To improve animal feed safety by rapid, high throughput, analysis of quality assurance parameters, facilitating positive release of supplements to feed manufacturers and farms.

This project's vision is to develop the **next-generation of algae-derived products** for use in **poultry production** in the **UK, Canada**, and other commercial markets worldwide (including South America, Australasia and MENA). The proposed R&D will make improvements to existing processes to: 1\. **significantly reduce carbon footprint of omega-3 production**, 2\. **develop a sustainable protein source**. Both (i) and (ii) will help with the aim of achieving **net zero agriculture emissions by 2040\.** The key objective of the project is to develop a more sustainably produced, nutrient dense, chicken that will provide a **rich source of omega-3 oils in the human diet** **whilst enhancing the overall efficacy of poultry production**. The project consortium envisages that the results of this technology will also be applicable to other areas of primary agriculture (e.g. aquaculture, pigs) and expand access to essential lipids in human diets globally. **Commercial on-farm studies**, in both the UK and Canada, will use a range of sensors and electronic (big) data to prove the validity of this innovative approach to poultry farming. The **Canadian and UK partners** involved in this project are already **experts in specific areas** i.e. **production of algae products and manufacture of novel/sustainable animal feeds, respectively.** The innovative aspect of this project is to bring together both of these key skills into a fully collaborative R&D project that is to generate **new products** that have **commercial and sustainability** **(i.e. reduced carbon)** benefits for the worldwide **primary agriculture industry.** Furthermore, by combining these complementary skills it is envisaged there will be improvements to the welfare of livestock and benefits to human nutrition.

The current outbreak of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom has caused food consumption patterns to change with more people eating at home and shopping at retail outlets for food such as meat, milk and eggs. It has also caused disruption to the availability of animal feed ingredients -- in some cases imports have slowed or stopped and in other cases by-products are no longer available - such as brewers grains and apple pomace from the alcohol industries which have ceased to operate due to the outbreak. Animal nutritionists within the feed manufacturing industry need to have the capability to deal with these changing scenarios and respond quickly. The **vision for this project** is to develop an **innovative** multi-objective fractional programming model which is better adapted to meet changing needs in feed design than the traditionally used least cost linear model. This will allow fast turnaround time for alternative solutions to ensure a sustainable supply of nutritious food in UK. This will allow for effective management of resources and costs, as well as meeting consumer demand. For example, i) if milk powder (one of the most bioavailable nutrient sources) became unavailable in pork production, what replacement in pig feed would ensure the physiological development and welfare of the pig, efficiency of production, profitability, and the sustainable production of pork for the consumer? ii) ) if a consequence of 'lockdown' and 'cocooning' was a decline in vitamin D status among the general population, what feed formulations could be developed to ensure an increased level of vitamin D in meat/milk/eggs to meet nutrition and health claim requirements? The **key objectives** are understanding 1) what ingredients are critical in meat (pork, chicken and beef), milk and egg production, 2) what replacements are possible and 3) what are the effects of these replacements. The **main focus areas** for this project will be designing the multi-objective fractional programming model feed to allow continual production of sufficient, safe and nutritious food. This **project is innovative** because existing linear programming models for feed formulation seek the least-cost combination of ingredients that satisfies a specific level of nutritional requirements. This project will involve a multi-objective algorithm to include sufficient, safe and nutritious food.

To apply Blockchain technology to develop a secure and advanced supply chain and traceability system in the agri-food sector from source, through the production processes, and onto the consumers.

To apply advanced pharmaceutical formulation techniques and associated engineering methods to develop new concepts in the delivery of long chain omega 3 fatty acids to cattle to increase the concentration of healthy omega 3 in milk and meat and improve cattle performance, health and welfare.

To apply advanced pharmaceutical formulation techniques, in conjunction with the associated engineering methods, to develop new concepts in the delivery of essential minerals, vitamins and related molecules to farmed animals in order to improve animal well-being and productivity.

The project brings together a multi-disciplinary consortium comprising key industry innovators in the UK lamb supply chain working with Aberystwyth University to develop a commercial system for the in-abattoir detection of contamination of carcasses by faecal and gut matter. This contamination has the potential to cause food waste through spoilage and reduced shelf-life, also contributing to the spread of disease-causing organisms. The fluorescence based technology, patented by Aberystwyth University has been developed to the stage where it requires industrial design, testing and demonstration. The consortium will produce an automated machine (C-DeS), capable of detecting contamination in lamb processing (extendable to beef) and integrate it into an abattoir work-flow. The project will then verify the operation of the C-DeS machine and calibrate it to feeding regimes and the thresholds of contamination to make it a useful addition to meat processing operations.