"We demonstrate how sustainable livestock farming and our producers are part of the solution to climate change"

As president of the World Sustainable Livestock Association, How would you define the current moment of the work that our farmers are doing to be much more sustainable??

Our ranchers are today an example of the recovery of native breeds associated with a livestock system.,“the extensive” that is, definitely, uno de los modelos más sostenibles y amigables que existen.

Churra or merino ranchers continue to use ancestral soil management practices, like transhumance or transterminance, therefore generating livestock that sequesters carbon, recovers grasslands and maintains natural biodiversity; eso permite que regiones como Castilla y León o Extremadura sean regiones sumidero de Co2 y consideradas el pulmón verde de Europa.

They are increasingly aware of and adapt to resilient systems that combine two important variables, the recovery of a pastoral culture associated with native breeds today widespread throughout the world, Spanish genetic heritage like Churra, and the inclusion of rational grazing systems, today scientifically known to be essential for the mitigation of climate change. We also know that there is still a lot of work to be done., por visualizar pero hoy la ganadería Española es una ganadería 100×100 sostenible y que apuesta por modelos de producción positivos para el medio ambiente.

How head of WAGGGS, What is the common denominator that you find in other parts of the world with respect to agriculture and livestock??

The common denominator is that livestock farming around the world today is being sadly questioned and attacked without scientific rigor.. Thousands of families that produce meat are attacked, lanas, queso, milk of magnificent quality, that meet the highest health requirements and that, besides, set population, they take care of the fields, the races, generate living soils and are, in addition, the basis for every society to progress,"since if the field does not produce the city does not eat".

Producers around the world are questioned by animal and environmental groups, without scientific basis. Hay una verdadera manipulación que afecta a un gremio de personas dignas y que dan lo mejor de sí para que los alimentos lleguen a las Mesas de toda la sociedad y además lleguen de una forma accesible.

From the World Sustainable Livestock Association, Our work consists of developing, together with universities around the world,. Real reports that demonstrate how sustainable livestock farming and our producers are part of the solution to climate change, demostrar como la proteína animal es esencial y no hay justificación para demonizarla y también devolver ese prestigio y dignidad al Ganadero allí donde sea atacado.

In summary, Our work consists of making visible and supporting governments and producers to understand how sustainable livestock farming is the basis of a greener world with more natural resources., que nos permitan dejar un mundo mejor a nuestros hijos.

Only the 30% of EU farms are managed by women, How do you think this evolution is occurring??

These data are terrible at EU level, but notice that in Spain the data is much more bitter. In Spain, almost five million women live in rural areas, what represents the 15% of the Spanish population, and from these if we go to the data of owners of livestock farms in the section of 35 a 44 years, we have to there is 150.000 male farm managers versus 20.000 women farm owners. If we also go to Women owners of livestock farms of genetic value registered in genetic books, aún los datos demuestran con más fuerza esta brecha.

There is still a lot of work to attract and make young people understand that sheep farming is not a profession of the past.. Regenerative livestock, working with pure breeds is, definitely, something that little by little is exciting young people, pero necesitan un mundo rural con servicios y en igualdad a las oportunidades que tienen las gentes que viven en las ciudades.

To be a woman or man in a rural world today is to live in great inequality, Fathers and mothers in cities have many more facilities, educational, of activities and reconciliation between family and work, and that is something that must be improved if we want children, women and families in the towns that, besides, desempeñen labores importantes en ganadería.

What do rural women contribute to the rural world and its entire development??

Women ranchers play a vital role in the world and in the rural economy, in both developing and developed countries. Your participation in the agricultural sector is of vital importance, well they contribute, to a large extent, to the eradication of poverty and hunger, access to universal education, así como al fomento de un desarrollo sostenible todo unido a la seguridad alimentaria.

From a professional point of view there are magnificent livestock farms, veterinary, farm managers with brilliant projects. Rural women are key agents in achieving economic changes, environmental and social necessary for the development, but, sometimes, There is limited access to finance and training, without a doubt, hinder your progress, these being some of the challenges they encounter. But I hope that little by little women will begin to manage farms and increasingly participate in livestock projects of genetic value., con razas como la Churra o la Merina.

«Society must understand that in the towns there is another part of society that complements that of the cities and that a world is formed between the two and that they must go hand in hand , since we are obliged to understand each other"

Do you think that the rural gap between the countryside and the city has been reduced due to Covid19? Do our young people have real opportunities to stay in their land and develop their lives there??

It seems that Covid revealed the importance of the livestock sector, and he also came to value life in the towns, security, the quality of life and the possibility of undertaking life projects in the towns, cuando la alimentación y la libertad fue cuestionada por esta pandemia.

