Baskets full, pockets empty: The price of millet and imported meat

While veterinarians count outbreaks and discuss strategies for and against vaccination due to sheep pox, in the reality of Bulgarian farmers, the situation appears more dramatic than ever. The disease has already inflicted severe damage in Southern Bulgaria, but the real blow is yet to be felt, and it is impacting the income and survival of farms. Farmers from various regions tell us the same thing: the problem with the lamb market did not start with sheep pox, but with thousands of tons of imported meat brought in before Easter and St. George's Day. Bulgarian lambs were literally left in the pens—there is no one to buy them, nor to slaughter them. Slaughterhouses refuse, and farmers watch helplessly as their animals grow and accumulate costs. "The match was over before the holidays. I have been watching animals for so many years, but I have never seen such a thing—no one to buy a lamb," commented one of the regular readers of Agri.BG. While there is talk of disinfection, burial, ...