Smart4Welfare kicks off in Slovakia

On 12–13 February 2026, the Smart4Welfare project held its first meetings in Slovakia, hosted by the National Agricultural and Food Centre (NPPC) in Nitra and continued at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic in Bratislava.
The meetings brought together partners from University of Oulu, Finland, Technical University of Munich, Germany, National Agricultural and Food Centre (NPPC), Slovakia, and Estonian Dairy Cluster from Estonia to discuss how smart technologies and herd health programmes can improve animal health and welfare on dairy farms.

Slovakian breeding organisations, technology companies, researchers and dairy farmers shared insights on:

• the development of Slovakia’s main dairy cattle breeds
• smart monitoring technologies in use on farms
• herd health programmes and dairy research

Project partners shared the current state of the dairy sector and digitalisation in partner countries. At the Ministry were discussed opportunities on how cooperation and knowledge sharing as well as different measures can help farmers adopt solutions that support animal welfare and sustainable dairy production.