Threshing begins in a sign of optimism in the over 100 thousand hectares of cereals in the Marche with forecasts that, to date, see our region among the national leaders in terms of quality and also in terms of quantity. At least as regards the cultivation part because all the efforts of the Marche farmers risk being useless due to the uncontrolled supernumeration of wild boars, responsible for 75% of the damage in the countryside and particularly fond of cereals (one third of the total damaged crops, according to data from the Marche Region). A situation for which Coldiretti Marche is organizing a large demonstration under Palazzo Raffaello to ask for an extraordinary intervention that can restore the environmental balance compromised by a largely underestimated population of ungulates. Returning to production, while the production of Sicily and Puglia is struggling, the Marche seems to have left behind the two problematic vintages of 2023 and 2022 to settle at normal values in terms of quantity and optimal in terms of protein index and specific weight. The aim is to return above 4 million quintals of production for durum wheat, the most widespread in the region, which had recorded a decline of over 10% between ’21 and ’22 and, even, by a third last year . Precisely 2023 had been marred by floods and an overabundance of rain with flooded land and mud that had prevented treatments, exposing the fields to diseases, delaying and slowing down harvesting operations. A completely different story this year: the forecasts are excellent with healthy ears and the first productions which are settling at around 45 quintals per hectare. Ditto for soft wheat and barley. As always, the weather remains uncertain as seen in recent days with the hail that caused damage between the provinces of Macerata and Fermo. A risk always around the corner against which some companies resort to insurance policies. Almost 7% of the hectares of regional Sau are insured against damage from bad weather. Durum wheat is, behind wine grapes, the second most protected crop in the region with 446 “covered” companies. There are also 193 companies that grow sunflower and 102 common wheat.
