Chantal Ruggeri, a 25-year-old accountant, is well aware of the crisis that has been affecting sheep farming for decades, including in Sinnai. She often visits her father Pietro, 61, to help with the milking. "I'm well aware of the sacrifices a shepherd makes, the crisis in the sector; I'm at home in my father's sheepfold. My future? I'd like to build it by following in my father's footsteps, perhaps linking the flock to a central business like agritourism. I truly believe in this choice. Dad does too, so much so that he's ready to support me. I believe in it. A future I'd like to build with my older sister and my younger brother, who's studying agriculture."
Today, Chantal dreams of her future like this: "But this is more than a dream," she says, "the countryside and the sheep are already part of this challenge of mine: I go milking without any worries. Besides, in Sardinia, there are already many women who support small and medium-sized farms in the field. And they do it successfully. So, raising livestock, doing it practically, fits well with agritourism. A challenge to be overcome, initially counting on the support of my father, who has always been a shepherd."
The twenty-five-year-old isn't even concerned about the crisis engulfing the agro-pastoral sector. It's a crisis that has been going on for a long time. The days when livestock numbers touched 50,000 are light years away.
Today, the livestock population in Sinnai is just 6,000 head, including the flocks grazing in Tasonis and Solanas. "There are really only a few of us left," says Pietro Ruggeri: "the Spinas, the Frigaus, Mosè Farci, Emiliano Saddi, the Sannas, and a few others. I fear there will be fewer and fewer of us: being a farmer today offers no security. Production costs are rising dramatically; this year, milk prices dropped from €1.50 to €1.30 a liter. Does my daughter want to follow in my footsteps with agritourism? I'm all for it. Because we're not afraid of sacrifice, and also because we need to believe in our children and young people."