Thirteen hundred tons of lamb meat will remain unsold this fall when the slaughtering season begins, stated Oddný Steina Valsdóttir, director of the Icelandic Sheep Farmer’s Association, in an interview with RÚV this morning. Farmers will attend a meeting of the parliamentary committee on industry today to discuss the state of sheep farming in the country. Oddný says farmers have suffered a large loss of income due to the lowering of prices on lamb. If nothing is done, it will have a serious impact on rural areas across the country, particularly young farmers who are building up their business.
Oddný stated in the interview that she was optimistic about the meeting with the parliamentary committee on industry today. “We have a definite plan for how we can get ourselves out of this position,” she stated.
The appreciation of the Icelandic króna and the closing markets abroad have had the effect of reducing lamb sales. “It’s not that we have been irresponsibly overproducing lamb in recent years. But we have to address this and we want to do it in a coherent way,” added Oddný. Farmers have been speaking with ministers since spring.
Oddný says production of lamb needs to decrease. “We need to reduce the product in line with the market we have today. Then we also want to consider other projects and address the problem as a whole so that it is makes sense for the future.”
