CITA presents seven scientific communications at the European Congress on Animal Science
The Research and Technology Centre for Food and Agriculture of Aragon (CITA) is participating in the 76th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP), which is taking place from August 25 to 29 in Innsbruck, Austria. Researchers from the Animal Science Department will present seven scientific communications on their latest research work.
The congress, whose central theme is A livestock sector prepared for the future, gathers scientists from around the world. CITA researchers Isabel Casasús, Sara Pérez, Daniel Martín-Collado, Belén Lahoz, and Sandra Lobón will present five oral communications and two in poster format. These works have also involved CITA researchers Margalida Joy, Mireia Blanco, Carlos Calvete, Celia Conesa, Alberto Bernués, Teresa Juan, María Pilar Jiménez De Bagües, Clara Marín, Javier Ferrer, Eduardo Torres, and Research Director Jorge Hugo Calvo, alongside researchers from other national and international universities.
Contributions of Isabel Casasús
Isabel Casasús will participate with an oral communication from the project Inclusion of local resources in beef fattening diets: Biomarkers of efficiency and quality (LocalBeef), focusing on the automated monitoring of the ingestive behavior of fattening calves under thermal stress conditions. She will also present a poster from the FITE project Feasibility of mixed grazing systems of sheep and almond cultivation in dryland conditions in Teruel (Oval-Te), discussing farmers’ and ranchers’ perceptions regarding grazing in woody crops. As Vice President of the Animal Task Force, she will coordinate the session «Livestock in the Next Generations: How Do We Imagine the Future?» and receive recognition for her service to EAAP, where she has served as president for the past four years.
Research by Sandra Lobón and Sara Pérez
Sandra Lobón will contribute with two oral communications. One is part of the LocalBeef project, dedicated to studying the meat quality of calves fed with a diet that includes grape pomace. The second, within the framework of the project Water restriction and infection by gastrointestinal parasites in meat sheep: biomarkers of stress tolerance and modulation through the inclusion of sainfoin (EWESTRESS), analyzes the effect of water restriction and parasitic infection stress on hormonal levels in sheep fed sainfoin.
Sara Pérez will present an oral communication from the EWESTRESS project, examining the differences in gene expression of Rasa Aragonesa sheep in response to thermal and water stress, in relation to their tolerance to these conditions.
Presentations by Daniel Martín-Collado and Belén Lahoz
Daniel Martín-Collado will deliver an invited presentation on the factors that influence the vulnerability of extensive livestock to wild predators in various European livestock systems. This communication is part of the European project Co-creating Sustainable Landscapes for Grazing and Wildlife (CoCo), which studies coexistence between livestock and wildlife.
Belén Lahoz will present a poster from the project Livestock production systems in Aragon and antimicrobial resistances affecting human health (GANARAM Agroalnext), analyzing antimicrobial resistance in bacteria of public health interest, isolated from fattening sheep farms and agricultural fields fertilized with composted manure.
Institutional Membership and Impact
The researchers at CITA belong to the Agro-food Institute of Aragon (IA2) and are members of the consolidated research groups of the DGA «Socio-ecological Systems (A26_23R)», «Research in Sustainable and Healthy Agricultural Production (A25_23R)», «Bacterial Zoonoses: Brucellosis, Salmonellosis, and Streptococcal Infections (A21_23R)», and «Analysis and Evaluation of Food Safety (A06_23R)».
