Project co-financed by the European Union through intervention 7161 of the CAP Strategic Plan (PEPAC) 2023–2027

The project is composed of INNOVI as group coordinator, Lagravera as leader, and Recaredo and the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia as consortium members.

Project need:
The combination of climate change, extreme drought, lack of generational renewal, rural abandonment, and difficult working conditions threatens the extensive livestock sector, especially sheep farming. At the same time, wine estates face challenges in sustainability, biodiversity management, and cost reduction, including forest management and the use of fertilizers. This project seeks to integrate sheep grazing in vineyards to jointly address these challenges.

Starting situation:

• Extensive livestock sector: Needs more pastoral resources and sees potential in using vineyards as grazing areas.

• Wine sector: Has increased the surface with cover crops between vine rows, leading to higher mechanized management and use of organic fertilizers. It also faces the cost of maintaining forests to minimize fire risk.

• There is an identified potential for mutual benefit in integrating these sectors.

Project objectives:

• Align interests: Connect the extensive sheep livestock sector with the wine sector to reduce both economic and environmental costs.

• Quantify benefits: Analyze data from small-scale organic wine estates to create a replicable model.

• Assess impacts: Examine how grazing reduces mechanization and fertilizer use, and how vineyards can improve forage availability for flocks.

• Innovation in feeding: Study the use of vine leaves to feed sheep during periods of low grass availability.