Italy’s sheep sector driven by milk and cheese production

Sheep dairy flocks are rare in Ireland but in countries such as France, Italy and Spain they are a major aspect of their respective sheep sectors.

The EU SheepNet project held its recent member states meeting in Sardinia which presented an ideal opportunity to get an insight into the Italian sheep sector and in particular into dairy production systems.

The sector is built on a strong tradition dating back centuries of producers milking ewes by hand and making cheese for local domestic use.

Small-scale producers are still a significant component of today’s sheep sector but with advancements in technology and an increase in specialist producers the sector has also developed strong cheese brands for domestic consumption and export markets.

Value of sector

The Italian sheep flock comprises about 6.32m ewes across 60,328 flocks, of which 4.7m are run on farms with dairying as their main focus.

The value of the sector is relatively small in comparison to other livestock enterprises.

Sheep and goat milk contribute 1.2% to Italian agriculture, or €503m in value, while sheepmeat accounts for just 0.3% of agricultural output with a value of €170m.

This compares to 8.6% of total agricultural output for cattle and buffalo dairy enterprises and 17.2% for beef, pork and poultry meat sectors.

Nevertheless, sheep farming is still an important agricultural activity in many areas of Italy and is particularly valuable in generating a return on more marginal lands which sheep enterprises tend to populate.

Figure 1 details the location of sheep by region and highlights the four main provinces which, combined, account for 70% of the national flock. Sardinia is the backbone of the sector and alone possesses 44.5% of the sheep flock.

Dairy flocks

Sardinia is also the milk production powerhouse, with dairying the main enterprise practiced.

It accounts for about 67% of the national sheep milk pool of 397,500t, which in turn is transformed into 50,000t of cheese, or 71.5% of Italy’s total cheese production (in the region of 70,000t).

Sicily possesses 11.3% of the country’s sheep and produces 6.5% of milk, while central Italy and in particular the provinces of Tuscany and Latium contains 21.8% of the sheep flock and a similar milk pool of 22.4% of milk produced.

Milk production in the Central Apennines region is variable but mainly semi-extensive enterprises with as little as half a lambing per year.

Milk price, however, is higher than the other regions due to a better supply-demand balance and a good mixture of farm and factory cheeses produced to satisfy local demand.

Production in the southern tip of Italy and in Sicily is described as extensive, with less-developed farming systems and smaller flocks.

Productivity is typically low but there is a medium-to-high milk price in a market focusing on farm-made cheese for local consumption.

Cheeses produced in different areas are in many cases related to the local breeds that are farmed and traditional methods of production.

Some are protected with a geographical indication (PGI) such as Connemara Hill Lamb in Ireland for example or a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).

The largest or best known is Pecorino Romano, which is the dominant cheese type in Sardinia.

Sardinian production

Taking a closer look at Sardinia, sheep production and tourism are the two main industries on the island.

The island has a sheep flock of 2.85m head and with 10,150 flocks has by far the largest average flock size.

There is a population of 1.65m people which can come close to doubling during the peak tourist season.

Half the population lives in rural areas and two-thirds of the land type is described as natural pastures with a mixture of rangeland, scrubland and woodland.

This gives rise to a massively diverse sector.

Intensive dairy enterprises populate fertile areas which can be easily cultivated and housing is commonplace.

Some of the most advanced enterprises have irrigation systems in place to combat low rainfall levels.

On average, Sardinia receives just 710mm annual rainfall, with this confined to about 70 rain days during the winter.

Hot summers give rise to rapid growth from March to mid-June which provides an opportunity for farmers to save good-quality hay for feeding in late summer when growth eventually ceases due to drought-like conditions and throughout the winter period.

Many of the intensive production systems also have a tillage component to generate a supply of cereals and straw.

The other extreme is extensive and semi-extensive systems where sheep graze in more marginal hill and mountain areas and are rarely housed with the exception of a short period at lambing or possibly during adverse winter weather.

Here, pasture quality is described as poor, with a large seasonal and annual variation in the quality and quantity of herbage available.

This obviously affects potential productivity and the stocking rate ranges from three ewes/ha in extensive enterprises to as high as 15 ewes/ha in intensive systems.

The production potential of land also influences the breed type that can be run and milk yield which ranges from 100l to 300l on average.

Research and innovation

AGRIS is a public body similar to Teagasc that is funded by the region of Sardinia and is tasked with research and innovation in agriculture.

It is responsible for animal and crop production along with equine production and cork, forestry and arboriculture (study of how plants grow and respond to cultural practices and the environment).

