Since 2013, the ATF-EAAP Special Session during the EAAP Annual Meeting aims to bring together animal science with practice of animal production and connect researchers, policy makers, industry representatives and societal organisations.

Every year, a different topic is addressed during this session.

Once again, and for the 4th time, the EAAP Livestock Farming Systems Study Commission and the ATF Special Session co-organise a one-day symposium.

Background

In the context of climate change, measurement of the use of animal resources in all its components is a key question.

It includes the use of animal products for human food consumption but also many other uses: fibre, feed, energy, manure for fertilisation, biodiversity and fire management, enhanced nutrition, insulation of houses, medical intervention, drugs production as well as culture and vibrant rural communities.

All these uses, in addition to food, contribute to the closing of the biological cycle, and are key points to reduce waste and valorise the contribution of animal production to the circular bioeconomy.

Some of them, like manure, fibre and drug production are alternatives to the use of fossil resources and contribute significatively to improving the climate balance of animal production.

The theme covers all the species and involves all the actors including production, industry, and the co-product valorization sector.

• Assessment methods to estimate all these non-food use benefits with the appropriate measurement tool;
• Demonstration of the contribution of these non-food uses to the overall balance of animal production and energy consumption or greenhouse gas emissions;
• Fields of research necessary to increase the benefit of non-food use of animal product;
• Estimation of synergies and trade-offs between food and the other valorizations;
• Compatibility of these uses with health and food security (the spectra of BSE is still present in the public opinion).

• Wool, leather, fur, feathers: clothes, bags, equipment’s, insulation for houses or cars…
• By product of slaughtering: fat, protein, bones, and product extracted (collagen, gelatin (cooking))
• Methane or biogas production as a renewable energy source
• Manure to fertilise the
• Landscape management (forest fire, avalanches); effect on soil with pasture and trampling
• Eco-shepherding in the towns
• Used as a mediator in certain mental illnesses (autism…)
• Support of human culture (cf.

  classification of transhumance on patrimony of UNESCO)…

• Animal traction: skidding (forest preservation); local transportation in some villages or towns for example for waste bin or children to school…

Aim

The symposium aims to contribute to:

• Engage a dialogue with various stakeholders;
• Address how research and innovation can support the livestock sector;
• Provide input to European research and innovation agendas and to public policies to secure Europe’s role as a leading global provider of safe and healthy animal-derived products;
• Support knowledge development and innovation;
• Foster ownership by farmers

The outcomes of the session will be discussed with a large panel of European stakeholders during the 14th ATF seminar, in Brussels, on 20 November.

Provisional programme:

Morning:

• Welcome and introduction, by Frank O'Mara (ATF/Teagasc) & Michael Lee (Harper Adams University)
• Role of livestock in circular bioeconomy systems, By Philippe Becquet (FAO)
• Beyond Edibles: Unveiling the Full socio-economic Value of Animal Production through Non-Food Products in Circular Economy Designs, by Luigi Cembalo (University of Naples Federico II)
• Genetic determinism of quality of lamb leather in Lacaune dairy sheep breed, by Laurence Drouilhet (INRAE)
• A systemic description of the dairy value chain’s contribution to inclusive sustainable development in highland, by Andrea Ceppatelli (University of Padova)
• What is the performance of a low-input sheep flock integrated into an agroecological field crop system?, by Jérôme Boucherot (INRAE)
• Livestock manure for fertiliser and biofuels, by Henrik Bjarne Møller (Aarhus University)
• Cow’s Milk – Going beyond basic nutrition to harness functional components, by Paul Cotter (Teagasc)
• Evolving standards: ethical perspectives on animal welfare in agroecology, by Jacopo Goracci (Tenuta di Paganico Farm & Italian Agroforestry Association)
• Panel discussion, with speakers and audience

Afternoon:

• Influence of pastoral management on the conservation of the cultural landscape and biodiversity of mountain pastures, by Massimiliano Probo (Agroscope)
• Trends in the association of herbivores and pigs in the Massif Central, by Christine Roguet (IFIP)
• Contribution of livestock in organic agriculture development: a study on nitrogen flows in expansion scenarios in France, by Fanny Vergely (INRAE)
• The representations and attractiveness of livestock farming professions under the influence of societal issues.

  The French situation in a European perspective.

  , by Anne-Charlotte Dockes (idele)

• Life cycle and ecosystem services assessments provide opposite evaluations of the food and non-food contributions of livestock farming systems, by Frédéric Joly (INRAE)
• Beyond the Pigs: Socio-Economic Impacts of African Swine Fever (ASF) on Indigenous Breeds in Bulgaria and Eastern EU, by Giorgia Angeloni (IZS delle Venezie)
• Biopolymers of animal origin: production, properties and applications, by Vitaliy Khutoryanskiy (University of Reading)
• Valorization of a waste from food industry: bovine hide to leather, by Giacomo Zorzi (UNIC)
• Cross-analysis of crop-livestock integration, sustainability and biodiversity on 10 French experimental farms, by Gilles Martel (INRAE)
• Bee friendly livestock systems, by Liza Garcia (University of Florida)
• Closing remarks, by Frank O'Mara (ATF/Teagasc) & Michael Lee (Harper Adams University)

Registration mandatory on the EAAP2024