Today the War in Ukraine once again conditions the life of the sector with prices that make activity impossible and where cities have once again recognized the importance of producers, the empty milk shelves, carnes y productos del campo ha vuelto a poner de manifiesto la importancia de quienes trabajan en el mundo rural y se esfuerzan en generar alimentos de calidad.

The gap between countryside and city or between urban and rural is a totally wrong confrontation.. Society must understand that in towns there is another part of society that complements that of cities and that a world is formed between the two and that they must go hand in hand. , since we are obliged to understand each other. If the countryside suffers for the city and vice versa, Therefore, policies must be used with greater enthusiasm and dedication in rural environments., fomentar esas oportunidades reales que hagan atractivo a los jóvenes y también rentable la vida en los pueblos.

Creo que a estas alturas nadie puede dudar de lo esencial que es la actividad ganadera y agrícola para la subsistencia de toda la sociedad.

Based on the events of the rural community of Spain that today is the world epicenter of attacks on the sector, What advice would you send to the rest of the producers in the world?, to governments and large organizations like WHO, la HIM , FAO , etc.?

Creo que hoy mas que nunca los gobiernos y organizaciones mundiales deben liderar unas política de seguridad alimentaria y de protección de la naturaleza desde el rigor científico y donde los productores sean la base de estas políticas.

From the beginning, it has been the ranchers who have protected, lived and cared for nature and also fed the world. It cannot be that we now listen to animal or environmental organizations that seek to remove the flag of sustainability from those who really make their lives a friendly productive model that protects the natural environment., with studies without any rigor, They blame livestock farming, for example, for contaminating and trying to limit this activity., pero nadie habla por ejemplo de “dejar de producir vehículos” vivimos en una sociedad de la mal información y las entidades y gobiernos del mundo no pueden permitir más ataques al sector ganadero sostenible.

Note that Monfragüe Park itself, Today considered the natural jewel of Extremadura, It is undoubtedly an environment created by human activities. Its excessive protectionism today, its limitations of rational management for livestock, for example, It will mean over time that this natural jewel disappears and like this we can give thousands of examples. Natural parks that burn every year because there are no longer sheep or goats to take advantage of them, sostenibilidad y compatibilidad de actividades humanas en el medio rural es la base para que este siga vivo.

This year in CH35 there will be twinning with the Merino Breed… tell us about the Merino J Livestock. Ortiz.

I grew up in Castilla watching churras and merinos and for us, that we love native breeds above all, this twinning between these two sheep breeds, Today the basis of sheep farming throughout the world and that both represent our most important genetic heritage... well, I'm going to tell you that it makes us especially happy. , put together for the first time “Churras and Merinas” break this cliché and together promote this magnificent work that ANCHE and THE MERINA RACE ASSOCIATION have been doing with their ranchers., es una gran satisfacción y estamos deseando estar en Palencia y vivir esta trasterminancia que será un “hito” ganadero para el sector ovino.

Participating in the CH35 for us is a tremendous honor and a recognition that we never thought about and that also means recognition of the Merino breed and the more than 150 ranchers who today, like us, are committed to pure merino. We have been lucky to be us, pero cualquiera de ellos también se lo hubieran merecido.

Participate in CH35, in an international benchmark fair like the one you celebrate year after year, a fair that is surpassed every year, desde la profesionalidad y la seriedad es un gran honor.

Are you also committed to promoting innovation in the sheep sector?, TRUE?

Innovation is the basis of any project , also in livestock farms , we innovate from tradition, from the incorporation of sustainable ancestral practices such as transterminance , with tracking and measuring devices , from innovation in genetics using new techniques in wool improvement and measurement , adn etc.

The use of technology , la medición de los procesos es parte de la innovación que para nosotros es hacer lo mismo que se hacia siempre pero de una forma mas rentable y la tecnología nos permite rentabilizar y ganar tiempo.

Innovation must always come from respect and fidelity to the race , to innovate is to work with races in purity, give them the respect they deserve , without getting carried away by new trends , by crossing with other breeds , innovar es mejorar la raza desde la raza mejorando sus actitudes a base de procesos de selección.

Innovating means improving and this can always be done, That is why the work of the Associations is so important for livestock farmers, the work of its technicians hand in hand on the farms, Letting ourselves be advised by you and walking hand in hand is essential to be able to set new objectives to improve our breeds and also make our farms profitable., That's why from here I congratulate ANCHE and its professionals for the magnificent work they are doing with their breed., con la raza Churra.