Lamb costs up in 2022, in Italy

This year the lamb on the tables on Christmas day will cost more, also due to the increase in production costs that Italian farms are facing. According to ISMEA surveys, conducted on a sample of Sardinian breed sheep farms that breed PGI Sardinian lamb, in 2022, the production cost of lamb (excluding depreciation and interest on capital) was on average equal to 5, 11 €/kg live weight net of VAT, showing an increase of 10% compared to what occurred a year ago. The increase in costs was determined not only by the inflationary push resulting from the energy crisis, but also by the exceptional climatic trends which have reduced the availability of forage, triggering a strong upward push in prices for the products needed to supplement the sheep's feed. The most significant increases were recorded for energy costs (+48% between 2022 and 2021) and cultivation costs (+18%), especially for fertilizers (whose production process is heavily dependent on the use of gas) ; but the greatest ...