The new tool features an interactive interface, customized reports, and advanced comparative analysis and benchmarking capabilities.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food hosted its presentation on September 16, during an event organized by the CAP Network in collaboration with IRTA.
On September 16, the Spanish Pig Sector Database (BDporc)—a benchmark platform for technical and production analysis in the pig sector, managed by the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA)—unveiled its new digital platform. This platform is designed to provide advanced services for data consultation, analysis, and decision-making support for pig farms.
The presentation took place at the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on Gran Vía (Madrid), during an event organized by the CAP Network (Red PAC) in collaboration with IRTA. The gathering brought together industry stakeholders, companies, cooperatives, research centers, and key representatives from public authorities.
For over thirty years, BDporc has provided objective, comparable data that enables pig farms to track their performance, benchmark themselves against similar operations, and identify opportunities for improvement.
The latest complete dataset covers 575 farms (490 white-coat pig farms and 85 Iberian pig farms), representing a total of more than 917,885 breeding sows. This high level of representation allows for the generation of robust, useful technical and production benchmarks for the entire sector.
The platform has continuously evolved to keep pace with changes in pig production and the growing need for reliable, up-to-date, and easily interpretable information. Its recent overhaul marks a further step forward in the digitalization of farm management.
The new platform features a completely revamped interface and services tailored to different user profiles, alongside advanced tools for querying, visualizing, and leveraging data.
Key new features include the development of an API for the automated transmission of data from farm management software and an interactive interface that allows users to create custom queries and reports, select the most relevant indicators for each farm, and compare results against reference groups using new visualization, analysis, and benchmarking tools.
For instance, a company can select one or more of its farms and specific indicators, track their evolution over time across different periods, and interactively compare them with the aggregated results of farms with similar characteristics. This makes it easier to spot trends or deviations, identify strengths and areas for improvement, and more precisely monitor the impact of decisions made.
The new application also includes a notification system tailored to user preferences, providing alerts and commendations regarding the performance of key indicators. Additional features include the ability to edit and view farm profiling questionnaires and to access the farm’s history of *Porc d’Or* awards. At the company level, users can view both overall company data and individual farm data, as well as rank farms by indicator and see how they compare to reference groups.
This upgrade—which ensures data confidentiality and ownership at all times—will also facilitate access to information based on the specific needs of each user profile. Furthermore, it allows for the progressive integration of new, ongoing developments and projects designed to expand BDporc’s analytical capabilities, thereby supporting analysis and decision-making in the face of the sector’s evolving challenges regarding efficiency, sustainability, and biosecurity.
The event combined technical presentations, practical demonstrations, and discussion sessions to showcase the platform’s latest features and demonstrate its applications for various user profiles.
The event opened with an official address by José Luis Agüero Monedero, Deputy Director General of Livestock and Game Production at MAPA, and featured participation from representatives of the Ministry, ANPROGAPOR, and IRTA, who addressed key challenges facing the swine sector and the role of digital tools in its transformation.
Notable presentations included those by Llibertat Tusell, researcher and head of the Genetics and Animal Breeding program, and Raquel Quintanilla, a researcher in Genetics and Animal Breeding at IRTA; they outlined the evolution of BDporc, the platform’s new functionalities, and ongoing projects that will drive future platform developments. The event concluded with remarks by Simó Alegre, Director of Research and Innovation Development at IRTA.
In addition to the technical presentation, the event featured an interactive session and a roundtable discussion with industry representatives: José Luis Agüero Monedero, Deputy Director General of Livestock and Game Production at MAPA; Miguel Angel Higuera Pascual, Director of Anprogapor; David Rivera, Head of Data and Cost Analysis at Mazana Piensos Compuestos; Mar Lara Díaz-Meco, Veterinary Specialist at Nudesa; and Vicente Rodríguez Estévez, Professor of Animal Production at the University of Córdoba. The discussion gathered proposals, needs, and expectations to help shape the platform’s future evolution, thereby reinforcing its focus on the real-world needs of pig farms.
