Sheep slaughtering is on the rise in Sardinia: in 2022, according to a report by the Agricultural Studies Center, there was a 58 percent more than in 2019. " A sign of concern for the Sardinian sector ", comments Tore Piana, president of the CSA , who asks the councilor for Agriculture to immediately convene a regional supply chain table to analyze the situation: "In the next 5 years - he adds - the sheep's milk produced may not be enough".
Piana also underlines: “That the situation in sheep farming on the island was not going perfectly well was understood by the alarm cry raised by the breeders in recent weeks. The increase in the costs of fuels, feed, electricity fertilizers are putting a strain on the sector. Although the price of sheep's milk is reaching unprecedented prices, there is also talk of 1.70 euros per liter (cooperative system) for the season that is ending 2021/2022, thanks to the price of Pecorino Romano Dop, which is starting to touch 12 euros per kg, a record price, never reached, which far exceeds the price per kg of Parmigiano Reggiano aged 12 months ".
The current crisis, continues Piana, “has led to a reduction in the number of sheep on farms, which are trying to improve the breed of Sardinian sheep, to maintain the same quantities of milk produced, raising fewer animals and reducing costs. The reduction in sheep heads in the last 3 years has been significant, we are talking about 281,120 slaughtered heads, with an increase in the months between January and May 2022 of 58 percent compared to the same period of 2019. A worrying sign that must deserve the attention from the Region, due to the fact that we are talking about the production sector which is one of the most important in Sardinia ".
Therefore, the Agricultural Studies Center asks that the Regional Councilor for Agriculture “convene the sheep and goat supply chain table to analyze the existing criticalities. If this trend were not to be interrupted, according to the forecasts of the Cesa, in the next 5 years the sheep milk produced could be insufficient for the requests of Pecorino Romano PDO ".
A further problem concerns “the disbursement of contributions and indemnities with very severe delays”, a situation that is leading “Sardinian sheep and goat farms to reduce the load of flocks. We would have liked to see the exact opposite, with an increase in the number of animals and the inclusion of thousands of young people in sheep farming, as anti-depopulation sentries in the internal territories of the island ”, concludes Tore Piana.
(Unioneonline / ss)
