The Son Carbó dairy farm, located in Campos and one of the farms affected by the closure of Agama, has submitted an offer to acquire 51% of Formatges Grimalt with the support of other partners, in an operation that aims to guarantee the continuity of the dairy sector in Mallorca.

The Son Carbó dairy farm, located in Campos and one of the farms affected by the closure of Agama, has submitted an offer to acquire 51% of Formatges Grimalt with the support of other partners, in an operation that aims to guarantee the continuity of the dairy sector in Mallorca.

Overcoming the traditional dependence on El Caserío that marked the sector until the beginning of the century, Menorca's countryside survives the blows of international politics, the concern caused by price increases due to the war in Iran, and the 22% cut in European CAP aid. The change in land ownership into the hands of foreign investors, such as businessman Víctor Madera, has prevented the premature abandonment of dozens of farms and has reinforced the sector's commitment to other types of agricultural exploitation that have given it new momentum.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment, through the Directorate General for Agri-food Quality and Local Product, has opened two proceedings against the Damm group for using the name Mallorca in direct relation to Laccao. A brand that no longer has any connection with the island and that is a 100% Catalan product.

Mallorca's dairy cow producers have made a public call to stop consuming products and boycott the Grup Damm in response to the closure of the Agama plant and the decision to stop collecting milk on the island. The sector considers that the company has breached the commitment made with the farmers, which provided for maintaining collection until September to give them reorganization time.

The sale of the warehouse and the rustic land exploited by the founding company l'Esplet is now the last chapter in the disappearance of a benchmark in the Balearic countryside. At the beginning of the month, the company's closure and the dismissal of its 19 workers due to economic problems were made public. Now, two weeks later, the company is selling the warehouse and land for five million euros.

The Camp Mallorquí cooperative has presented an offer to acquire Carob S.A., a company dedicated to the production of carob gum and currently in pre-insolvency proceedings. The proposal has already been submitted to both shareholders and the court overseeing the process, and it includes the continuation of agricultural activity and the maintenance of the more than twenty jobs affected. Miquel Gual, president of the cooperative, has assured that "they will keep the company as we know it." "We don't want it to end up like Agama, where a big brand like Damm buys it for speculation and not to keep the sector alive."

The Camp Mallorquina cooperative has presented an offer to acquire Carob SA, a company dedicated to the production of carob gum and currently in pre-insolvency proceedings. The proposal has already been conveyed to both shareholders and the court overseeing the process and includes the continuity of agricultural activity and the maintenance of the more than twenty affected jobs. Miquel Gual, president of the cooperative, has assured that they "will maintain the company as we know it." "We don't want it to end up like "}Agama, where a large brand like Damm buys it to speculate and not to keep the sector alive.

White Rose andLaccaoThey share a common history. Both are historic, traditional, and emblematic products of the Mallorcan industry They ended up in Damm's hands and have lost their connection to Mallorca. The current situation with Laccao is a carbon copy of what happened years ago with Rosa Blanca, a beer that many still associate with the Balearic Islands, but whose only link to the islands is its name.

Outrage, rejection, and anger from the Agama workers because of the attitude of the Ministry of Agriculture towards the factory closure in PalmaThis was explained by Jesús Ávila, spokesperson for the workers of the Mallorcan dairy, on ARA Baleares. "They haven't wanted to meet with us for three months," Ávila stated. According to the workers, since the announcement that the cooperative project was being scrapped, they have been trying unsuccessfully to meet with Regional Minister Joan Simonet, even though the factory has already closed. The workers criticize the fact that no one has informed them of the reasons for the cooperative's failure and the factory's closure, "even though they were part of the initial negotiating table." When Damm made the closure public from the factory was more than possiblethe option arose to create a cooperative project with the workers, the Ministry of Agriculture and AgamaEverything seemed to be going well, but the Regional Ministry and Damm excluded the workers, who had conceived the project, from the negotiations, despite their requests to participate and be informed about the initiative's progress. They also claim they have been "ignored" and that "the situation hasn't changed." "Even though the factory has closed, we still haven't received any answers or been able to talk to anyone," they complain.

