Score). Sales of forestry services inceased by 13% in 2016 and by 28% in 2017.

The Finnish livestock sector is already one of the sectors with the lowest use of antibiotics in the world. However, their goal is to reduce it even further. The HKScan Omega 3 No Antibiotics Ever concept taps into two major consumer megatrends: healthy living and food safety. It offers a commercially relevant concept to enter global markets. After its launch, Omega-3 pork (HK Rypsiporsas@) quickly achieved a good market share on the local markets and improved the image of pork as a healthy and tasty food. It has also been successfully introduced in export markets (including Asia) under the brand name Flodins®, for both retail and food service customers.

AgriAmbiente Mugello’s innovations benefit members in a number of ways:
a) management control;
b) improved and more efficient production processes;
c) greater visibility.

There are three main activities that reflect the cooperative’s recent growth:

– The purchase of a Challenger MT775 tractor, which allows them to harrow 30 ha per day with a harrowing disc, reducing costs of production by about 15-20%;

– The use of heat detectors to improve cow insemination. In a period of five months, a 40% rise in cattle pregnancy was estimated, resulting in an increase in milk production;

– The introduction of a new software programme which allows staff working for the company to provide real-time updates on every task in the stalls and out in the field, reducing costs by about 10-12% and creating new streams of revenue for our company.