Youth Farmers and Livestock Breeders of Catalonia (JARC) has demanded from the Department of Agriculture of the Generalitat the implementation, "with urgency", of an extraordinary line of aid aimed at extensive and semi-extensive livestock holdings of cattle, sheep, goats and horses that this year have been forced to acquire more feed for the animals due to the loss of pasture.
As the organization details in a statement released this Monday, "The scarcity of rainfall and exceptionally high temperatures during spring and summer have reduced by up to 50% the availability of pasture in numerous areas of Catalonia".
JARC points out that this scenario has led many livestock farmers to exhaust their forage reserves ahead of time and to have to buy additional feed, "increasing production costs significantly".
The farming organization demands that these extraordinary aids reach all affected holdings, placing the focus on the mountain counties of the Pyrenees and the Pre-Pyrenees, as well as on other areas of the northern half of Catalonia where the reduction in pasture has been particularly pronounced.
In addition, JARC calls for the reality of organic holdings to be considered specifically, which have encountered added difficulties in obtaining organic forage in a market strained by a lack of supply and by a notable increase in prices.