The ruminant production programme aims to support the dairy and beef cattle sector in incorporating research-based strategies for sustainable milk and meat production.
Reduction in antibiotic use
One of the big challenges for the coming years is to work on strengthening and improving the relationship between the dairy and meat production sectors. Within this framework, all research carried out to improve the vitality of the calf born on dairy farms and subsequently fattened on farms for meat production is very important. Management and nutrition around weaning of calves, reduction of antibiotic use, identification of new markers of nutritional and health status of animals, and regulation of ruminant metabolism during periods of stress such as transport and mixing of animals are critical in this area.
Within the challenge of reducing the use of antibiotics, work is being done on the development of new recombinant proteins with antimicrobial action as alternatives to antibiotics, as well as on the development of new immunomodulatory molecules and the isolation and identification of new probiotic/prebiotic agents.
Reducing the environmental impact
In the framework of reducing the environmental impact of dairy cows, the programme is also working on nutritional strategies such as precision feeding, the use of diets that help reduce the environmental impact of livestock farming, and the evaluation of different feed additives to improve performance. In this context, work is being done on the development of new enzymes to improve digestibility and feed efficiency. The programme also collaborates with other IRTA research groups such as the one on extensive crops, interacting with fodder production and fertilisation of fields with different fractions of bovine slurry, or with the sustainability group on biosystems for the treatment of livestock manure or the analysis of the life cycle and the different ramaderas. In the case of beef cattle, work is being done on new feeding and management strategies to reduce methane emissions, as well as on optimising the use of drinking water to reduce the water footprint of fattening calves.
