DIVINE Pilot 1 - Case Study

DIVINE Pilot 1 Case Study - Data Space for sustainable food production

Pilot Overview

There are approximately, 3,900 dairy farmers and 12,000 pork production farmers in Slovenia. This pilot is targeting these sectors with pilot actions in the Pomurje region of the country. Pomurje has a population of 116,500, 13% of all national agricultural land and almost 12% of all livestock. The overall goal is to deliver a platform for use by farming advisory service KGZS for benchmarking farming data between farmers for optimising milk and pork production.

Target Stakeholders & Problems to be Addressed

Benchmarking is hampered by the lack of availability of relevant, open, easily accessible, secure and transparent farming data. Advisory services are hindered by reliability on manually entered data and fragmentation of data sources.

Key Activities

A suite of benchmarking tools have been delivered through the DIVINE data space connecting public and private data. Data access policies and mechanisms have been established and validated, providing security and transparency, while respecting data sovereignty. Efficiency and usability are embedded through straightforward data import mechanisms, data conversion to digital formats and data interoperability. The integration of a carbon footprint calculator supports farmers in their transition to sustainable agriculture

Two rounds of data collection, development, and refinement have been completed for dairy farming. The first round included manual milk production data collection and benchmarking, carried out in Q1 2023, followed by digital tool testing in March 2024. The process was repeated in Q1 2025. Both historical and current data were used to validate the tools.

For pork production, due to the lower adoption of benchmarking practices in the past, the system was developed and tested with a sample of farms. However, the actual benchmarking sessions with farmers are planned to take place after the end of the project, in Q1 2026.

Outcomes & Impact

This pilot delivered an important tool to enable farmers to improve their performance. Farmers were given visibility into how their farm performed with regards to average indicators for all of the farms in their region. The inclusion of data for three years enabled an understanding of how farming performance was changing over time The indicators covered key inputs and outputs, enabling them to assess their relative costs, production practices and yields with detailed metrics. In addition to the economic performance, sustainability metrics provide farmers for the first time with indicators as to the environmental impact of their activities. Overall the key benefits include;

• Optimised production
• Capacity to understand and reduced inputs,
• Reduced GHG emissions through carbon footprint calculations
• Reduced food waste
• Automation of data entry

No of famers using/ testing: 30 Dairy farmers, 8 Pork Farmers

Other stakeholders engaged: Advisory groups use the tool to support farmer consultations

No of connected data sources:  A total of 14 different data sources have been connected;

• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food – data collected as part of mandatory reporting from farmers,
• Slovenia Open Data portal- statistical data relevant for farming area,
• Slovenian Environment Agency for meteorological data,
• Soil and plants sampling results from farms,
• Records of the use of livestock and mineral fertilisers,
• Records on the use of pharmaceutical products,
• Register of cattle on the farm,
• Passports for animals,
• Diary of veterinary procedures,
• Animal treatment records,
• Records of purchased or sold feed - type and origin of feed,
• Proof of receipt or delivery of livestock manure,
• Records of work tasks,
• Records of buyers of agri products.

These data sources have enabled access to a large number of datapoints, with for example, over 360 individual data point for milk production related to costs, veterinary, product, production practices etc.

Farmer outreach has been an important component of this pilot action. For example, in March 2025, a total of 33 farmers participated in six workshops on the DIVINE benchmarking tool, organized by KGZS and ITC at various locations across Slovenia. Farmers identified farm comparisons, production-related record keeping, and business planning features as the most relevant topics. The majority of participants expressed strong satisfaction with the workshop outcomes.

Testimonial – Dairy Producers’ Discussion Groups 2025
 Marjana Avberšek, Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry – Institute Celje

“The Dairy Producers’ Discussion Groups are a unique and effective form of group advisory work focused on farmers’ real production and economic results. Under the guidance of trained advisors, farmers share data, compare outcomes, and learn from one another to improve efficiency and profitability. With the support of the new Benchmark APP, developed in cooperation of ITC Murska Sobota and KGZS Murska Sobota as part of the EU Horizon Europe project DIVINE, we can now analyze and compare farm results more precisely than ever. The exchange of experiences among participants has proven to be one of the most valuable parts of these workshops, helping farmers better understand the key factors that drive their success.”