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Council wraps up assistance hand-outs for drought-stricken stockbreeders

aliment animals3This Tuesday, following a month-long effort during which sacks of animal feed were handed out in Es Cap and La Mola, the Council's office of agriculture completed its assistance to local stockbreeders.

An unusually dry year in 2014 meant reduced harvests of those crops traditionally used for livestock feed production. To counteract these effects, the Formentera Council developed an aide package composed of two types of concentrated feed packs. Assistance packs for sheep or goats contained cereals, protein and compound feed; packs for pigs contained barley flour.

Each feed sack was valued at €16.40. The most recent livestock census on Formentera counted 878 sheep, 201 goats and 94 pigs – to wit, a total of €19,237 in aid (VAT included).

Island ranchers belonging to the Associació de Defensa Sanitària, a group promoting proper livestock hygiene, had the opportunity to claim vouchers for free sacks of animal feed at the office of agriculture.

Councillor Juan stated: “This is an extraordinary opportunity and – given the dry season in 2014 – extremely necessary. This assistance is on top of the free medication provided during vaccination drives and the €32,000 in aid already received by local ranchers following the joint accord between the Council and the local stockbreeders' association.” Juan explained that these were just some of the different measures adopted by the Council to “preserve and promote the rural areas of Formentera, whose future depends precisely on the harvests we reap from them.”