The SOS of Alicante cattle: high costs threaten its continuity
The primary sector faces hard times as the post-pandemic recovery never fully materialized. The crisis in the livestock and farming sectors has stretched into a long, draining journey, with new data from the National Institute of Statistics highlighting a sharp downturn. In Alicante, the recent decade has seen the loss of hundreds of farms and a sizable number of cattle. The trend has intensified as costs climb, pressuring family businesses to the edge.
In the most recent snapshot of the livestock census, the picture remains troubling but not entirely bleak. Back in 2009, Alicante registered 1,590 farms housing 1,008,26 animals across the province. By 2020 the landscape had shifted dramatically to 960 farms with 951,175 animals. The sector’s pain shows most clearly in poultry, which expanded rapidly but concentrated in fewer holdings. The counts of rabbit producers also plummeted from 203 to 22. Sheep numbers slipped from 334 to 306, and pig farms reduced from 49 to 33. On the brighter side, some livestock segments grew modestly, with beehives rising from 79 to 100, goats increasing from 316 to 324, and cattle moving from 60 to 64 heads.
Juan Luis Gimeno, vice-president of Asaja Alicante and a goat farmer in Monóvar, notes that the decline is substantial and predicts even more farms could have disappeared since. He stresses that the future of animal husbandry is uncertain. The underlying issue, he emphasizes, is the lack of generational transition. The work is highly demanding with no days off, and younger generations are pursuing other career paths.
Profitability remains elusive as electricity, fuel, and feed costs rise sharply. The pandemic spike in prices, compounded by the Ukrainian conflict, has pushed expenses to levels that many operations cannot sustain. At present, the pressure makes ongoing activity untenable for many smallholders, leaving some with the stark choice of closure.
María Tornero, who runs a family goat farm in Elda with her father, echoes the sentiment. After costs surged in recent months, she remarks that hard work and a genuine love for livestock are essential to keep moving forward because the outlook is very challenging.
Manolo Genís of La Unió, managing two poultry units in Gorga, voices a similar worry. He describes ongoing increases in electricity and natural gas, while contracts have not kept pace. The result is a fragile balance where current earnings barely cover costs, and if conditions worsen, closure may become unavoidable.
The livestock sector in Alicante is also undergoing a consolidation process that mirrors national trends. Although headcounts have fallen, the rate of farm closures has not always matched this decline. Poultry farming illustrates the dynamic most clearly: in 2009 there were 549 poultry farms with around 790,000 birds, while the latest census counted 111 farms with a comparable overall headcount at about 747,923. Asaja’s Gimeno attributes this to a relentless pursuit of profitability, a factor not yet fully realized across the sector.
The broader pattern suggests increased concentration rather than uniform contraction. While the number of individual farms has contracted, the overall animal population has remained relatively stable in certain segments, highlighting a shift toward larger, more commercially driven operations. This transition underscores the need for structural changes within the industry to restore viability for small and mid-sized farms while ensuring food sovereignty and local employment in the region. The INE data, which tracks these shifts, serves as a barometer for policymakers, farmers, and industry groups aiming to navigate the challenges ahead and devise strategies to stabilize livelihoods and regional farming communities with a clear eye on sustainability and resilience. Attribution: INE statistics provide the foundational figures for this assessment.