SUSTAINABILITY OF INTENSIVE ANIMAL HOUSING IN PORTUGAL

V. Fitas da Cruz & F. BaptistaRural Engineering Department,

Évora University - Portugalvfc@uevora.pt fb@uevora.pt

Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017Livestock housing : let’s build the future 2

CONTENTS

1. Brief overview of intensive animal production in Portugal2. Sustainability of Livestock Farming 3. Some constrains for Portuguese intensive animal production4. Sustainable design of livestock housing5. Projects developed by Évora University

Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017Livestock housing : let’s build the future 3

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF ANIMAL PRODUCTION IN PORTUGAL

• Poultry production– 6,7% of national agriculture product;– 20.254.000 broilers (60% of total poultry);– Beira Litoral and Ribatejo e Oeste

(Coastal areas);– Portugal is self sufficient in poultry meat.

Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017Livestock housing : let’s build the future 4

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF ANIMAL PRODUCTION IN PORTUGAL

• Pig production– 8,5% of national agriculture product;– Around 1.900.000 of pigs;– Ribatejo e Oeste – 35%; – Alentejo (Inland área) – 45%;– Beira Litoral – 15%.

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SUSTAINABILITY OF LIVESTOCK FARMING

SUSTAINABILITYCLIMATIC

CONDITIONS

LEGISLATION

ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS

SYSTEM PROFITABILITY

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SOME CONSTRAINS FOR PORTUGUESE INTENSIVE ANIMAL PRODUCTION

• Economic factors

– Financial difficulties faced by farmers (undercapitalization);

– Competitive edge with farmers from other countries due to open market, from European and other countries outside Europe;

– Low amount of total production (small size of the national herds).

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SOME CONSTRAINS FOR PORTUGUESE INTENSIVE ANIMAL PRODUCTION

• Climatic conditions– Mediterranean Climate

• Moderate cold and wet Winter;• Dry and hot Summer with high amount of solar radiation

(particularly in Alentejo and Northeastern regions)

• Heterogeneous areas– Coastal zone vs Inland zones.

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SOME CONSTRAINS FOR PORTUGUESE INTENSIVE ANIMAL PRODUCTION

(Winter) (Summer)

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SOME CONSTRAINS FOR PORTUGUESE INTENSIVE ANIMAL PRODUCTION

• Climatic conditions

– Reference values for environmental control of livestock and poultry

ExtremeCriticalAcceptableOptimum

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SOME CONSTRAINS FOR PORTUGUESE INTENSIVE ANIMAL PRODUCTION

– In Alentejo…• Summer – hot and dry (average maximum temperatures in the warmer months,

July and August, reaches 30ᵒC);• Winter – cold and wet (average minimum temperatures in the last months,

December and January, are around 6ᵒC).

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SOME CONSTRAINS FOR PORTUGUESE INTENSIVE ANIMAL PRODUCTION

. . . . . .

Alentejo Region MAXIMUM DESIGN TEMPERATURE (ᵒC)

SUMMER

June 2016 33,4July 2016 38,3

August 2016 38,2September 2016 34,6

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SOME CONSTRAINS FOR PORTUGUESE INTENSIVE ANIMAL PRODUCTION

. . . . . .

Alentejo Region MINIMUM DESIGN TEMPERATURE (ᵒC)

WINTER

November 2016 5,6December 2016 4,1January 2017 1,6February 2015 2,7

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SOME CONSTRAINS FOR PORTUGUESE INTENSIVE ANIMAL PRODUCTION

Alentejo Region DAYS HOURST > 30 ᵒC T < 10 ᵒC T > 35 ᵒC T < 5 ᵒC

SUMMER

June 2016 18 20July 2016 31 108

August 2016 31 100September 2016 21 37

WINTER

November 2016 22 23December 2016 29 79January 2017 29 182February 2015 28 ---------

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SOME CONSTRAINS FOR PORTUGUESE INTENSIVE ANIMAL PRODUCTION

INADEQUATE TEMPERATURES

INFLUENCE ON ANIMAL WELFARE AND PRODUTION

NEED FOR MONITORING ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL

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SOME CONSTRAINS FOR PORTUGUESE INTENSIVE ANIMAL PRODUCTION

• Legislation and regulation– Adoption of European Union rules that are very restrictive and

effective:• NREAP - Decreto-Lei n.º 81/2013 Other legislation related with NREAP specific for each system of production and for each kind of animal product;• Regulation for buildings (design and constructions rules);• Regulation for Animal Health (disease preventions) and Food Security;• Environmental protection, code of good agriculture practices, Best

Available Techniques;• Animal Welfare Regulation, that are is permissive in some aspects but very

restrictive and not well adapted to warm climates in other aspects.

