Drought, farmers warn: -25% milk in Po Valley stables

“The high temperatures of these days and the drought are creating great problems for Italian farms, in particular for cattle in central and northern Italy, in the Po Valley, where they are fighting to stem a drop in milk production of up to -25%”. The alarm was raised by Mauro Donda, general manager of Aia (Italian Breeders Association) which associates about 20,000 farms, interviewed by Adnkronos. “In this period, the cows sweat and drink twice as much, therefore they need 140, 160 liters of water a day. The main concern is the drop in production which, in the case of dairy cow farms, in the Po Valley reaches up to -25% but also the weight gain of the animals is decreasing “says Donda. Hence the techniques adopted by farmers to relieve stress on animals with a greater use of ventilation systems, showers, and anything else that is leading to higher energy costs. This is the situation while the government is preparing to approve a state of emergency due to drought in the most affected areas and the Italian Breeders Association (Aia) can only join the chorus of requests for extraordinary interventions so that a state of emergency is proclaimed and of calamities as well as underlining that “there is a more structural game on the management of water availability that must be ensured both for crops and for livestock”. wild state of cattle, sheep, etc., in the Apennine areas, from Umbria to Tuscany, from Emilia Romagna to Abruzzo, where since it rained very little, the animals cannot have water generally guaranteed by the sources and therefore the breeders at this time must transporting water to the troughs 4 times a day “. It goes without saying that in order to refresh the stables and create favorable conditions for cows, farmers have to face additional energy costs, up to + 40%. “The costs of the energy bill of an average stable for the production of milk in northern Italy – reports Donda – begins to pay 3-4 thousand euros per month, therefore they have increased by at least 40%”.