Animal nutrition and reproduction efficiency are two major areas of research that directly influence production, with reproduction efficiency one of the greatest challenges at farm level.

The average fertility in flocks monitored is 86%, while the average litter size is 1.24 lambs per ewe joined.

Add this to mortality of 4.7% and the average production is 1.02 lambs per ewe.

This is on recorded farms. Production is likely to be much lower in more extensive enterprises.

This also tallies with a low slaughter figure of just 2.85m head.

The main breed of sheep farmed in Sardinia is the Sarda breed, a medium-sized ewe that more closely resembles a hill-type ewe rather than a lowland ewe.

There is a breeding scheme in place that monitors production and a number of important traits across 204,000 ewes.

The average milk yield is 220l in a 155-day lactation, with an average milk composition of 6.56% fat and 5.82% protein.

Udder morphology and scrapie status are the other two major traits of interest.

Cheese production

Sardinian dairy farmers produce approximately 300m litres of milk annually.

The typical production and lactation cycle of Sardinian dairy flocks is demonstrated in Table 1.

Ewes lamb in November but are not milked for the first 30 days as this period is used to rear lambs.

There is 50,000t of cheese produced in Sardinia and there is a good supply network in the more intensive production areas between suppliers and cheese factories.

There are three types of cheese with PDO status and approximately 25,000t to 30,000t of Pecorino Romano cheese is produced, of which 50% to 60% is exported to the US and Canada. There is 2,000t of Pecorino Sardo produced which has been declining in recent years while the other cheese with PDO status is about 500t of cheese called Fiore Sardo.

There is also 8,000t of Pecorino Sardo-like cheese produced off-label and 10,000t of what is classified as unseasoned cheese.

As seen in Figure 2, the production cycle typically lasts from December to June and cheese factories close from August to November.

Milk price in Sardinia is the most volatile of any area in Italy and is closely influenced by the balance of supply and demand.

The price of milk in Sardinia for the last 18 months has averaged 50c/l, which is only half the level of previous years.

Pressure on milk price across Italy has resulted in the number of dairy ewes declining by 1.15% each year over the last decade with a more significant fall of 0.5m ewes in 2015 caused by a severe outbreak of bluetongue.

As mentioned earlier, sheepmeat is a secondary industry with average consumption of 0.8kg per capita compared to 2kg for the rest of Europe.

Consumption has come under pressure in recent years and fell by a very significant figure of 7.8% in the last two years, with much of this reduction occurring in north Italy.

The production cycle in Table 1 has developed historically to satisfy the two main consumption periods of Christmas and Easter.

While many Irish families cook turkey for Christmas, the tradition in Italy is cooking whole milk-fed lambs.

AGRIS figures show that the total number of sheep slaughtered in Italy is 2.85m head, delivering 33,251t of sheepmeat.

Of this, 2,384,549 head are classified as milk lamb with an average weight of 8.64kg per lamb.

In the region of 190,000 are categorised as heavy lambs with an average of 18kg per animal (3,415t), while the remaining 278,451 head are ewes accounting for production of 9,245t or 33.2kg/head.

The current price farmers receive for milk lambs is €2.50/kg to €4/kg liveweight, with lambs typically averaging 10kg liveweight at 30 days of age.

A whole lamb trades in butcher markets in Sardinia for in the region of €10/kg.

There is very little waste in a carcase, with lamb heads and offal products commonly consumed.

There are 7,000t of lambs produced to PGI status under the brand Agnello di Sardegna, with three weight categories of up to 7kg carcaseweight, up to 10kg carcaseweight and up to 13kg carcaseweight.

These lambs are bred mainly in extensive systems and are bred from the Sarda breed or the first generation cross with Île de France and Berrichon du Cher breeds.

Italy also has a significant import requirement of 25,299t of sheepmeat and 1m live animals.

It was traditionally a market for light lambs from Ireland but economic difficulties which escalated from 2009 to 2012 reduced demand and closed this outlet.

Irish exports to Italy have slowly been recovering with 1,587t exported to the end of October 2018.

SheepNet project

The SheepNet project is an EU network set up to increase sheep productivity and flock profitability by knowledge exchange.

The project started off initially with participation from the main EU sheep-producing nations, namely Ireland, France, Italy, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom along with another major sheep producing nation, Turkey.

It was joined at the latest meeting of members in Sardina, Italy, by delegates from Hungary, Israel and Finland.

Meetings are held in member states to get a flavour of the production system in each country, with Ireland hosting European delegates in mid-2019.

Regular updates can be found at www.sheepnet.network.