Greece is a country known across Europe for its olive production. Moreover, it is difficult to miss this information, as olive trees are everywhere in Greece! There are 800,000 hectares of land occupied by olive trees, or on average 23% of the useful agricultural surface. In some regions of the Peloponnese, there are even more than 50% of the agricultural land occupied by olive groves. As a result, breeding can only deal with a territory colonized by olive trees! It should be noted that the olive sector uses by-products from the manufacture of olive oil for animal feed.
Most of the breeding activity in Greece is concentrated in Thessalonia, in the North of the country. The breeding of sheep and goats predominates because these small ruminants are the most adapted to poor and dry soils of Greece. For several years, sheep farming in Greece has been modernized, through several economic and political factors: entry into the European Union, the creation of a PDO for Feta, the economic crisis of 2008 , the development of new technologies such as irrigation, are all factors that have changed farming practices in Greece. While sheep breeders in Greece practiced pastoral activity in the mountains and semi-mountains until the 20th century, the constraints linked to life in the mountains (nomadism, climate, lack of technical means for high-altitude breeding, etc.) have gradually led sheep and goat breeders to develop lowland breeding. Here, you can grow cereals to feed livestock and enjoy modern comforts of life.
Some farmers in northern Greece maintain pastoral activity in mountainous regions. Nikos and his father live in the village of Baltouma, in Epirus. They own a flock of 1,000 local Kalamariko breed sheep on the family farm, located 500 meters above sea level, in a semi-mountainous area. The herd climbs the peaks of the Epirus mountains at an altitude of 2,000 meters from April to November, accompanied by around 50 goats and ten dogs, to protect them from predators.
Traditionally, sheep farmers in Epirus raised their flocks in the high mountains in the summer, then moved for the winter season some sixty, seventy, eighty kilometers away, near the sea, to escape the hard climate from the mountain. Nikos’s grandfather was the first breeder to break the tradition, living in the mountains in winter.
Ioannis, Nikos’s father, presids the Ε.Μ.Κ.Η association. (Association for the protection and promotion of livestock in mountainous areas in Epirus), whose missions are to protect the native breeds of the region and to improve (through National and European projects) the quality of life of breeders in the mountains. In particular, the association plans to establish a mobile milking facility to simplify the milking of ewes in the high mountains (currently, milking in summer pastures is still carried out by hand).
We quickly realize that with Nikos and Ioannis, the ambition to modernize pastoral activity in Epirus is in blood. In the family sheepfold, the grandfather had initiated an evolution of practices by staying in the mountains in winter, the father had invested in the conservation of pastoralism and Nikos, for his part, continued with the acquisition of modern facilities (investment in a rotary milking equipment) to perpetuate a traditional breeding activity, which no longer attracts young people. His projects are numerous and he hopes to develop agrotourism and direct sales to promote pastoral activity and dairy products from his region. Today the farm's milk is sold to a milkery in the area, but tomorrow he will have his own cheese factory.
For Nikos, keeping the breeding of sheep and goats in the high mountains of Epirus is fundamental to protect the territory: “Today, the shepherds stop raising sheep in the mountains because there are too much constraints. Instead, they set up a small herd of cattle for meat. It is less labor-intensive for them, as there is no longer any daily milking by hand in altitude. The problem is that high mountains are not suitable for raising cows. Usually, the cows are raised in the valley, at the bottom of the mountain. Goats take advantage of the semi-mountainous area and the ewes go up to more than 2000 meters of altitude. Up there, the sheep and goats eat a few leaves of each plant. The cows, for their part, pull up all the plants and reduce the diversity of species present in altitude."
Nikos and Ioannis spoke a long time with us about the role of women on the farm. The subject of women is a bit complicated here. Let's start by saying that, to this day, Nikos is single. Indeed, it is just as difficult to find young breeders for high mountain breeding as it is to find partners who accept life in this region. Yet women on the farm have an extremely important role. They are a cement, they ensure the central tasks for the family (cooking, stewardship, education of children, the occasional replacement of men in their breeding activities ...) and unite around them. Nikos' mother is, in his eyes and those of Ioannis, the boss of the house, the central character who ensures the cohesion of the family group. We loved their words and the message of love they gave us about women on the farm.
"My mother was the one who took care of everything during our childhood, who pushed us to study and I owe her everything. Without her, today I would not have the baggage to manage the farm as I do [Nikos studied agronomy], today I would not speak English with you… Today, without my mother, I would be nothing! » Nikos.
Did you know ?
- Ding-Dong!
To follow the herd up the mountain, the breeders in the region use two different types of bells for the sheep and the goats. Goat bells are larger, which produces a lower sound than sheep bells. This makes it easier for breeders to identify their animals!
- Selective sampling
The wolf and the bear are the two main predators of the sheep in Epirus. But the bear, unlike the wolf, is not a threat for shepherds. The bear is a frugal predator, which selects an animal to kill, while the wolf can decimate forty animals in one attack. The bear is also a clever predator, which is usually not detected by herd dogs. It is therefore a hazard that is difficult to control for breeders.
- Everything's there
Greece has over nine million sheep and five million goats. The milk of sheeps and goats is used to make (among other milk products) the popular Feta. Typically, 70% sheep's milk and 30% goat's milk are used to make Feta.