Meat and milk production from cattle becomes sustainable with the Filierba project, designed by the University of Turin. The techniques adopted improve biodiversity, soil fertility and nutritional values of food, ennobling the short supply chain.
The initiative was illustrated on March 10 at a technical-scientific symposium dedicated to extensive livestock farming, organized in Tempio Pausania by the University of Sassari, Agris Sardegna and CNR.
‘Green‘ cattle farms
The future of cattle farming is‘green,’ outdoors, and brings benefits both to the animals, who are grazing, and to the ecosystem, which-thanks precisely to the presence of ruminants-improves in terms of biodiversity and soil fertility.
Also benefiting from extensive production are consumers of the foods produced in that type of farming, which are characterized by high nutritional values (unsaturated fats, antioxidants, vitamins) and very low environmental impact.
The University of Turin’s Filierba project.
Giampiero Lombardi, an associate professor at the University of Turin, and Sergio Capaldo, president of the La Granda consortium in Genola, Cuneo, presented their experience with the Filierba project (DISAFA UniTO) and a model of sustainable meat production in which the microbial component of the soil gives a unique identity to forages and thus to products.
Prof. Lombardi outlined the prerogatives of the Filierba project, funded by the Piedmont Region (RDP 2014-2020) for the creation of livestock supply chains based on fodder from highly biodiverse meadows. And he then presented the goals, partners and innovations with it.
The goals of Filierba
‘In addition to supporting production and the dissemination of food of animal origin other than conventional foods in local markets, Filierba (an acronym for Grass Supply Chains) works to promote the development of meat and milk production chains from cattle fed mainly on fresh grass and hay from high-biodiversity grasslands and to introduce innovative livestock management solutions to improve producers’ business organization‘, Lombardi explained.
Further outcome of the project is.
- The strengthening of the link between products and territory,
- The development of integrative production to livestock production, in the logic of multifunctionality and diversification,
- The facilitation of consumer access to foods with high nutritional value.
The operational context
The Filierba project was designed taking into account the reduction in productivity and competitiveness of dairy and meat farms over the past decade. Reduction accrued in a rapidly changing socio-economic environment as a result of changing consumer eating habits, economic crisis, supply instability, and more.
To help companies to overcome these difficulties, the researchers involved in the project intervened both on the organization of the individual reality and on the production processes, leading the companies to reduce costs, intervening on the feeding of animals and the processing of products, differentiating and enhancing the productions, improving their nutritional and health characteristics.
In this way, they have created the conditions to extract higher prices at the sale, also in order to optimize the competitiveness of companies in the market.
Researchers have also worked on improving animal welfare and reducing the impact of farming systems on the environment by minimizing the negative effects of animal products on human health. And they have simplified the organization of supply chains, promoting short supply chains and enhancing the value of products at the local level, changing the distribution of revenues among the different actors involved.
The innovations introduced
In the management of forage resources, planning tools have been adopted that have long been known but little known to the farmers themselves, except for those who practice summer pasture.
Among these tools, it is worth mentioning the Pastoral Plan-born for the mountains and applied with Filierba also in the plains-which defines criteria and technical path for the proper management of pasture, identifying the optimal times of its use and the most appropriate movements of herds.
With it, mowing is also introduced, and the manure plan and livestock manure management are integrated.
Project partners
In its implementation, Filierba involves a group of Piedmontese operators from the dairy and beef sectors. These are farms interested in diversifying and enhancing their products and taking action on production costs through a herbivore feeding system based on highly biodiverse forages.
It also enjoys the support of two university departments, service companies, a cultural association, a commercial distribution operator and a communications agency.
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
