METOVI Operational Group: Strategies for adaptation and mitigation of heat stress in Aragonese sheep
- Type Operational group
- Status In progress
- Execution 2025 -2028
- Assigned Budget 86.470,00 €
- Scope Autonómico
- Autonomous community Aragón
- Main source of financing CAP 2023-2027
- Project website Web del proyecto
We are now in the second year of the project. We have selected six commercially available active ingredients, described as potential regulators of heat stress in lambs, which will be incorporated into the feed and tested from May onwards through various comparative trials, with a control group, in two different butcher shops in the region, subjected to heat stress during the summer months.
These trials will be repeated in early autumn, when the effects of the heat linger. Additionally, the planting of aromatic plants around the perimeter of the insect infestation will begin, along with the design of traps for their identification and quantification.
This project aims to address the health and well-being of lambs during their fattening age through climate change adaptation measures related to feeding and the use of aromatic plant essences.
- Identification and selection of phytotherapeutic agents.
- Feed manufacturing process
- Start of animal trials.
- Planning and planting of trees and aromatic plants.
- Design, planning and implementation of the insect sampling system.
- Design, installation and control of the elements for the diffusion of aromatics.
- Monitoring of environmental indicators such as temperature and humidity.
- Collection, analysis and interpretation of all information.
- Dissemination activities.
The Ebro Valley is one of the areas that will be greatly affected by the pronounced temperature increases, more frequent heat waves and the decrease in rainfall during the spring and summer seasons, which are expected in the Mediterranean basin, which has been categorized as a global warming hotspot (Giorgi, 2006).
Farm animals subjected to stress (including heat stress) respond with physiological changes involving the sympathetic-adrenomedullary and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axes, releasing cortisol. One of the most notable responses in the animal's ability to adapt to high ambient temperatures is a decrease in feed intake (He et al., 2018), which leads to reduced productivity.
In lamb fattening farms and other livestock operations in Aragon, mortality is concentrated in the first few days of life and during the warmest months. Climate change, in turn, can cause significant changes in vectors and diseases, such as an increase in the vector activity period, the introduction of new species, the colonization of new areas, or the emergence of new diseases.
This project aims to address the health and well-being of lambs during their fattening age through climate change adaptation measures related to feeding and the use of aromatic plant essences.
The main objective of the project is to reduce the negative effects of climate change on the fattening and marketing of lambs for meat in Aragon. This is especially true for the effects caused by the increase in maximum temperatures throughout the year, which generates heat stress and increases the presence of blood-sucking insects that act as vectors of contagious diseases and reduce animal welfare.
- Objective 1. To establish a temperature-humidity index (THI) gradient to evaluate different levels of heat stress during the rearing of Rasa Aragonesa lambs and to study the effects on production parameters, physiological and metabolic mechanisms, and meat quality. In this way, simple monitoring of temperature and humidity on livestock farms will allow for corrective measures to be taken in situations that cause lambs to suffer from heat stress.
- Objective 2. To evaluate the usefulness of four additives in the diet of lambs to avoid the deleterious effects of ET on productive parameters, physiological and metabolic mechanisms, and meat quality.
- Objective 3. To evaluate the reduction of hematophagous and annoying insect populations for animals and their impact on the productive and physiological parameters of lambs.
- Entity name: OVIARAGON SCL
- Postal address: Camino Cogullada 65, Calle G, Edificio Pastores, Mercazaragoza, 50014 Zaragoza
- Email: address@oviaragon.com
- Telephone: 976138050
- Entity name: GALLICUM
- Postal address: POLIGONO EL CAMPILLO, ZUERA
- Email: clz@coopzuera.com
- Telephone: 976680262
- OVIARAGON SCL
- GALLICUM