Seeking nutritional and health improvements in European sheep

Within the framework of this project, a thematic network has been created for the interactive exchange of innovative knowledge on the health and nutrition of sheep livestock among the main industry stakeholders from the eight participating countries (France – project leader -, Spain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom, and Turkey). The goal? To improve the productivity and profitability of the sector through better management of animal feeding and health.

As part of this project, the Neiker technological center has played a prominent role as a facilitator of the network in Spain, leading the assessment of needs and the search and acceptance of available solutions for professionals in the sector at the national level, with a greater focus on Euskadi, Navarra, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, and Extremadura.

As explained by Ina Beltrán de Heredia, the national project coordinator and researcher at the Animal Production department of Neiker “in general, the provided solutions contribute to increasing meat and/or milk production, as well as the health and welfare of the animals, the social image of sheep farming, and the efficiency of feeding; thus, they generally contribute to increasing income from the activity. Additionally, some of them also have a positive impact on the environment.”

In fact, most of the selected solutions have been evaluated in terms of technical-economic, environmental, and social aspects to be disseminated and adapted to different geographical and productive contexts.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND EUROPEAN

Multiple activities have been carried as part of the project. Promoting information  exchange among all the economic stakeholders in the sector, from -farmers and technicians to veterinarians and researchers-.

A survey was designed to identify the sector’s needs.  more than 1200 stakeholders, including farmers, technicians, veterinarians, researchers, and professors from the participating countries.

“The results of this survey identified common concerns in all participating countries, especially regarding the acquisition of greater knowledge about the nutritional needs of different types of animals – sheep, replacement lambs, fattening lambs, etc. – and the control of internal parasites,” pointed out Beltrán de Heredia.

Based on this survey, each country has proposed 12 solutions to address the identified problems. These solutions have been selected and implemented in flocks from the eight participating countries. With all the collected material, a European strategy is being designed for the dissemination and exploitation of the results obtained within the research framework to improve the profitability of the sector and guarantee the welfare of the animals.

EUROSHEEP NETWORK

Eurosheep is a European thematic network on the health and nutrition of sheep livestock funded by the European Union through its Horizon 2020 program. It has involved partners from the main sheep-producing countries in the EU (France, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Greece), as well as the United Kingdom and Turkey.

Based on knowledge exchange among the different stakeholders in the sector, the initiative has managed to gather over 96 solutions – 47 related to livestock health management and 49 regarding nutrition management. Additionally, 52 tips and tricks have been presented to apply some of the solutions. Furthermore, in order to address specific needs for which no specific solutions were identified, 26 technical fact sheets have been drafted.

Source: Take and modified from original content: “Soluciones innovadoras para mejorar la salud y la nutrición del ganado ovino de Europa”