Pata Negra in crisis due to climate: lack of acorns for pigs
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There climate crisis is threatening the future of one of the best hams in the world, the famous Spanish iberian hamthe Pat Negra. What is considered by many to be the “king” of the raw ham category, rare and expensive, is known as “Jamón de Bellota 100% Ibérico”: its unmistakable flavor is the result of the diet to which the Iberian breed pigsstrictly based on acorns (bellotas). A diet today threatened by global warming and the increasingly intense effects of meteorological phenomena.
When we speak of Pata Negra we usually refer to the rear legs of pure Iberian breed pigs with dark hooves, animals that for a certain period called “montanera” are raised in the wild and fed exclusively with acorns and natural herbs.
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However, last autumn Spain, and in particular the area of Extremadura, experienced a period of strong and prolonged drought, such as to jeopardize the growth of acorns and other plant components on which Iberian pigs feed. In the hottest year ever for the Iberian Peninsula, heat and water shortages have led to a sort of oak crisis and the consequence is that in 2023, producers estimate, there could be a 20% reduction in the production of the famous Iberian Jamon with uncertainties for its future, given the lack of water resources, which remain numerous and worrying.
The drought continued also in the first winter months and the heat waves impacted above all in the regions of Salamanca, Extremadura And Andalusia, all areas usually rich in oaks and pastures ideal for raising pigs: in these areas, by feeding on acorns during the fattening period between November and March, the animals usually grow until they reach the optimal weight to be slaughtered. On average they start the period around 90 kilos and at the end of the “montanera” they weigh almost 150 kilos, but this year many animals have not reached the required levels.
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Considering that the secret of the goodness of the well-known ham is enclosed in the pig diet, producers fear that if dry autumns like that of 2022 continue to repeat themselves, ham will become increasingly rare and expensive in just a few years. “Pigs lack weight and this affects us a lot,” he said Rodrigo Cardenoof the company Explotaciones Agropecuarias Cárdeno – and due to the drought probably 150,000 fewer animals will be slaughtered”.
Even if future seasons turn out to be so complex to guarantee the feeding of the pigs, some producers even invoke the idea of importing acorns from other countries, a system which, however, involves considerable risks.
Francisco Esparragopresident of the Señorio de Montanera which produces high quality ham, explains for example that hypothesizing to take “the acorns in Morocco or Algeriawhere they obviously don’t raise pigs, carries risks: I fear that importing acorns could introduce new diseases as happened when we imported palm trees from Egypt (see the red weevil that destroyed thousands of trees, ed)”.
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Despite the drop in the number of hams, operators in the sector explain that it is still too early to talk about a black future for Pata Negra, however what is worrying is the related industries that the economy linked to this Spanish delicacy generates: Espárrago points out that a drop in production could have a strong impact on local economies and in particular on jobs in regions that today already have very high unemployment rates.
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