Agriculture

Alarming decline in Majorcan livestock numbers

In the last decade sheep numbers have decline by 95,000. | EFE

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma04/01/2020 11:24

Majorca lost 41% of its cattle and 17% of its sheep between 2008 and 2018, according to the annual Livestock Census from the Ministry of Agriculture.

In 2008, Majorca had 12,727 head of cattle, but by 2018 there were less than 7,500 and the number of sheep was down by nearly 95,000.

The data also showed that there are only 28 dairy farms left on the Island.

A Strategic Plan has been set in motion by the Livestock Sector to stem the decline.

"We must value the work of farmers and ranchers as an essential sector in our society,” said the Director General of Agriculture, Biel Torrens, who has already held meetings with different livestock sectors.

The Livestock Sector has also reported a fall in the number of pigs, bees, horses, snails and chickens.

Torrens said the first priority is to write a diagnosis of the sector detailing common and specific problems and he stressed the need for the Balearic Islands to have a special agrarian regime that compensates for insularity, saying it should be included in the new Common Agricultural Policy or CAP.