The Government of the Azores financed the electrification of six more farms on the island of São Miguel. This investment amounted to 100, 000 Euros.

Around one hundred farms benefited from public investment in electrification, which reached 1, 7 Million Euros.

This public investment, which was intensified in the past two years, has enabled farmers to deliver around 25 million litres of refrigerated milk to the processing industry.

The refrigeration of this product adds value to its derivatives, insuring greater incomes for the farmers.

The electrification of farms makes it possible for the farmers to undertake, with greater security and profits, new investments in support structures as well as in new milking facilities and refrigeration tanks.

In addition to the aforementioned benefits, electrification acts as a powerful incentive for farmers not to transfer their cattle to other pastures. It has thus acted as a strong incentive for them to acquire new portions of land that are contiguous with their existing pastures.

As a result of the increased electrification of farms, we have witnessed greater rationalisation in the distribution of pastures, a significant restructuring of the sector that will have positive repercussions on production processes and on farmers’ incomes.

The financing of this initiative by the Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Forestry resulted from its agricultural modernisation policy, namely, the provision of means and conditions that improve the incomes of farmers.