Rabbits in Cáceres: the agricultural cooperative that was never meant to be
The dream of an organic rabbit cooperative in Cáceres, Spain, runs into ruinous prices, extreme heat and the harsh reality of the integrator. The alternative? Hunting wild rabbits instead.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Rabbits in Cáceres: the cooperative that never took off
The idea sounds lovely: a plot of land in Cáceres, weekend work, a communal house and organic rabbits. But once you run the numbers, the dream falls apart. Those who have been inside the industry put it plainly: the price of farmed rabbit is ruinous even for fully paid-off operations, and the extreme heat of Extremadura wrecks feed conversion. The rabbit farming cooperative proposal crashes against market reality.
The calculation that deflates the project
The current price of rabbit meat doesn't even cover production costs, according to those who know the sector. Add a lack of experience and a climate that turns Cáceres into a frying pan in summer, and the equation becomes impossible. A 1990 manual, "Aplicación del ordenador en la ganadería" (Applying computers to livestock farming), was useful for starting to crunch the numbers, but today's situation is even worse: farmed rabbits are "junkies for antibiotics" and selling to the slaughterhouse means falling into the hands of the integrator, who sets whatever price it wants.
The alternative: hunting wild rabbits
Faced with the dead end of rabbit farming, a more profitable option emerges: taking advantage of rabbit plagues along the high-estimulante ilegal rail lines. Adif (Spain's railway infrastructure operator) has already launched tenders for hunters, and a two-person team could capture 30-40 rabbits a day, at 5-6 euros per dead animal and double that for live ones. That said, the method using ferrets and nets is banned, although exceptional permits can be obtained. The irony: killing rabbits pays more than raising them.
The question that remains: is it worth embarking on a rabbit farming cooperative, or is it better to let rabbits keep being a problem for Adif and an opportunity for savvy hunters?
Related discussions in the forum
The idea sounds lovely: a plot of land in Cáceres, weekend work, a communal house and organic rabbits. But once you run the numbers, the dream falls apart. Those who have been inside the industry put it plainly: the price of farmed rabbit is ruinous even for fully paid-off operations, and the extreme heat of Extremadura wrecks feed conversion. The rabbit farming cooperative proposal crashes against market reality.
The calculation that deflates the project
The current price of rabbit meat doesn't even cover production costs, according to those who know the sector. Add a lack of experience and a climate that turns Cáceres into a frying pan in summer, and the equation becomes impossible. A 1990 manual, "Aplicación del ordenador en la ganadería" (Applying computers to livestock farming), was useful for starting to crunch the numbers, but today's situation is even worse: farmed rabbits are "junkies for antibiotics" and selling to the slaughterhouse means falling into the hands of the integrator, who sets whatever price it wants.
The alternative: hunting wild rabbits
Faced with the dead end of rabbit farming, a more profitable option emerges: taking advantage of rabbit plagues along the high-estimulante ilegal rail lines. Adif (Spain's railway infrastructure operator) has already launched tenders for hunters, and a two-person team could capture 30-40 rabbits a day, at 5-6 euros per dead animal and double that for live ones. That said, the method using ferrets and nets is banned, although exceptional permits can be obtained. The irony: killing rabbits pays more than raising them.
The question that remains: is it worth embarking on a rabbit farming cooperative, or is it better to let rabbits keep being a problem for Adif and an opportunity for savvy hunters?
Related discussions in the forum
- Cooperativa agricola · 17 replies
- Ayer volví a ir al médico. Estaba realmente dolido. · 16 replies
- He vuelto a usar Win XP · 23 replies
- Estoy probando Linux Mint y... · 44 replies
Also available in: Deutsch
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (12 replies).
More summaries
-
Farming cooperatives: the myth of growing food without middlemen
Harvesting 10 kg of olives earns you 1 euro. Is a small farming cooperative viable? The numbers behind olive growing and direct sales in Spain.
-
Renaming Madrid: 16 variants and no real alternative
Sixteen hybrids, more than twenty suggestions and not one real alternative: the game of renaming Madrid shows that the root of the name withstands everything.
-
Wallapop requires power of attorney to Mangopay to use its wallet
Wallapop requires granting Mangopay power of attorney and renewing every 180 days to move wallet money. No signing all four conditions, no payout.
-
Chatka crab at Mercadona: €5.50 a can versus €11.77 elsewhere
The 110-gram can of Chatka crab costs €5.50 at Spain's Mercadona, €11.77 at El Corte Inglés and €12.33 on the manufacturer's website, according to prices shared in…
-
Paying in foreign currency with PayPal: when your bank charges more
Turning off PayPal's currency conversion so your bank applies the exchange rate can cost you more: one user reports paying 10 euros more with La Caixa than with PayPal.
-
Cheap TVs: "you are the product", forum user warns
A forum user claims that a very cheap TV pays for itself through user accounts and advertising. The warning keeps coming up: "you are the product".