The Region has approved guidelines for granting compensation, totaling nearly €26 million, to farms affected by the Bluetongue virus in 2024.
The green light came from the Todde administration, at the suggestion of Agriculture Councilor Gian Franco Satta : "Today we fulfilled another commitment we made to Sardinian farmers. Three months after the local health authorities certified the closure of the outbreaks, we adopted the resolution establishing the amount of compensation and will allow Laore to immediately begin the application process."
"The damage caused by Bluetongue in 2024, with the last outbreak recorded last March, will be paid by this fall," Satta adds, " with higher amounts than in the past and through the same system used for 2022 and 2023, a pre-compiled and easy-to-use system that will allow for rapid disbursement of resources to farms . This resolution marks a change of pace both in terms of timing and in the value recognized for our sheep and goat heritage."
Furthermore, the councilor explains, "Last year , the spread of the disease was very significant and particularly aggressive, primarily due to the circulation of serotype 8, for which a vaccine was initially unavailable. By the time the outbreaks ended, with the last case recorded in March, the disease had affected 4,765 farms, with 1,448,109 animals present and 78,091 deaths. The vaccination campaign, which began significantly late, especially for serotype 8, had failed to contain the spread of the disease, and despite the efforts made, the data recorded at the end of the epidemic were certainly discouraging."
"Precisely for these reasons," Satta continues, "the Department of Agriculture, in collaboration with the Department of Health and the Department of the Environment, immediately agreed on the path to follow for 2025: widespread and timely vaccination and a freeze on compensation for those who refused to vaccinate. Thanks in part to these decisions, this year's numbers are very different and certainly more comforting. To date, compared to the same period last year, there have been just 770 deaths, compared to the 64,000 recorded as of September 30, 2024. In August 2024 alone, 11,000 animals had died. This year, since the disease began spreading with the first cases reported last July, the figure stands at approximately 1% compared to the previous year."
"I recall that last year, a couple of months after taking office," Satta continues, "the Council approved the guidelines for Blue Tongue compensation for the years 2022 and 2023, procedures that were then concluded between the end of 2024 and the first months of 2025. Today, just a few months after the last recorded outbreak, we are able to initiate the procedures and pay the Blue Tongue damages for 2024/2025 . Another important innovation concerns the system used. Unlike in the past , resources have been allocated to cover 100% of the requirement , and this will allow us to pay at the counter without having to wait for all the applications to be submitted to know the total amount of aid requested."
(Unioneonline/lf)