Farmers, cheese-makers leave talks empty-handed

Livestock farmers and cheese producers from the island of Lesvos walked out of an emergency government meeting on Friday, furious over vague assurances as a foot-and-mouth disease crisis entered its second month with no clear resolution.

Representatives of both groups had traveled to Athens to meet with Agriculture Minister Margaritis Schinas, but left the Agriculture Ministry empty-handed. The island’s port blockade will continue, farmers announced, until concrete support measures are enacted.

“I left my pregnant wife to tend the sheep so I could travel to Athens and hear nothing but ‘we will,'” one departing farmer said. The ministry announced compensation of up to €8 million for milk delivered before April 4, and pledged future payments for animal feed and farmers forced to slaughter infected livestock.

A plan for partial distribution of aged cheeses – those stored at least two months – under strict biosecurity conditions is also being prepared, with a team of 10 veterinarians to oversee implementation on the island.

But cheese producers refused to resume milk collection, and with no coordinated plan for managing undelivered milk, many farmers have resorted to digging pits and dumping it.

All livestock on Lesvos – roughly 3,500 farms – must remain confined to prevent further spread. Farmers noted the obvious: animals require daily feeding and cannot simply stop producing milk on command. A crisis management team is expected to deploy to the island within days.

Kathimerini