Cattle farming, 28 June study day in the Agriculture department of the University of Sassari

PRESS RELEASE

SASSARI. A study conference on "Bovine farming and valorisation of Sardinia's environmental resources" will be held on Friday 28 June from 9.30 to 13.00 in the Barbieri lecture hall of the Agriculture department of the University of Sassari (viale Italia 39a). The event will open with greetings from the Magnificent Rector, Gavino Mariotti.

In Sardinia the cattle sector constitutes the second largest livestock activity for the regional agricultural economy, with two directions, one for meat and one for milk. According to the National Database updated to 2023, in our territory there are just over 9000 companies in which approximately 286,000 animals are raised. The direction for meat production is the most important one, both in terms of number of cattle farms (around 80%), animals raised (around 70%) and territorial spread. As is known, it is characterized by the cow-calf line and the fattening phase.

The first is a form of farming that promotes and supports the production of calves for fattening. The second completes the cycle, bringing the veal, depending on the case, to a slaughter weight of 450-500 kg (light veal) or 600-650 kg (heavy veal). The beef cattle supply chain is mostly concentrated in the municipalities of the center and north of the island, characterized by mostly hilly environments, where three local rustic breeds (Sarda, Sardo-Bruna and Sardo-Modicana) and specialized foreign breeds (Limousine and Charolaise) used as paternal lines and crossed with cows of local breeds in order to obtain crossbreeds with intermediate characteristics between the parenteral genetic types. For the same reason, almost half of the animals present in Sardinia are represented by crossbreeds, who are distributed uniformly throughout the entire regional territory. On the contrary, pure breeds such as Charolaise and Limousine are mostly concentrated in northern Sardinia, the Sardo-Bruna and the Sarda in the centre, while the Sardo-Modicana in the Montiferru region.

The study day organized by the Department of Agriculture of the University of Sassari aims to take stock of the beef supply chains in Sardinia and the ability that various research projects have shown to transfer innovation to the world of breeders and meat processing industry and the regenerative economy downstream of the process. In this context, the research projects Bovaria, ProBovis, Boes,  Meat Culture and Versoa will be presented, conducted by Agriculture researchers with the companies Forma, Milia, Cooperativa Prospettitori Arborea and BSGreen respectively.  The conference is organized under the patronage of the National Academy of Agriculture, whose president prof. Giorgio Cantelli Forti will bring the greeting and draw conclusions, and of the Association for Animal Science and Production, with greetings from the president prof. Nicola Macciotta.

Finally, training credits are provided for both agronomic professionals and for students of doctorates and degrees in Agriculture.