Modern Agriculture, Livestock, and Logging in Spain

Agriculture in Spain

Spain has a modern agriculture and market characterized by the following features:

• Prevalence of intensive farming, helped by the expansion of irrigation and poor use of fallow.
• Use of new technologies, fertilizers and pesticides, selection of seeds, and new farming systems (sanded, greenhouses, etc.).
• Specialization of crops by region. For example, the Almeria coastline has specialized in greenhouse vegetable crops.
• Existence of more prepared personnel and rejuvenation of agricultural workers by immigrants.
• Crops for the farm and food industry.

Challenges Facing Spanish Agriculture

However, current Spanish agriculture is facing many problems and challenges:

• The abandonment of farming in many areas of inland Spain.
• The use in various areas of traditional irrigation systems, which consume lots of water, and the poor condition of many facilities for irrigation (canals, channels, etc.).
• The fulfillment of the conditions required by the European Union for supporting agriculture. These include respect for the environment and keeping land in good condition.
• The difficulties of some products (cotton, grapes, etc.) to compete in international markets with the productions of other countries.
• The demand for land in rural areas for other more profitable activities: second homes, shopping malls, etc.

Livestock in Spain

Spanish livestock ranks fourth in the European Union. In the second half of the twentieth century, the dominance of the traditional extensive livestock system based on traditional breeds, which employed many workers and had small profitability, transitioned to new farming systems with the following features:

• There are many intensive livestock farms. Cattle are stabled on farms and the production goes to the food industry. The animals are fed with feed and some tasks have been mechanized, which has led to large increases in productivity.
• The introduction of foreign species to improve livestock has caused a drop in native breeds.
• Recent problems that have affected Spanish livestock are diseases like swine fever and the so-called "mad cow disease", as well as the need to import food for the animals (feed, fodder, etc.) because of insufficient domestic production.
• The specialization of production (meat, milk, eggs, etc.).

Logging in Spain

The forest area occupies 51.4% of the country, while trees only represent 21% of Spain. Numerous trees are conifers (pines), followed by oak, cork oak, beech, and chestnut. Shrubs are abundant. The main products obtained from trees are wood (furniture industry, pulp for paper, etc.), especially coming from the conifers (54% of the total), resin, and cork. Other forest products are spelt, aromatic and medicinal plants, and wild fruits (chestnuts, acorns, etc.).