S'Ullestrar, the transition towards the future of the Menorcan countryside

Miriam Triay Florit /Ciutadella – At the end of last month, the Menorca Preservation foundation announced the launch of the Finca pilot project in sustainable agriculture, with S'Ullestrar de Ciutadella as the main site. And with the support, at all times, of the advisor The Regen Academy, especially regarding the technical part.

Then, the process of transition from conventional agriculture and livestock farming to more regenerative and sustainable ones, for the Ciutadella farm, begins. Setting a precedent in the Menorcan field.

AN ADVENTURE…
Menorca Preservation - the non-profit foundation that seeks to support and promote environmental projects in Menorca - has pursued four pillars since its inception: "sea, land, energy and plastic", as explained by its director, Rebecca Morris.

It is by focusing on the second, the land, that the Menorca Preservada training program appears in 2022. One that ended in January of this year, has ended up giving life to the pilot Finca project in sustainable agriculture. With the aim of achieving a sustainable Menorcan countryside, careful with the land and the animals, and economically more profitable than the current one.

In order to fulfill these purposes, The Regen Academy also participates in the pilot project, as we have said. A group of agricultural advisers dedicated to consultancy and support when carrying out regenerative agriculture and livestock projects. Practices that must be sustainable, both ecologically and economically, as explained by Sixto Cabiró, responsible, within the consultancy, for this pilot farm project. They are the ones who are working on the land, and they help the s'Ullestrar farm to know what steps to take.

…LET IT BEGIN
Usually, any desire for change begins with a need, with a lack. In this case, Menorca Preservation noticed, following a series of interviews and meetings with farmers, that a lot of learning and knowledge was needed around how to make the transition towards sustainable agriculture and livestock. It was necessary that the people encouraged to make the change, understood what it entailed, and at the same time, knew which path to follow. And for those who had not yet considered it, that they were aware that it could be done, and what it entailed.

Menorca Preservada was born with this desire. A free two-year training course for anyone who wants to start the change process.

S'Ullestrar was one of the estates that signed up. A key fact to understand what happened, according to the foundation. Since it was the only assistant farm that maintained completely conventional practices.

THE EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW…
With the training completed this past January, the way to experience learning was opened. "The idea was that, through the training, we could identify a farm that was interested in changing the way the field worked. And that, as a result of this interest, we could help her carry out the transition", explains Morris. It was just a question of finding the pilot farm that answered a series of questions so that, in addition to achieving and obtaining good results, it could show the others who still do not dare, that the change really works and is worth trying. it

S'Ullestrar was ideal, not only because it was the only 100% conventional farm, but also because it was in the dairy sector and, moreover, it had demonstrated, through participation in the classes, a great desire for change. "The various courses were divided between Carme Bosch and Jordi Bosch, and they have come to practically everything we have organized these two years".

The proposal to implement the aprés was made to the Bosch brothers, and they accepted. From here, we can say that the project has already started. And a complex trajectory begins for the farm.

As Carme Bosch confesses, "like any change, it requires a little respect. But we feel privileged to be able to have this opportunity, and this support. Maybe it was what we needed to take the definitive step towards real change. Because, in the end, we live entirely from this, and the change to organic means a huge investment. Therefore, there must be an impasse, a time, a long process. And I understand that there are people who find it difficult to do it, because the field is sometimes profitable and others not. There is not much room for maneuver, for risk. However, we are very happy with the help they have offered us and are offering us, both The Regen Academy and Menorca Preservation. They give us a key security".