Three thousand farmers and ranchers gathered this morning in Cagliari to protest rising costs, to demand a reduction in dependence on foreign suppliers of chemical fertilizers and herbicides, and to address the many hot topics at regional and national level.
The setting was the Coldiretti assembly at the Fair, attended, among others, by the Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida , the national president of the trade association, Ettore Prandini, together with the general secretary Vincenzo Gesmundo and the regional leaders Battista Cualbu and Luca Saba.
Among the issues addressed was the rising production costs linked to the war in Iran . According to Coldiretti, which processed data from the Divulga Study Center, energy price increases have led to €3,600 in extra costs per farm . This blow has not spared Sardinia, where "half of Italy's sheep are raised, whose milk is used to produce world-famous delicacies, starting with Pecorino Romano DOP."
According to the Divulga analysis, the first two months of the war—Coldiretti explains—in particular cost Italian shepherds and farmers up to 3,600 euros, with additional price increases ranging from 40 cents per ton for cow's milk to 95 euros per ton for sheep's milk. " To these must be added the costs of feed , with an estimated increase of up to 200 euros per hectare for corn and other cereals, as well as fertilizer and energy. If a truce in the conflict fails to be reached and the price increases continue, the bill risks rising to tens of thousands of euros for the most structured farms ."
Furthermore, they emphasize, after last week's decline , agricultural diesel has risen again , reaching €1.42 per liter versus €0.89 at the beginning of the year. "On livestock farms, it is used not only for tractors but also for telescopic handlers and mechanical shovels for moving fodder, manure, or materials, for wagons for preparing and distributing grain to animals, as well as for transporting the grain itself."
But the surge in fertilizers also has an impact , which has had a knock-on effect on animal feed. Urea has jumped to €870 per ton, up from €470 in May last year (+85%), while ammonium nitrate has risen from €369 per ton to €510 (+38%) in the same period, according to a Coldiretti analysis based on data from the Turin Chamber of Commerce.
(Unioneonline/An.De)