Zaragoza, June 3, 2025. This morning marks the opening of the 21st edition of the Animal Production Conference, organized by the Interprofessional Association for Agrarian Development (AIDA), taking place on June 3 and 4. This year’s venue is the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Zaragoza, which will host over 335 registered participants, including 88 candidates for the Young Researchers Award and 159 attendees for the Researchers’ Night event.
A new feature in this edition is the addition of a Precision Livestock Farming section, joining the six traditional thematic areas: Livestock Systems–Economics and Management, Nutrition and Feeding, Reproduction, Genetics, Health and Animal Welfare, and Product Quality. A total of 318 works will be presented, including 268 oral communications and 50 posters.
The opening session will take place on Tuesday, June 3 at 9:00 a.m. in the main auditorium of the Faculty, with a keynote address titled: “Farm Animal Welfare at a Time of Crisis and Uncertainty”, delivered by Peter Sandøe, professor at the University of Copenhagen and one of the world’s leading experts in animal ethics and welfare.
Following this, the round table “Animal Welfare and Intensive Farming” will be held, organized by the Union of Spanish Entities for Animal Science (UEECA) and AIDA. The panel includes representatives from academia, industry, and animal welfare organizations: Isabel Blanco-Penedo (University of Lleida and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, moderator), María Moreno (Compassion in World Farming), Ismael Marzo (Poultry Association of Aragón), Natalia Domínguez (COSTA Group), Beatriz Messía (Spanish Rabbit Industry Association), and Peter Sandøe (University of Copenhagen).
Later that evening, the Young Researchers’ Night will take place starting at 9:00 p.m. at Rock&Blues Café, where young scientists will share their passion for research through science monologues, proving that knowledge dissemination can also bring a smile.
The evening will also feature a short science video competition, showcasing creative and accessible content made by the participants themselves to help engage the public with scientific ideas in innovative ways.
The scientific committee, which includes several members of the IA2, is chaired by Luis Varona (conference secretary) and the section coordinators:
-
Product Quality: Alberto Ortiz, David Tejerina
-
Precision Livestock Farming: Lorena Castillejos, Francisco Maroto
-
Genetics: Romi Pena, María Saura
-
Nutrition and Feeding: Claudia Baila, Alba Cerisuelo
-
Reproduction: Adriana Casao, Belén Lahoz
-
Health and Animal Welfare: Isabel Blanco-Penedo, Arantxa Villagrá
-
Livestock Systems–Economics and Management: Miguel Escribano, Paula Gaspar
The organizing committee is composed of researchers and technicians Alfonso Abecia, Isabel Casasús, Margalida Joy, Mª Ángeles Latorre, David López-Carbonel, Guillermo Ripoll, María Salillas Fernández, Albina Sanz, and Andrés Schlageter.
The IUCA is one of the official collaborators of this conference, along with the Agri-Food Research and Technology Centre of Aragón (CITA), the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies in Spain (CIHEAM Zaragoza), the University of Zaragoza, and the Agri-Food Institute of Aragón (IA2).
Source: Government of Aragón