Production costs are rising while milk prices are falling again. And the shepherds, worried about a repeat of a situation they've experienced in the past, are preparing a new mobilization.

Today in Tramatza, seven years after the uprising that led to sensational protests involving milk spilled in the streets, a new meeting was held. "We want to be updated on the issues affecting the sector and on the price of the next milk campaign, which starts at the end of October without waiting for the final payment in February," explained spokespeople Gianuario Falchi , Fabio Pisu , Mario Carai, and Nenneddu Sanna . "The previous campaign is closing at €1.40, but production costs are strangling us, considering that agricultural diesel is €1.60, fertilizer is €1.20, and a hectare of pasture costs €500-600. Compared to 2019, we're in a worse situation because we, the producers, are paying the price for the global crisis."

"We need to find a solution together," they continue, "because we can't continue producing at a loss: like in 2019, we need to save our jobs."

Hence the request for a meeting to discuss the upcoming dairy campaign in Sardinia with all stakeholders in the sector: shepherds, processors (cooperatives and industrialists), consortia—starting with the Pecorino Romano consortium—and the Departments of Agriculture and Health, the latter for animal disease issues, particularly bovine dermatitis and bluetongue.

If their request isn't heeded , Sardinian farmers are ready to take to the streets again. According to an initial estimate, to earn any income from sheep milk production, the minimum price per liter would need to start at €1.60.

Among the concerns raised during the meeting was the current price of Pecorino Romano PDO. Wholesale prices for the PDO cheese, recorded weekly in Milan, have dropped by approximately 11% since January, reaching €10.30 per kg (aged over eight months).

(Unioneonline/AD)

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