THE method of allocation of funds and support, all the time rising costs production and absence of support of the main profession of livestock breeders lead to the exit of the livestock breeders of Eastern Macedonia – Thrace, as reflected in the census tables of the Directorate of Veterinary Medicine of the AM-Th Region for the sheep and goats.
According to the official tables, in 2015 the number of sheep and goats in the entire region was 1,218,165. The following year, they dropped to 944,408, in 2017 to 920,456, in 2018 to 908,127, in 2019 to 887,994, in 2020 to 868,968, in 2021 to 826,562, in 2022 to 797,030 and in 2023 to 752 .795.
This means that during these eight years we have 465,370 fewer sheep and goats at the regional level. If we look at the farms, from 8,552 we had in 2015, 4,760 were left in 2023. So, in eight years, 3,792 farms were lost.
The tama and the bubble
According to the recorded data, a dramatic, but justified, reduction of sheep and goats can be found over a period of eight years. A critical period was the transition from 2015 to 2016. The president of Kavala breeders, Nikos Dimopoulos, adds that from 2014 to 2015 there was a large increase in livestock. “2015 was the new CAP. We were told that if we have more animals, we will get more pastures and better subsidies. Several didn’t sell females, they made dams and from about 1,050,000 goats and sheep we went up to 1,218,165. In the end, it was a bubble, because they gave a different grazing density to each region: Here, with 100 animal units we get 300 acres, Epirus 460 and Crete 570!”, he describes.
He adds that nothing has changed with the new CAP, so for any action linked to the number of acres they receive much less money, because “each action is multiplied by much fewer acres. In Kavala, we get 10 x 300 euros and in Crete 10 x 570”.
Compensatory allowance
Mr. Dimopoulos points out that the Equalizing Compensation for mountainous areas changed after 2015 and from 7,000 euros in 2014-2015, the highest became 3,300 euros, while in the disadvantaged it is 2,300 euros. “Those of us who had a few acres needed almost double the number of animals to get the upper amount of the Equalization of 3,300 euros in the mountains.
In 2017, in the previous CAP, there was a change in the determination of disadvantaged areas and the whole of Thrace was included, resulting in many Equalizer beneficiaries”. According to him, from 2015 onwards the Equalization is given to those who have land and not necessarily a permanent residence, resulting in demographic desertification. As he typically reports, a medium breeder in the Region of North Macedonia – Thrace in eight years (2015-2023) loses 12,000 euros from Exisotiki. “If we add the Basic Reinforcement, the Greening, which is a percentage of the Basic, and the Biologicals, which are proportional, we will see that a farmer may have lost 100,000 euros in eight years.”
He also underlines that “a breeder in the Peloponnese gets 16,000 euros with five animal units less than a producer in our region, who gets 8,500 euros”. Mr. Dimopoulos explains that with an additional 60,000 euros – the sum for eight years – the producer of the region could feed his animals better and the produced product would be better.
In their statement, the breeders testify about the Equalization that “the political leadership of the HYPAAT, from 2015 until today and without any substantial reason, increased the beneficiaries of the aid, from 90,000 to 405,000, and launched the Equalization Compensation fund, from 120,000,000 euros to 255,000,000 euros, with all breeders receiving sub-fold amounts than in the past”.
In the above issues which are constantly reducing livestock, Mr. Dimopoulos adds the cost of production, stressing that everything led to the exit, because the producers cannot make ends meet. What they claim is that pastures and aids be redistributed and that subsidies be given proportionately.
