The Tuscan Ovine Milk Industry, 1950-2000. A Quantitative Analysis

During the 1950s, Tuscan ovine farming found itself in difficulty. The situation grew critical due to farmers moving away from the countryside and from the agricultural reform which brought upon a restriction of pastures and herding, promoting the development of small farming properties in place of large sharecropping farms and favouring the growth of farming. In the second half of the 1960s, a new expanding pattern began, mostly thanks to the Sardinian immigration. Sardinian herders undertook the job of recuperating and reconstructing the old colonial farm houses to create their own farms specifically for the production of milk. During the same years, an important cooperative movement began to establish itself in the area and brought upon several new elements in the field of cheese factories. The majority of Tuscan cooperatives joined together in two groups: the Lugalat and the Castor. Thanks to the successful initiative of the Castor group, in 1987, Tuscan sheep cheese was recognized as a registered name cheese brand. Nine years later it obtained the PDO trade mark.