HORIZON-CL6-2027-02-FARM2FORK-03: Microbiome for terrestrial livestock sustainability and health… — expected outcomes, evaluation and traps

Topic	HORIZON-CL6-2027-02-FARM2FORK-03
Status	Forthcoming
Call	HORIZON-CL6-2027-02 — Call 02 - single stage (2027)
Destination	Fair, healthy and environment-friendly food systems from primary production to consumption (2026-27)
Type of action	Research and Innovation Actions · lump sum
Opening	20 April 2027
Deadline	23 September 2027
Budget	EUR 5 million to EUR 6 million per project · 2 projects expected · EUR 11.8 million in total
Part B page limit	45 pages (standard application form; check your call)
Template	Work Programme 2026–2027 application form

Expected outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes. The topic says: “Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes:”

EO1 the research community, farmers, livestock industry e.g. breeders, service providers, policymakers understand better the role of the microbiome on livestock health and production and the interaction with environment and human health within a One Health approach.
EO2 researchers' communities and innovators in the livestock sector have access to a platform of tools for data sharing, knowledge exchange, capacity building and standardization in microbiome research and its applications through synergies with other platforms in a One Health context.
EO3 targeted strategies and guidelines are available to farmers, service providers and livestock industry to contribute to improving livestock health, while reducing antimicrobial use and environmental impact, and securing animal welfare.

Expected impacts named in the destination

The wider, long-term effects the destination seeks. Your outcomes feed them; they are not project deliverables.

EI1 agriculture and food systems contribute to ensuring a secure, safe, sustainable, nutritious, and affordable supply of healthy food in Europe and beyond by fostering its long-term competitiveness, resilience, scalability and sustainability within the boundaries of our planet with the One Health approach.
EI2 farmers are empowered to ensure the competitiveness, resilience and sustainability of the farming sector, through increasing knowledge, tools, innovative solutions, and advice that allow efficient productivity, working for and with nature, preserving and restoring biodiversity within agricultural ecosystems and helping to decarbonise the EU economy.
EI3 sustainable fisheries and aquaculture (in marine, brackish and freshwater) contribute to fair, healthy, resilient and environment-friendly food systems in healthy aquatic ecosystems with thriving diversity of species and habitats providing ecosystem and climate services and triggering growth and jobs’ creation in coastal and rural areas.
EI4 tools are provided so that citizens and communities are empowered to make the sustainable food choices and move towards safe, healthy, nutritious, accessible, affordable and sustainable diets. Insights and advances in life science and digital & data technologies are valorised to deploy solutions in practice across the EU.
EI5 food businesses, including food processing industries and SMEs, are supported to increase their resilience and competitiveness, while ensuring resource efficiency and sustainability, and human, animal and ecosystem health is preserved.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes.
For each outcome (EO1 to EO3), name who will use or adopt your results (a specific group, not “industry” or “society”), how they get them, and the indicator that shows the change, with baseline, target and date.
Use the topic's own words for each outcome, so the evaluator can tick it off.

What the scope asks for

Evaluators check the proposal against these sentences of the scope. Answer each one visibly, in the call's own words.

“Proposals should address all of the following activities:. investigate the microbiome of terrestrial livestock, their influence on animal health, taking into account the holobiont/hologenome perspectives, and the interactions with the environment (soil, plant, water, air) and human health;. develop integrated data monitoring systems that track microbiome related health indicators across livestock, plant, and human health sectors, and help in…”
“Projects selected under this topic should interact between themselves and build on/interact with recent or on-going EU funded projects and initiatives, including those funded under the topic HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-11: Integrating a holistic perspective in microbiome research for resilient, competitive and sustainable food systems, as well as with relevant activities of the European partnerships on animal health and welfare, on One health…”

Conditions that shape the proposal

Part B, sections 1–3: 45 pages (standard application form). Text beyond the limit is not read; tables and figures count.
Lump sum: the budget is fixed per work package and paid when each work package is completed. Every work package needs activities and deliverables an evaluator can verify, and the effort must match the money.

Impact pathway and traps

Standardisation is mentioned. Name the committees or bodies and the partner who engages with them.
The topic expects cooperation with other projects or initiatives. Reserve effort and budget for it in the work plan.
Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
For each destination impact you claim, show which of your outcomes feeds it. Destination impacts are long-term effects, not project deliverables.
Name the barriers outside the project (regulation, markets, user behaviour) that could block uptake, and what you will do if they do.
Section 2.3 (the summary canvas) is optional on this call; the old split into scientific, economic and societal impact is no longer required.

The scope, as published

Microbiome research offers transformative potential for livestock management within the One Health (OH) framework, which emphasises the interconnected health of animals, humans, and the environment. In livestock, microbiome innovation can address pressing issues such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and zoonotic disease transmission. However, gaps persist in understanding the role of variability within host-microbiome interactions, in developing sustainable farming practices, and assessing these interventions in real-world farming settings. Advancing microbiome research can enhance animal health and productivity, improve ecosystems, while reducing environmental and climate impacts. By focusing on microbiome-based solutions, the objective is to support sustainable livestock systems that align with OH principles, necessitating cross-disciplinary collaboration to ensure comprehensive health benefits. Proposals should address all of the following activities: investigate the microbiome of terrestrial livestock, their influence on animal health, taking into account the holobiont/hologenome perspectives, and the interactions with the environment (soil, plant, water, air) and human health; develop integrated data monitoring systems that track microbiome related health indicators across livestock, plant, and human health sectors, and help in risk assessment models for zoonotic disease and/or AMR emergence and transmission; assess how microbiome-based solutions for animal health affect, and are affected by, soil and plant health, and the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides; design holistic health models that incorporate microbiome research to enhance the robustness of animals as well as animal health and welfare, and overall productivity, taking into account soil and plant health, and to assess potential synergies and trade-offs between these objectives; design microbiome related intervention strategies to prevent outbreaks and cross-species transmission in animal populations and reduce the risk of zoonosis, thereby contributing to reduced antimicrobial usage while enhancing resilience, animal welfare, and minimizing environmental impact; develop, or contribute to, platforms to collaboratively assess and optimise the efficacy and implementation of microbiome-based tools, products and services in the livestock sector through synergies with other platforms within a One Health context; enhance collaboration among veterinarians, microbiologists, geneticists, animal and plant biologists, epidemiologists, and ecologists and other experts to work towards a One Health approach. Projects selected under this topic should interact between themselves and build on/interact with recent or on-going EU funded projects and initiatives, including those funded under the topic HORIZON-CL6-2026-02-FARM2FORK-11: Integrating a holistic perspective in microbiome research for resilient, competitive and sustainable food systems, as well as with relevant activities of the European partnerships on animal health and welfare, on One health AMR, and on pandemic preparedness. The projects under this topic are relevant to the EU policies related to the EU Green Deal’s goals for resilient and sustainable agri-food systems, the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, the Life Sciences strategy, the Vision for Agriculture and Food, the EU One Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance, and the Council Recommendation on stepping up EU actions to combat antimicrobial resistance in a One Health approach.

Source and attribution

Topic text from the official topic page on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, retrieved 19 October 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU (CC BY 4.0). Changes: the expected outcomes and impacts are split into numbered statements, long passages are shortened, and the evaluator checklist is GrantWise's own commentary. Your call and the Work Programme always win; check them before you submit. GrantWise is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the European Commission.

Microbiome for terrestrial livestock sustainability and health within a One Health approach

Expected outcomes

Expected impacts named in the destination

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

What the scope asks for

Conditions that shape the proposal

Impact pathway and traps

Other topics in HORIZON-CL6-2027-02

Source and attribution