OVITRONIC Operational Group: Digitalization of environmental parameters in sheep fattening housing to optimize indoor air quality

Technologies for environmental monitoring, the development of predictive models, and the improvement of housing environmental conditions through automated air conditioning/ventilation technologies are clearly linked to improved animal productivity and welfare and therefore directly contribute to improving the competitiveness and viability of livestock farms, thereby achieving greater economic, social, and environmental sustainability.

Additionally, the digital transformation of livestock farms and their transition to a competitive, green, and digital economy are being promoted. Finally, support is being provided to the extensive sheep farming sector, as lambs from extensive sheep farming in Aragon are fattened in the livestock facilities (sheep feedlots) that are the subject of this application.

The environmental conditions of livestock housing are a critical and determining factor for achieving efficient livestock development and, therefore, optimal farm profitability. Inside livestock housing, the air reaches certain levels of humidity, temperature, and concentrations of harmful gases and solid particles due to the respiratory activity of livestock and the waste they generate.

In this sense, ventilation is one of the key factors in ensuring air quality with low levels of harmful elements for livestock, minimizing the development of disease and mortality, while maximizing production indicators such as average daily gain, feed efficiency index, and feed conversion ratio.

The purpose of ventilation is to replace the indoor air with air from outside that has different characteristics and is generally more suitable for animal development, reducing air humidity and temperature and eliminating dust and harmful gases (Zhang et al., 2001; Sevi et al., 2003).