“It is evident that it has improved a little. There are even areas, in the south of the district of Beja, where these rains immediately caused runoff and filled small ponds and dams used for watering cattle”, said Rui Garrido.

But, he continued, “when it rained, there were already damages caused by the drought that are irrecoverable, whether in pastures/forages, or in cereals, or in autumn/winter oilseeds, such as rapeseed”.

Not enough rain

According to Rui Garrido, “the fact that the temperatures were not too high was also positive” for the improvement of the drought situation in the district of Beja, but “the amount of rain was not enough to replace the pastures”.

For this reason, he lamented, “farmers continue to feed their cattle using preserved forage and straw they had and buying rations”, which are “increasingly high” and, “once again”, there is the “possibility of missing the market".

Rui Garrido said that farmers and ACOS want the Minister of Agriculture, Maria do Céu Antunes to, “listen to the farmers”.