With agricultural diesel at 1,40 euros, and even more, it is not even worthwhile switch on the tractor. And whether the consequences of the war in Ukraine, with the skyrocketing cost of raw materials, or the lack of other agricultural productions for animal feed and food, they require producing more - corn or wheat -, the problem of wild boars and wild animals that destroy crops remains unsolved. The crisis theme and the consequences of war in Ukraine, at the center of the meeting of the executive committee of Cia Tuscany Center, which took place at the CIA headquarters in Borgo San Lorenzo (Fi).
The costs of production and raw materials were already very high before the start of the conflict, shot up further after Russia's military invasion of Ukraine. Suffice it to say that compared to a year ago the price of fertilizers has grown exponentially: urea at + 121%, + 138% ammonium nitrate, + 112% potassium chloride (source BMTI). The expensive diesel and raw materials have aggravated the health of the sector. "The age-old problem of damage from wild animals - underlines Sandro Orlandini, president of Cia Toscana Centro - is increasingly central and felt by the farmers of our territory (Florence, Prato and Pistoia), even more so if with the consequences of the war it will be necessary to increase the crops and production of cereals and other raw materials for animal feed and feed.
In Mugello in particular, the number of ungulates has become unsustainable. Fencing off 6 hectares of land costs a company only 3 thousand euros per year for management, just to give a cost dimension ". The most harmful species is always the wild boar - highlights Cia Toscana Centro -, but also other ungulates (deer, fallow deer and roe deer) generate huge losses to agricultural production as well as wolf predations are increasing.
"Thus agriculture requires an effort in a productive sense - specifies Orlandini -, the difficulties originating above all from theincrease in production costs. The international scenario, which led to significant increases in energy costs, also highlighted the increase in technical means, fuel, fertilizers and pesticides in the first place. In these conditions, economic expectations appear more dubious than ever to the point that not cultivating could be the choice of many companies ".