Challenges and perspectives for the European livestock production: Research in Sustainable Livestock Farming Systems at CITA-Aragón (Spain)

Challenges and perspectives for the European livestock production 

Research in Sustainable Livestock Farming Systems  at CITA‐Aragón (Spain)

PhD Seminar, Doctoral School of the University of Life Sciences, Lublin (Poland) 23 January 2023

Isabel Casasús 

Department of Animal Science

Outline

1. The European livestock sector 2. The challenges

3. The perspectives

4. Research in Sustainable Livestock  Farming Systems at CITA‐Aragón

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Major role in European agriculture

38.4% of the total agricultural output in 2020

 159 billion €

1.9% of the active population (around 4 million people)

(regional differences)

1. The European livestock sector

• Decreasing no. heads and farms, but larger farms

• Increasing volume and value of output:  efficiency

• Major producing countries: France,  Germany, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Poland

• ൎ eggs and poultry 3

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Typology of European livestock production areas (INRAe, Eurostat 2010)

Large diversity in farming systems

Specialized (54%) vs. mixed crop‐livestock  farms (46%)

LFS strongly associated to agricultural  area and permanent grasslands

 ് livestock species, products and  animal density

 ് impacts of and the services  provided by LFS 

 ൎ challenges, ് solutions?

2. Challenges to the European (and global) livestock sector

1. Demand of high quality, nutritious and safe animal source food for a growing  global population

2. Production systems must be resource‐efficient, welfare‐ and environment‐

friendly, and guarantee the livelihood of farmers + COVID‐19, inflation, Ukraine war

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• Growing demand of ASF

 global population: 9.7 billion by 2050 (UN, 2022)

 large regional disparities

driven by population growth rate and structure, income and consumer preferences

1. Demand of high quality, nutritious and safe animal source food

(OECD‐FAO Agricultural Outlook, 2021) World

+14%

World +17%

• Demand for nutritious, healthy and safe food

ASF: 33% of protein and 17% of energy consumption globally

major contributor to sustainable food security

 ASF in sustainable, healthy diets: limited according to EAT‐Lancet guidelines

‐ alleged link to chronic disease debated (diet‐processing + lifestyle)

‐ high‐quality protein and key nutrients to prevent malnutrition

(Leroy et al., 2022)

 Anti‐microbial resistance:

prophylactic, (sub‐) therapeutical and metaphylactic AMU in livestock resistance genes in bacterial populations: livestock  humans

‐ AMU reduction ‐ One Health approach welfare – management, nutrition

ASF 7

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• Contribution to UN Sustainable  Development Goals

‒ food security and nutrition 

‒ economic development and  livelihoods

‒ animal and human health 

‒ environment, climate and  natural resources 

(Mottet et al., 2018)

regional differences

2. Sustainability of livestock production systems

• Mitigation of and Adaptation to Climate Change

(European Environment Agency, 2021)

Target of the COP26 Climate Change Conference (2021) for 2030:

‒ reduce methane emissions by 30%

‒ limit global warming +1.5°C above pre‐industrial levels

Call for  mitigation

strategies 9

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Impact of climate change on livestock

‒  temperature, ് precipitation, uncertainty,  frequency of extreme events direct effects on health and welfare

indirect effects on availability  and quality of feed and water

‒ Impact on the whole food supply chain:

primary production, transportation, processing, consumption

(Rojas‐Downing  et al., 2017)

Call for  adaptation

strategies

3. Perspectives for the European livestock sector

European Green Deal: carbon neutrality by 2050

Farm to Fork strategy: specific goals for agriculture up to 2030 

“development of sustainable and competitive food systems with  neutral environmental impact, which help to mitigate climate  change andensure food security, quality and affordability, and a  sustainable livelihood for primary producers”

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Sustainable livestock farming

‒ efficient use of natural resources

‒ reduce environmental impacts

‒ maintain/enhance biodiversity

‒ livelihoods of farmers

‒ animal health and welfare

‒ food safety and public health

‒ technically sound

‒ viable along the food chain

‒ fair share of profits for  farmers

(Buckwell et al., 2015)

1. Maximize the resource  use efficiency

2. Reduce competition  with human‐edible food 3. Reduce emissions 4. Promote circularity of 

agro‐ecosystems 5. Enhance the positive 

externalities of LFS R&D priorities

1. Maximize the resource use efficiency

• Improve productivity per head

‒ reproductive efficiency

‒ growth, milk, eggs… (yield + quality)

 lifetime performance

• Improve feed efficiency

‒ breeding

‒ nutritional management

diet composition ‐ requirements herd management

individually‐tailored diets alternative diets

novel feeds forages

+ guarantee animal health and welfare!!

