Youth returning to Plaški valley and producing superb cheeses

While some are leaving Croatia in search of work, there are those that are returning – to the almost abandoned Plaški valley. Young and educated people, in what was once a herder’s heaven, see their future in sheep farming and ecological production. They are working on protecting the originality of their products and rely on a secure market in tourism.

Until recently, several thousand cattle grazed in the green fields of the Plaški valley. Imports and a low price of milk had taken its toll – today there are less than a thousand cattle, while pork and poultry are almost non-existent in the valley. However, sheep farming is on the rise with a stable price for sheep’s milk that has never been better. Since returning to Janja Gora three years ago, Josip Jagušt has been systematically investing in his farm. He has combined traditional and modern production technology from an example by the French. He imported resistant Lacaune sheep, whose milk is used to make the prestigious Roquefort cheese.

People are slowly returning to the valley and bringing new projects with them. Tourism takes in everything, so together they have begun ecological production of sheep’s cheese. They say they will then seek European protection of geographical origin for their cheese.

Source: HRT