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Sheep culls put pressure on Greek feta cheese production
Mass slaughter and movement restrictions have cut milk supplies by 40%, with feta production expected to drop 20,000 tonnes in 2026, risking Greece's top export.
- From August 2024 to early March, Greece slaughtered more than 480,000 sheep and goats to combat a pox pandemic, threatening feta exports as milk production plummets across the country.
- In Thessaly, where producers make around 45 percent of the country's briny white cheese, milk production has fallen by around 40 percent this year following livestock losses from floods and disease.
- Food technologist Christina Onasoglou, whose dairy exports 98 percent of its feta, told AFP that milk deliveries have fallen by up to 50 percent while sheep milk prices increased by up to 12 percent.
- Spyros Kritas of the National Scientific Committee for the Management and Control of Smallpox opposed vaccination, arguing that antibodies create false signals of infection and complicate disease control efforts.
- Cheesemakers warn that forcing farmers to keep animals confined in barns violates the Protected Designation of Origin specification for feta, as authorities banned free-range grazing to limit disease spread.
Insights by Ground AI
32 Articles
32 Articles
Greece is facing a feta production crisis after the massive slaughter of sheep and goats.
Coverage Details
Total News Sources32
Leaning Left3Leaning Right10Center9Last UpdatedBias Distribution45% Right
Bias Distribution
- 45% of the sources lean Right
45% Right
14%
C 41%
R 45%
Factuality
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