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2. Reduce competition with human‐edible food

‒ 73 million ha permanent grasslands (40% UAA EU)

‒ only ruminants can convert them into human‐edible protein 86%

14%

(Mottet et al., 2017)

• Food security ‐ Feed security?

• Feed sovereignty

EU dependency on imported protein (68% of protein‐rich feed ingredients!) Alternative feed sources

• insects, algae

• local forage crops (legumes‐N)

• waste, industry and agricultural by‐products

• grasslands

non human‐edible origin human‐edible origin

large potential  for the reduction!

How to mitigate livestock methane and ammonia production in LFS?

• Breeding: low heritability, but cost‐effective and cumulative(CH₄)

• Nutritional management

‒ highly digestible feeds(CH₄)

‒ seaweed and micro‐algae(CH₄)

‒ feed additives(CH₄) synthetic: nitrate, 3‐NOP natural: oils, saponins, tannins

‒ legume forages(CH_4,NH₃)

‒ precision feeding(CH_4,NH₃)

• Manure treatments and management

‒ anaerobic digestion(CH₄)

‒ acidification(NH₃)

storage, treatments, field application (EIP‐AGRI, 2017)

3. Reduce emissions

(All about feed)

(Pomar and Remus, 2019)

(LIFE ARIMEDA)

(CRV)

ൎ CC, eutrophization 15

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4. Promote circularity of agro‐ecosystems

(ATF SRIA, 2021) 

• Efficient conversion of local crops (grains, forages), grasslands and  by‐products (low opportunity cost)  into human‐edible protein

• Production of manure – restitution of nutrients to the soils

integration of  livestock,  agriculture  and industry

5. Enhance the positive externalities of LFS

(Bernués et al., 2017) 

Ecosystem services:

• Provisioning ES: material outputs (€)

• Non‐Provisioning ES (public goods)

‒ regulating ES: 

biophysical processes ‐ climate, water

‒ supporting ES:

photosynthesis, nutrient cycling

‒ cultural ES: 

recreational, spiritual, aesthetic Livestock farming practices

promoting C sequestration  enhancing biodiversity  supporting cultural landscapes  reducing environmental hazards… 

Multifunctionality

 benefits perceived by society (values)

 practices rewarded by policies (eco‐schemes) 17

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… promising pathways towards the  sustainability and resilience of 

livestock farming systems

Public research institution of the Government of Aragón dedicated to the agri-food sector

R+D+i areas

Sustainability of farming and forestry

systems Global change

Global health

Agri-food systems of the future

Dept. of Animal Science

Dept. of Plant Science Dept. of Agricultural Systems,

Forestry and Environment

UT Economics

Departments

4. Research in Sustainable Livestock Farming Systems at CITA

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Department of Animal Science Research lines

• Use of land resources by livestock farming

• Improving production efficiency in ruminants through genetics, feeding and reproductive management

• Improving product quality

• Epidemiology, diagnosis and control of livestock diseases

• Optimisation of livestock systems and enhancement of their ecological, economic and social sustainability.

• Individual farmers

• Farmers associations and cooperatives

• Herdbook breeder associations

• Experiments under controlled conditions

Research

Technology transfer

& other studies

Research stations

Commercial farms

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Infrastructures

Experimental herds

of cattle (250) and sheep (700) Indoor facilities: batch feeding, individual intake monitoring systems Different types of pastures:

mountain meadows, forests, irrigated crops, rainfed pastures Experimental slaughterhouse Laboratories

• Meat quality: NIRS, spectrophotometers, Instron texturometer, packaging machines, product tastings and consumer studies.