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SOME CONSTRAINS FOR PORTUGUESE INTENSIVE ANIMAL PRODUCTION

• Environmental questions– 3 R’s: Constrain or opportunity?

• Reducing the amount of waste you produce is the best way to help the environment;

• Instead of throwing things away, try to find ways to use them again (Reuse);

• Recycled items are put through a process that makes it possible to create new products out of the materials from the old ones.

RECYCLE

REUSE

REDUCE

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SUSTAINABLE DESIGN OF LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY HOUSING

MUST INCLUDE

Animal Welfare vs Production

Environmental Control(Energy Efficiency)

3R’s (Waste management)

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Meanwhile in Alentejo zone

• Area where many farming activities are concentrated:

OLIVE OILPRODUCTION

ANIMALPRODUCTION

WINEPRODUCTION

- PIGS AND POULTRY- BEEF CATTLE- DAIRY CAATLE- SHEEP AND GOAT

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PROJECTS DEVELOPED BY ÉVORA UNIVERSITY

ALENTEJO CIRCULARAWARTECH

InPec-ENERGY

ALENTEJO CIRCULAR

AWARTECH

ALENTEJO CIRCULAR

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InPEC-ENERGY

• Modern livestock companies (poultry and pig farming) have high energy consumption (electric and thermal), representing a significant share of the production costs;

• Production cost of 1 kg of meat tends to increase in the coming years;

• Companies potential to increase the efficiency of resource use, in particular energy, by optimizing economic/competitiveness efficiency and viability;

• Equipment (sensors, automation, etc.) and technologies (renewable energies, ICT, etc.) with potential to enhance the sustainability of the sector;

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InPEC-ENERGY

• GOALS:– Integrate information of energy consumption needs

– Production of Renewable Energy in order to reduce the economic impact of energy in the production

WITH

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ALENTEJO CIRCULAR

• According the current LINEAR ECONOMIC MODEL for the agricultural and agri-food sectors

31%

69%

FOOD (Europe)Wasted Consumed 9% Farming production

4%Post-harvest, handling andstorage5% Processing and packaging3% Distribution11% Consumer

STRUCTURAL WASTE IN FOOD PRODUCTION

UN FAO, Global Food Losses and Food Waste, 2011

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ALENTEJO CIRCULAR

• THE CIRCULAR ECONOMIC MODEL: The necessary paradigm shift!

(Ellen MacArthur Foundation)

Rethinking current ways ofproducing and consuming:- Optimize flows of goods;- Maximize resource utilization;- Minimize waste generation;- Maximize economic value of productsand services;- Preserving natural capital;- Reduce risk/negative externalities.

COMPETITIVENESS AND VALUE CREATIONIN COMPANIES

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ALENTEJO CIRCULAR

• Transition to the CIRCULAR ECONOMY in agricultural and agroindustry sectors

Diagnose the current situation Identify best practices

Analyze opportunities and barriers

Inform, sensitize, listen the industry players and other stakeholders Promote communication and

knowledge sharing

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ALENTEJO CIRCULAR

• GOAL:– Sensitize and mobilize Alentejo economic agents in the sectors of

olive oil, wine and pig’s farming.

– It was launched on November 14th and aims the creation ofvalues in agricultural and agro-industrial farms through thetransfer of knowledge concerning practices and technologies foran efficient use of resources and recover of waste.

Adoption of the Circular Economy model!

Development of a tool for Precision Livestock farming to support thesustainability of the pig value chain.

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AWARTECH

Specificity of production

Market imperfections

Globalization

• GOALS:– Measure and evaluate a set of environmental variables and

physiological characteristics in order to minimize its impact onanimal welfare and its impact on economic of livestock farming.

• Started in September 2016

• GOALS:– Development of methodologies for record information in animals, in

real time;– Test equipment and methodology;– Integrate all information recorded in an algorithm to develop an

environmental control software;– Analyze the profitability of the use of this software and equipment;– Transference of knowledge to the stakeholders;

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AWARTECH

Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017Livestock housing : let’s build the future

Information recorded Analytical system

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(IoAHT or manually)

Correlation of data to provide predictive analyzes and the developmentof simulation models with the aim of improving animal welfare andproductive efficiency in each livestock farming production.

AWARTECH

• GOALS:– Study conditions of replication of the platform that allows

adaptation to other contexts (animal or regions).

“HOW?”

AWARTECH

Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017Livestock housing : let’s build the future

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!!

Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017Livestock housing : let’s build the future