Pecorino Romano DOP, the Agricultural Studies Center: "This is how Sardinian sheep farming is being undermined."

Tensions have risen again over Pecorino Romano PDO following the revised specifications published in the Official Journal on October 25, 2025.

The new law, which eliminates the requirement to use native breeds such as Sarda for the Sardinian-produced variety, instead allowing the use of highly productive cosmopolitan breeds such as Assaf and Lacaune, has provoked a harsh reaction from the Agricultural Studies Centre.

President Tore Piana called it "a very serious decision, more political than technical," accusing the Consortium of ignoring the opposition vote expressed by the majority of its members in 2022.

He then specifically points the finger at the Consortium's president, Gianni Maoddi, calling again for his resignation, recalling how already in 2023—during a meeting in Macomer—he had revealed the intention to reverse that decision.

According to the Agricultural Studies Center, the change threatens the very identity of the PDO, "emptied of its age-old connection to pastures and the land," and shifting toward an industrial model based on intensive production, imported feed, and standardized milk. A system that, Piana warns, will ultimately strengthen the power of processors without increasing shepherds' earnings, instead worsening their dependence on foreign feed and forage.

"This is an operation sponsored by those who control the industrial and commercial phases of the supply chain," denounces the CSA president, "while a war is brewing between shepherds, traditional breeders, and livestock farmers. The real power, the industrial one, remains untouched."

According to the Agricultural Studies Center, Sardinia risks losing its competitive edge: "If Pecorino Romano becomes a standardized global product, Sardinia won't be able to compete on quantity. Our strength lies in the quality, history, and specificity of our native breeds."

For this reason, Piana calls for the immediate opening of an institutional and supply chain dialogue: "This isn't a technical change; it's a choice that will change the future of pastoralism. We need an independent strategy that protects producers and the local area."

The CSA announces the preparation of a dossier on the issue and confirms its intention to appeal the new regulations to the Ministry by November 25, 2025. Piana concludes by recalling that approximately 100,000 quintals of non-DOP pecorino cheese are produced in Sardinia: "Anyone who wants to raise breeds like Lacaune or Assaf is free to do so, but that milk must be used to make non-DOP cheeses, not the three protected denominations, and even less so for Pecorino Romano."

(Unioneonline/Fr.Me.)