Damm will have to return 1.1 million euros to the Government of the subsidy it received within the framework of the transformation of the primary sector, after announcing the closure of the Agama factory in Palma and to fail to comply with the established regulations. This is provided that the file opened by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment confirms what is already evident: the conditions established in the terms and conditions have not been met, since these require maintaining the activity for five years from the date the public aid is received.

Just over a hundred farmers gathered this Thursday at midday at the Mercadal fairgrounds to reject the cuts the European Union wants to apply to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), to say enough is enough to "empty promises" and excessive bureaucracy from the administrations, and above all, to demand recognition of their unique island needs. The manifesto, read by the presidents of Agrame, Luis Nadal; Fagme, Catalina Pons; and Unió de Pagesos, Margalida Llambias, calls for "justice" in the form of fair prices that provide greater profitability for farms, decisive support for local production and the Menorcan agri-food industry, and agricultural policies that guarantee generational renewal and a future for the sector. "Without farmers there is no countryside, and without countryside there is no Menorca," they chanted in unison, to the applause of the attendees and the dozen or so tractors that had traveled to the center of the island. Unlike previous protests and tractor demonstrations that years ago brought the main road to a standstill, this time the agricultural organizations and cooperatives of Menorca opted for a "responsible" demonstration, without blocking the island's activity, but making their voices heard. "Responsible" protest

"We are here to defend our right to live off the land, to produce quality food, and to continue caring for the territory, the landscape, and food sovereignty," they announced. But they also complained about the "critical situation" they face, where "the lack of profitability of farms, the constant increase in production costs, bureaucratic and regulatory pressure, and unfair competition from international trade agreements are suffocating the countryside."

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The Unió de Pagesos de Mallorca (Mallorca Farmers' Union) has launched a campaign this week targeting all the island's municipalities to defend the primary sector at a critical time. The organization has submitted a motion urging local councils to take a stand against the effects of... the trade agreement with Mercosurto demand compensation for the new CAP and to simplify access to aid for professional farmers.

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The craft beer sector in the Balearic Islands is going through one of its most delicate periods after years of hard work and the boom of a decade ago that boosted sales and the industry. Far from the image of expansion that characterized the years before the pandemic, small producers and brewers report a continuous decline in consumption and are struggling against increasingly burdensome and restrictive regulations. They denounce that this crisis has led to the disappearance of many historic brands and is constantly suffocating those that remain. "We haven't recovered from what we had before COVID, not by a long shot," warns Miquel Amorós, founder and owner of Mallorca Beer Co., a company that currently produces in an emblematic location that was once another industrial site: Menestralia, in Campanet. However, the brewer maintains that currently, "every day is a fight to avoid closing down."

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At the beginning of the 21st century, the Balearic countryside was still reeling from the consequences of the rural exodus it suffered mainly in the second half of the 20th century. The expansion of mass tourism recruited many workers from the primary sector. In addition to the loss of labor, during the first quarter of the century farmers had to face the crisis of the traditional agricultural model, price disparities with the mainland, the loss of rural land, and adverse weather events, among other problems. However, in a sense, Balearic society has become more aware of the importance of the primary sector in the Islands, which has had to reinvent itself to survive. Nevertheless, Foravila has accumulated regulations, bureaucracy, and problems that are increasingly stifling it. "We are worse off than at the beginning of the century," summarizes Joana Mascaró, manager of Unió de Petits Agricultors i Ganaders (UPA-AIA). Foravila is becoming a wasteland

The loss of agricultural workers led to the abandonment of the land and also of traditional monocultures. In fact, 99% of the dryland almond trees that years ago produced Mallorca's almonds no longer exist. In the early 2000s, the rural countryside began to be perceived socially as a landscape rather than as productive land. "The countryside became a vacant lot with the arrival of city dwellers, speculators, and people who wanted to live in luxury," explains Miquel Gual, president of the San Bartolomé de Sóller Agricultural Cooperative. Furthermore, this problem, which began around the year 2000, has worsened with the increased tolerance of the authorities in authorizing certain uses that are inappropriate for rural areas. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the Balearic Islands have lost 28,500 hectares of agricultural land and 1,700 farms in ten years (from 2013 to 2023). Regarding agricultural products, between 2015 and 2020, production decreased for cereals (from 49,341 to 48,937 tons), legumes (from 3,090 to 2,057 tons), tubers (from 58,284 to 8,284 tons), citrus fruits (from 10,739 to 6,535 tons), stone fruits (from 2,031 to 1,200 tons), nuts (from 7,364 to 3,956 tons), and vegetables (from 5 to 5,000 tons). The livestock sector is not immune to this decline. Mascaró points out that "in Mallorca, only 10% of the dairy farms that existed around the year 2000 remain." Regarding milk production, he explains that in the same period, production has fallen from 40 million liters per year to seven million. All of this has led to the disappearance of feed mills and other activities related to the sector, while others face an uncertain future, as is the case with Agama. Boom in organic farming

