More than Israeli and French sheep for Sardinia they will be the "Trojan sheep". Virgil, the ancient Roman poet who declaimed the qualities of the millenary "Pecorino" cheese, would never have imagined that his "Trojan horse", told in his famous Aeneid, would have assumed, two thousand years later, the appearance of a sheep in the land of the Nuraghi.

The "Trojan sheep"

Yet, next Thursday, at 10.30 in Borore, 21 years after the second millennium, a little by teleconference and a little presence, it will be necessary to decide whether or not to include "the Trojan sheep" in the pecorino romano disciplinary, or in the strict rules to produce the most famous of Sardinian cheeses. Gianuario Falchi, one of the leaders of the "Revolt of the milk" two years ago, does not use half words: «It is a trap to make Sardinian sheep and shepherds disappear». A pick, put in black and white in a proposal to change the production specification, to be approved in the silence of the word of mouth of the Pecorino Romano industrialists.

The protest on whatsapp

The text of the changes, however, in the last few hours, ran like lightning in the whatsapp of the army of the countryside. They, who have always lived there in the plains of Campidano or on the slopes of Gennargentu, know that those changes are a real ambush to the integrity of the dairy system of Sardinia, once again put at risk by the greed of some at the expense of entire production sector. The summary of what is happening is all in a few lines of a document that provides for the modification of the Pecorino Romano PDO specification.

The trap in the "Gospel"

Among the various changes to the "Gospel" for the production of the most famous of Sardinian cheeses, there is one that leaves no room for interpretation. Article 14 states: "The presence of 10% of the milk obtained from breeds other than those indicated, calculated on the annual mass milk destined for the production of Pecorino Romano PDO is allowed". It is here, on this standard-trap, that the greatest risk for the entire dairy sector of Sardinia is undermined. Translated, it means that 30 million liters of milk from sheep other than those of the “Sardinian breed”, including the “Nera di Arbus” sub-population, can be introduced into the Pecorino Romano production system. However, it is not easy to enchant the shepherds, let alone convince them of the goodness of a disposition which, in reality, would end up putting them in disgrace. To tell the truth, they never trusted industrialists. They know perfectly well that there is a constant in the rules of the market: those who produce milk must earn little, much more those who produce cheese. They understand perfectly what that reference to "different races" means. They know, and understand, before those who conceived the "trap", that the goal is to introduce sheep breeds in Sardinia that are functional only for intensive production, inexorably starting to put the "Sardinian breed" out of use, capable of expressing a quality level definitely higher than the "foreign" ones. Everyone knows it, but few say it.

Foreigners

For some time, in fact, in the livestock scenario of Sardinia, someone has silently introduced two "foreign" breeds, the French Lacuane and the Israeli Assf. An operation with a hidden objective: to reduce extensive production, i.e. over large grazing areas, to pursue an intensive one. The result is obvious: an increase in the quantity of milk produced, all to the detriment of the quality and organoleptic characteristics of the “Pecorino Romano” produced by Sardinian shepherds. That 10% is, therefore, the first passage, not controllable, not manageable, in the already complicated, and in many ways reticent, dairy production chain in Sardinia. In fact, it has always been almost impossible to understand how much milk is produced and processed and what are the real consequent dairy productions.

The lock pick

The proposed new rule, according to which 10 percent of milk can come from "foreign" sheep, suggests that it is a real "Trojan horse" that risks undermining a production chain which, after the protests of 2018, relaunched the “Pecorino Romano” market. The proposed modification of the production specification introduces, for the first time, the sheep breeds that can provide milk for the production of Pecorino Romano in Sardinia, Lazio and the province of Grosseto.

Traceability

The list to be included goes in the direction of traceability of the raw material: together with the place of grazing and production, the sheep breed is also introduced. The modification of the specification provides: "For the production of milk destined for transformation into Pecorino Romano PDO, the accepted sheep breeds, considered as" genetic types attributable to local breeds and their crosses "are as follows: Sardinian breed, including the sub-population Black from Arbu, Vissana breed, Sopravissana breed, Comisana breed, Massese breed, Amiata sheep breed ».

Ready for war

It is the next paragraph that causes the Sardinian shepherds to declare a state of war. The hypothesis that ten per cent is produced by "foreign sheep", in fact, no less than 20 / 30,000 heads of Lacuane and Assaf, French and Israeli, which aim at intensive production, have already been introduced to the island, suggests that the aim of the industrialists is to increase quantity at the expense of quality. All this in contrast to what the industrialists themselves claimed who, for a long time, accused the shepherds of producing more milk than necessary, blaming them to blow up the market and in fact reducing the price of white gold.

The turnaround

Today, to the test of facts, introducing that clause of 10% of "foreign" sheep means disavowing those accusations and, at the same time, opening a real passage for an uncontrollable and uncontrolled river of milk. Gianuario Falchi and Nenneddu Sanna, who were among the protagonists of that dramatic protest three years ago, are not there and denounce it in no uncertain terms: "This proposal, if voted in the assembly, would be the ruin of sheep farming in Sardinia, with all the consequences that would derive from it ».

Industrialists & shepherds

The clash with the industrialists, now dominus of the Consortium, except for the cooperatives that should respond to the shepherds, is very hard: "Despite the terrorism of the leaders of the Pecorino Romano Consortium, - the leaders of the protest argue - volumes and prices have increased even without the Regulation Plan which was rejected by the shepherds and which, as we expected, only served to consolidate the dominant positions of some to the detriment of the entire supply chain ". According to Sardinian shepherds, the risk is very serious: «Just to point out the gravity of the situation, it would be enough to look beyond the border and see what has happened in Spain in recent times. The massive introduction of the Israeli Assaf sheep, and its uncontrolled spread, through substitution crossings with the breeders who exchanged rams, are leading to the disappearance of local breeds with direct consequences for the production of protected origin ».

Markets reward

All this while the markets are, instead, rewarding the choice of quality imposed by the protest of Sardinian shepherds who have claimed a production linked to the Sardinian supply chain, from the sheep breed to animal welfare. It is no coincidence that yesterday the price of Pecorino Romano on the Milan market fluctuated between a minimum of 9.70 euros and 10 euros per kilo, while the year before the "great protest" it was, in the same month, at 5.60 euro per kilo.

Price of milk: double

A value that has made it possible to double the price of milk compared to 2018, going from 0.60 to 1.3 euros per liter. Today on the table there is a sensational turnaround that aims to introduce and encourage intensive farming, in total contrast with the economic and social history of the island. It would mean emptying the countryside, starting a process of emptying Sardinia, inexorably erasing those organoleptic characteristics that have always been the strengths of Sardinia's dairy products.

Historicity of the races

In the modifications to the production disciplinary, serious attention is paid to the historicity of the breeds, introducing a very dangerous variable capable of upsetting the connected human activities and the characteristics of the breeding, transforming it from extensive or semi-extensive to intensive.

Tolerant organizations

A risk that some trade organizations do not see, Confagricoltura Sardegna, Cia Sardegna and Copagri Sardegna, which yesterday, with a joint note, declared that "they believe that an accidental physiological tolerance of milk from other breeds can be foreseen, in a minimum percentage indicated by the Consortium's shareholders' meeting ".

Avoiding catastrophe

The shepherds, however, are not there. The largest industry on the island is in danger: «We will not allow changes of direction with respect to the strategies identified also thanks to that protest. We must avert this catastrophe in every way ». In the words of Virgil, to save the aroma and taste of Pecorino di Sardegna it is better not to trust the "Trojan sheep".

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