milkGUARD | milkGUARD – a continuous whole milk disinfection system for calf feeding on-farm

Summary
The problem: Dairy farms are continuously aiming at increasing milk yield per cow in the herd. Calf early life nutrition dictates
their development. Farmers feed a variety of liquid feeds including milk and milk replacers. The state-of-the-art method to
reduce the risk of disease spread while feeding milk is to pasteurize it. Though natural milk is the ideal nutrition for calves,
the need for pasteurization represents an additional cost of 100,000 €/ year (for a herd with 120 calves). Importantly, on-farm
pasteurized milk may still contain measurable amounts of bacteria and the overall procedure is time- and energy-demanding,
which hampers wide application amongst small and medium dairy farms.
The solution: We at Calvex have developed the milkGUARD solution, which enables the safe employment of optimum
nutrition for calves, i.e. natural milk, free of pathogens. The milkGUARD solution combines state-of-the-art methods for fast
killing of pathogens in natural milk. In a three-stage continuous process it disinfects milk with an efficacy of 99.99% - 100%.
By providing a system that avoids indirect heating elements and works in continuous, we expect to reduce the operating
costs to dairy farmers when treating milk for calf-feeding, offering e.g. 30% of energy savings when compared to
conventional on-farm pasteurizers.
The market: Milk is the EU's main agricultural product in terms of value – approx. 15% of agricultural output – with 160
million tonnes of cow’s milk produced in 2014. The EU milk processing industry is a pillar of the European economy, which
contributes positively to the EU trade balance, bringing over €10 billion surplus. The implementation of the innovation project
will place Calvex in a strong position to exploit a market potential over five years exceeding €56 million.
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More information & hyperlinks
Web resources: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/773763
Start date: 01-05-2017
End date: 30-09-2017
Total budget - Public funding: 71 429,00 Euro - 50 000,00 Euro
Cordis data

Original description

The problem: Dairy farms are continuously aiming at increasing milk yield per cow in the herd. Calf early life nutrition dictates
their development. Farmers feed a variety of liquid feeds including milk and milk replacers. The state-of-the-art method to
reduce the risk of disease spread while feeding milk is to pasteurize it. Though natural milk is the ideal nutrition for calves,
the need for pasteurization represents an additional cost of 100,000 €/ year (for a herd with 120 calves). Importantly, on-farm
pasteurized milk may still contain measurable amounts of bacteria and the overall procedure is time- and energy-demanding,
which hampers wide application amongst small and medium dairy farms.
The solution: We at Calvex have developed the milkGUARD solution, which enables the safe employment of optimum
nutrition for calves, i.e. natural milk, free of pathogens. The milkGUARD solution combines state-of-the-art methods for fast
killing of pathogens in natural milk. In a three-stage continuous process it disinfects milk with an efficacy of 99.99% - 100%.
By providing a system that avoids indirect heating elements and works in continuous, we expect to reduce the operating
costs to dairy farmers when treating milk for calf-feeding, offering e.g. 30% of energy savings when compared to
conventional on-farm pasteurizers.
The market: Milk is the EU's main agricultural product in terms of value – approx. 15% of agricultural output – with 160
million tonnes of cow’s milk produced in 2014. The EU milk processing industry is a pillar of the European economy, which
contributes positively to the EU trade balance, bringing over €10 billion surplus. The implementation of the innovation project
will place Calvex in a strong position to exploit a market potential over five years exceeding €56 million.

Status

CLOSED

Call topic

SMEInst-07-2016-2017

Update Date

27-10-2022
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Horizon 2020
H2020-EU.2. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP
H2020-EU.2.3. INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
H2020-EU.2.3.1. Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument
H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017
SMEInst-07-2016-2017 Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for sustainable and competitive agriculture, forestry, agri-food and bio-based sectors
H2020-SMEINST-2-2016-2017
SMEInst-07-2016-2017 Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for sustainable and competitive agriculture, forestry, agri-food and bio-based sectors
H2020-EU.3. SOCIETAL CHALLENGES
H2020-EU.3.2. SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy
H2020-EU.3.2.1. Sustainable agriculture and forestry
H2020-EU.3.2.1.0. Cross-cutting call topics
H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017
SMEInst-07-2016-2017 Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for sustainable and competitive agriculture, forestry, agri-food and bio-based sectors
H2020-SMEINST-2-2016-2017
SMEInst-07-2016-2017 Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for sustainable and competitive agriculture, forestry, agri-food and bio-based sectors
H2020-EU.3.2.2. Sustainable and competitive agri-food sector for a safe and healthy diet
H2020-EU.3.2.2.0. Cross-cutting call topics
H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017
SMEInst-07-2016-2017 Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for sustainable and competitive agriculture, forestry, agri-food and bio-based sectors
H2020-SMEINST-2-2016-2017
SMEInst-07-2016-2017 Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for sustainable and competitive agriculture, forestry, agri-food and bio-based sectors
H2020-EU.3.2.4. Sustainable and competitive bio-based industries and supporting the development of a European bioeconomy
H2020-EU.3.2.4.0. Cross-cutting call topics
H2020-SMEINST-1-2016-2017
SMEInst-07-2016-2017 Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for sustainable and competitive agriculture, forestry, agri-food and bio-based sectors
H2020-SMEINST-2-2016-2017
SMEInst-07-2016-2017 Stimulating the innovation potential of SMEs for sustainable and competitive agriculture, forestry, agri-food and bio-based sectors