It was clear for months that Agama wasn't going to end well. And so it was. One of the emblems of the island's agribusiness is going under.One more peak, the question is as simple as it is demoralizing: how can a product of the land in a country that constantly asserts its identity not be viable?

Agama, owned by the Damm Group, announced this Tuesday the final closure from the Palma plant and brought an end to the last large dairy with its own production in Mallorca. The immediate impact, for now, has been felt in the countryside. Three Mallorcan livestock farms, which They depended on the central office as their main buyerThey are left in a situation of extreme fragility. progressive reduction of orders Its viability had already been strained, and the announcement of the closure confirms an uncertain scenario for farms conditioned by the additional costs of insularity and by competition from foreign products at lower prices.

Farmers and livestock breeders who produce waste must be registered in the Balearic Islands' Waste Production and Management Registry to be able to treat it. Registration grants an Environmental Identification Number (NIMA) and costs 51 euros. Without this number, the company awarded the plastic collection contract cannot collect the manure, nor can it be delivered to TIRME (the Balearic Islands' waste management company). This requirement, imposed by the national waste law passed in 2022, means "more bureaucracy for farmers, with a giant trap," laments Joan Gaià, coordinator of Unió de Pagesos (Farmers' Union). However, he believes the initiative is good if all the collected plastic is recycled, because "if all this fuss is just to end up burning the plastic, it's just asking for trouble." In this regard, he points out that plastic is still currently used as fuel, so "companies have no incentive to recycle it." Furthermore, he refers to the difficulty some farmers are having registering. "They'll have to hire people to do it for them," he says. The cost of registration must be borne by everyone, although producers who generate less than 1,000 tons of non-hazardous waste per year will not have to pay the fee established by the state waste regulations.

Biel Barceló has a farm with almost 300 pigs and 100 sows on the road from Vilafranca to Porreres. He sows the grain he feeds the animals himself and, to do so, spreads the manure they produce because, he says, "it reactivates the soil and is much better than fertilizer." Although he tries to spread and cover it as quickly as possible "to avoid problems" with the neighbors (he spends about an hour between one thing and another), he is aware of the smell they create. "No matter how good the escampis is, all shit smells," he admits while standing next to a pile of manure he is about to spread.

The crisis in the Mallorcan dairy sector continues to worsen, and a new source of concern has emerged that could jeopardize the economic viability of the island's dairies: Agama, which belongs to the Damm group, has announced that it will no longer purchase milk from them starting next year. This was reported by the newspaper this Saturday. Breaking News, which details that Agama has already informed three of the largest dairies on the island.

The Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and the Environment has declared Mallorca an area affected by the bluetongue virus serotype three. The government has declared a health emergency after confirming a positive outbreak on a sheep farm in Bunyola, which has 156 animals. Although only one outbreak has been detected, the government is monitoring two cases in the same health zone that were reported this weekend, and samples from them will be sent to the state reference laboratory in Algete.