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“To know how to improve, we first need to know where we started, and until now, we didn’t have that picture.”
The Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA) in Catalonia has indicated that local, more digestible feed can reduce the environmental impact of livestock. “In the project, we adapted the method to the reality of Catalan companies in the beef sector to have a more realistic diagnosis in Catalonia and, thus, be able to prepare the sector to comply with European environmental standards”, explains Montse Núñez, researcher of the IRTA Sustainability program in biosystems.
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Throughout the project, data on the consumption of resources used and emissions produced by two intensive calf fattening farms of Grupo Viñas SA, one of the most representative companies in the beef sector in terms of production and extension systems, and three milkmaids from the cooperative Ganaderos del Baix Empordà, SCCL, which produces milk for Llet Nostra. There are many companies in the livestock sector that, attentive to society's demands, are increasingly attentive to measuring the impact of their activity and reducing it.
“To know how to improve, we first need to know where we started, and we didn’t have that picture, until now”, explains the person responsible for Quality at Grupo Viñas SA, Guillem de Planell. For his part, Jordi Riembau, president of the Cooperativa de Ganaderos del Baix Empordà – Llet Nostra, confirms that “projects like these help us explain our work, as well as establish priorities when it comes to reducing our environmental impact”.
This diagnosis is what is called the environmental footprint generated by all components of the cycle to reach a packaged meat or a carton of milk. The study concludes that most environmental impacts occur at the origin of the raw materials for feed and on the farm itself. In smaller quantities, they are produced in the slaughterhouse, during transport, in the warehouse and at the packaging stage, among others.
Source: Leonardo Gottems | agrolink