• Feed quality: liquid chromatography (UPLC), gases (GC), chemical composition (Ankom, Van Soest, Dumas), NIRS, cookers, freeze dryer

• + Reproduction, Health, Molecular Biology ...

Sustainable Livestock Farming Systems

Objective: to design competitive livestock farming systems adapted to the natural resources available in mountain areas

and able to meet societal demands

Farming system Socio-economic context

Animal - environment

Research lines

1. Animal-Environment interaction 2. Farming systems

3. Environmental and socioeconomic sustainability

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Line 1. LIVESTOCK - ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION

• Characterisation, conservation and improvement of genetic resources:

population study, morphological and genetic characterisation

• Technical basis for the use of pastures

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#

espacio 3

#

espacio 1

#

espacio 2

Potencial de pastoreo

Nulo Bajo Medio Alto Muy Alto Carga ganadera real

0.25 - 0.50 0.50 - 0.75 0.75 - 1.00 1.00 - 1.25 1.25 - 1.50

< 0.25

Espacios de actuación Perímetro del PSCG y su ZPP

N 0 5 10 kilómetros

Line 2.

PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

• Alternatives for feeding and breeding management

 local resources (fodder, concentrates, by-products)

 adaptation to climate change

 optimising reproductive efficiency

o animal performance (productivity, growth) o health and welfare

o product quality

... biomarkers and genetic markers 27

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Line 3. SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

• Typification of livestock systems in relation to the socio-economic environment - synergies with other economic activities

• Development of decision-support tools - simulation of production systems

- evaluation of agri-environmental policies

• Valuation of ecosystem services of livestock farming 29

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Some ongoing  R&D  projects...

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 Optimal PB levels in fattening diets

 Inclusion of Mediterranean legumes in the diet:

•Carob in fattening concentrates

•Field pea in fattening concentrates

•Green sainfoin in the diet of lactating ewes

•DH sainfoin in fattening diets

 production and physiological parameters

 carcass and meat quality of suckling lambs

 ruminal fermentation and biohydrogenation

 in vivo digestibility

 in vitro gas production

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LOCALBEEF

PID2021-128492OR-I00

Inclusion of local resources in beef fattening diets

Biomarkers of efficiency and quality

LOCALBEEF

A) Influence of different forms of sainfoin inclusion in beef growing and finishing diets on rumen fermentation, performance, efficiency and product quality.

B) Influence of the inclusion of grape residues in beef fattening diets on rumen fermentation, performance, efficiency and product quality.



in vitro gas and methane production, biohydrogenation of fatty acids and degradability of feed and diets



yields, N-balance, plasma metabolome, rumen microbiome



calculation of feed efficiency + indicators/proxies



carcass and meat quality

CITA - Aragón

Effects of maternal feeding on embryo

development and lifetime performance of the offspring Implications for the production efficiency of the beef herd

Under nutrition in early pregnancy (1^stthird) vs. in late pregnancy (3^rdthird)

Oocyte quality Luteal function Plasmatic P4 Embryo survival Fertility

Nutrient allocation Fetal programming (organic function) DNA changes (epigenetics)

Fetal germ cells Epigenetics

100 vs. 60% feeding 3 m post AI

Dams: E balance, metabolism, maternal recognition of pregnancy Offspring: performance, immune function

• Female replacements

• Fattening males Cow

(short term) Embryo

(mid term) Fetal dvpt.

(long term)

100 vs. 60% feeding + antioxidant suppl.

3 m before calving 37

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Agreement no. 727213 Funding: H2020 IP: I. Casasús (Coord. INRA)

Objective: management tools to optimise dairy and beef cattle resilience and efficiency in widely varying and changing European environments

WP 1: surveys to mountain farmers, R&E 1991-2004-2018

WP 2: analysis of databases (RFI, RPL) + nutritional challenges (experiments)

Animal

System

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Management strategies to improve herd resilience and efficiency by harnessing the adaptive capacities of small ruminants

- management simulation tools

- innovative climate change adaptation strategies Egypt, France, Spain and Tunisia

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Bottom-up Technology demands

R&D projects

Production sector

Top-down

Technology transfer

Research institutions

Contracts RDP

Dziękuję

icasasus@cita‐aragon.es

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