€6 Million “High-Priority” Support from Horizon Europe: Türkiye Takes a Leading Role in Climate-Resilient Sheep Farming

Through an international project supported as “high priority” under the Horizon Europe Programme with a budget of €6 million, Türkiye has gained a prominent position in the field of climate-resilient sheep farming.

The project titled “SheepHeatIT,” coordinated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Onur Yılmaz, a faculty member of the Faculty of Agriculture at Aydın Adnan Menderes University (ADU), involves research institutions from 10 countries and has been selected for funding under the HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-07 call.

In the evaluations conducted by the European Commission, the project stood out as an innovative and strategic initiative aiming to develop solutions to the impacts of increasing heat stress and extreme weather conditions on sheep farming. Within the scope of the project, it is aimed to increase the Herd Heat Resilience Score (HHRS), which reflects the resilience of sheep flocks to temperature conditions.

The project integrates genomic applications, thermal and digital phenotyping technologies, and artificial intelligence–supported data analyses to develop sustainable and applicable scientific solutions. Advanced laboratory analyses to be carried out in Türkiye will be conducted within ADU TARBİYOMER, where the project will assume a critical role with an allocated budget of approximately €400,000.

The academic team involved in the project has previously conducted significant R&D studies on local genetic resources, including the registration of Karya and Eşme sheep breeds as national breeds and the conservation of the Çine Çaparı breed.

The project’s designation as “high priority” highlights its strategic importance in terms of EU agricultural policies, food security, and climate change adaptation strategies. With the outcomes to be achieved, the project aims to contribute to the development of a more resilient and competitive sheep farming sector in both Türkiye and Europe.