For the first 25 years of this century, the trend toward organic farming was the complete opposite of that of traditional agriculture. In 2000, the area dedicated to organic farming in the Balearic Islands was 3,455 hectares, according to data published by the Balearic Council for Organic Agricultural Production (CBPAE). That figure has increased significantly. In 2024, organic farming reached 50,542 registered hectares, and compared to 2023, it added 43 new operators, reaching a total of 1,301. These figures demonstrate that "organic farming in the Balearic Islands has ceased to be an ideology," celebrates Joan Gaià, coordinator of Unió de Pagesos (Farmers' Union). At the beginning of the implementation of this model, farmers questioned its profitability, since the products used are more expensive. But over the years, farmers have found that organic techniques mitigate the effects of climate change and also make better use of the Balearic Islands' natural resources, which have dwindled over the past 25 years. That's why Gaià points out that organic farming "is the future of the Balearic countryside." Along the same lines, he insists that "for things to go well" in the next 25 years, "conventional agriculture should almost disappear, although some of its practices should be preserved."

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It's a rainy day in the square. It's 9 a.m., and the Manacor Vegetable Market (officially, Plaza de la Constitución), very close to the center, is nearly empty. On the upper side, the Riera sisters, Bel (1974) and Joana (1975), have already set up their awning and arranged their produce. Like every Saturday since they were old enough to understand. But today isn't just any day, and it seems that both the weather and the atmosphere (customers arrive steadily, but one by one) know it's the last.

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Those who have demonstrated this year against mass tourism demanded a "change of course" towards a new economic and social model in the Balearic Islands. In fact, "We're changing course" was the slogan of the mobilization organized by the Less Tourism More Life platform in July 2024, which brought together nearly 50,000 people in Palma. The opposition also uses the same words to discuss and reject the policies implemented by the government. However, faced with social and political criticism, the governing bodies of the institutions ask where the solutions are that all those who frequently complain have proposed.

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Meat companies in the Balearic Islands have begun to curb the import of live pigs from Catalonia as a precaution, following the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) detected in Barcelona. However, officially there is no general restriction on the purchase of animals—either live or slaughtered—and the measures only affect the 91 municipalities in the area where the 13 infected wild boars were found. This business decision reflects the concern of the Balearic meat sector, which is heavily dependent on pork from Catalonia, accounting for up to 70% of its processed meat production. Both the pork used for direct consumption and that used for sausage production comes primarily from mainland Spain, and a significant percentage of it comes from Catalonia. For this reason, Balearic businesses and government officials are closely monitoring the evolution of the African swine fever outbreak, aware that any incident could have direct effects on a key product of the Balearic agribusiness, especially regarding the export of sobrasada, the sector's flagship product.

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Onofre Ballester, owner of Avícola Ballester, explained to ARA Baleares that he has requested a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Joan Simonet, four times, but laments that he has received "no response." In recent years, the Balearic Government has sanctioned and opened investigations against the company for its operating farms. However, the owner has submitted various appeals and even requested the correction of official reports filed by the Executive. Adding to the tense relationship between the Executive and the company is the fact that the Government rejected Ballester's proposed mega-farm in Sineu and prohibited such facilities with more than 160,000 hens. Until January 17th of this year, there were no regulations limiting the number of birds on farms in the Balearic Islands, and Simonet drafted them. In any case, Ballester's project did not go ahead because the Government shelved its environmental authorization process, according to a report of urban planning incompatibility issued by the Sineu City Council.

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