The event will feature Ana Galeote and Leticia Riaguas, from Oviaragón; Miguel Tainta, technical director of ASIGA and a specialist in animal nutrition and pathology; and Isabel Casasús, a CITA researcher specializing in ruminant production. With farmers from the region in attendance, the event will introduce the sector to some of the tools and knowledge being developed במסגרת BoviTECH to move toward more efficient and sustainable livestock farming based on data-driven decisions.
A PROJECT TO IMPROVE FEEDLOT MANAGEMENT
BoviTECH was launched in 2025 with the aim of providing innovative tools to help the sector make decisions, improve farm efficiency and care for animals. To this end, farmers, technicians and researchers are working to incorporate biometric parameters and monitoring technologies into the management of calf fattening, with the aim of assessing how feeding affects their health, welfare and productive performance.
The project is coordinated by Oviaragón-Grupo Pastores, a cooperative with extensive experience in the sheep sector that is applying its expertise to cattle and, since 2024, has managed the fattening of more than 2,500 calves at 14 Aragonese feedlots.
Collaborating partners include the Center for Agro-Food Research and Technology of Aragon (CITA), the Huesca Polytechnic School of the University of Zaragoza and ASIGA. CITA's Animal Science Department contributes its research expertise in livestock systems and animal production, while the Polytechnic School's Agricultural and Industrial Machinery Laboratory provides knowledge in technology, digitalization and monitoring.
ASIGA, for its part, works to improve animal health through sustainable management strategies and reduced medication use. BoviTECH is an Operational Group of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) במסגרת the 2023–2027 National Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy, co-financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (80% and 20%, respectively), under its 2025 call.
MORE THAN 400 WEEKLY RECORDS TO DETECT RISKS
The core of the project is to develop a decision-support system capable of integrating production, health, environmental and management information to generate early warnings of potential health problems in feedlots before they affect the animals' growth and welfare.
To this end, different feeding strategies and commercial technologies for individual animal monitoring are being assessed. Data on feed intake, productive performance, environmental conditions and health incidents are also systematically collected. This health monitoring has so far generated more than 400 weekly records from the participating farms.
Integrating this data with environmental information obtained through sensors and weather records will make it possible to establish alert thresholds to identify health-risk situations at an early stage and thereby improve the ability to respond.
At the same time, the project is studying different nutritional strategies to optimize the calves' production results. To this end, several commercial feed formulations with different energy levels and presentation formats (meals and pellets) are being compared, while natural flavonoids are also being added because of their intestinal anti-inflammatory effect. The ultimate goal is to improve the animals' digestive health and minimize the need for veterinary treatments במסגרת a One Health strategy, while maintaining good economic efficiency.
