Daily Article HOY ARAGON (23 May, 2023)
The drought has skyrocketed the price of fodder and this company from San Mateo de Gállego offers an alternative diet for ruminants such as lambs and calves. The extreme drought that Spain and other countries are experiencing does not only affect agriculture: livestock companies are suffering the consequences of a shortage of fodder to feed the animals to very worrying levels. An example is the price of straw, which has gone from around 90 euros a ton to more than 250. Particularly, the traditional diet of ruminants is usually composed of two elements: feed and forage. Given the scarcity of the second, an Aragonese company, INZAR, located in San Mateo de Gállego, is succeeding with its differentiated model that allows designing diets in which it is not necessary for the animals to eat straw for fattening. As its manager, Mariano Terreu, explains to HOY ARAGÓN, "we are dedicated to designing food systems". These are marketed both to feed manufacturers and directly to livestock companies, and not only in Spain. Since its founding in 1990 (they celebrate their 33rd birthday this week), they have managed to expand their diet system to countries like Ireland, the United Kingdom, Portugal, France... and even China and Australia. “We have had the same philosophy since the company was founded, carried out by veterinarians, with innovation as a premise”, explains Terreu. This model has allowed them to create a dietary formula that has advantages such as saving the cost of straw and its handling. In addition, according to tests carried out by the CSIC with lambs, the emission of gases produced by the animals is reduced by 20%. If the climatic situation does not change radically, "soon it will not be possible to buy straw", which is why the diet systems offered by INZAR are gaining special notoriety in the sector. So much so that, in the field of lambs, "most of the large producers are already working with us," says the company manager.