PENTSUBERRI Project: Modification of the beef cattle feeding system in the Basque Country

The project will study the technical and economic feasibility of replacing soybeans and palm oil with cold-pressed rapeseed oil and cake in feed for fattening calves. It will focus on four aspects:

• Social sustainability, replacing imported raw materials (soy and palm) with alternatives that can be produced locally (rapeseed).
• Environmental Sustainability, reducing the environmental impact of transportation and deforestation associated with these crops (also taking into account that a higher-fat beef diet is expected to lead to lower enteric methane emissions).
• Economic sustainability, replacing foreign raw materials in feed, often subject to market volatility, with locally sourced raw materials, in principle with lower associated costs (transportation).
• Nutritional quality, improving the fatty acid profile present in the meat, and organoleptic quality.