Shepherds 2.0.

The shepherding profession does not fit with the modern concept of an eight-hour working day, Monday to Friday, and so is not a popular job among the younger generations in rural areas. Livestock do not distinguish days off; they need to go out to pasture to graze, and to be looked after and milked every day. If not, they could get sick and die.

The gradual migration of the population into cities, and increased appreciation of the urban environment and its jobs, has resulted in detachment from the countryside, its industries, and its reason for being. With sheep's wool use reduced to barely token levels, sheep are now reared for meat, milk, and cheese production.

Despite this, there are some interesting initiatives currently trying to preserve the profession of shepherding, including: the pioneering Basque Country Shepherds' School (Escuela de Pastores del País Vasco), founded in 1997; the Madrid Shepherds' School (Escuela de Pastores de Madrid), located in the northern mountains of the province, with sheep flocks in Casa de Campo, the capital's largest public park; and the Asturias Shepherds' School (Escuela de Pastores de Asturias), in the Picos de Europa National Park, established in 2004.

Seasonal migration is a way of life that is perfectly adapted to the climate and mountainous conditions of the Iberian Peninsula, especially on the plateau, which connects the pastures, the native breeds, and the livestock routes. It supports the preservation of these species, and valuable habitats such as dehesa (grassland) or mountain pastures.

It is considered so important that in 2019, seasonal migration through the Mediterranean and the Alps was included on UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Extensive farming of native breeds that feed only on grass is still alive and well. Although intensive farming is more financially competitive these days, extensive farming offers other benefits in terms of social investment, as it slows the depopulation of the rural environment. It also offers environmental benefits, because it contributes to the conservation of habitats, landscapes, and biodiversity, and the prevention of forest fires, to fight against erosion and desertification.

Until a few decades ago, it was very common when driving on regional highways to have to wait for flocks of sheep or goats to cross the road with their shepherds and sheepdogs. Today, this is a very rare sight.

Extensive livestock farming, particularly of sheep and goats, has been in steady decline for decades due to the low financial returns compared with intensive farming. However, it is also down to the perception of the professions of shepherd and farmer as arduous and unappealing. Especially compared to the prestige of the wine-making industry.

Livestock farming using traditional methods and respecting the environment, without industrial techniques and volumes, runs on very tight profit margins in many regions of Spain, for many different reasons.

In some areas, making cheese from goat's or sheep's milks, or mixed with cow's milk, as well as selling lamb meat, enables small flocks, and their shepherds, to survive. Many do not practice seasonal migration as such, but rather move around every day on routes that start and finish in the same place.

Rubén Valbuena, from Cantagrullas Farm in the province of Valladolid, explains that the extensive farming of his Castilian breed of sheep consists of moving over routes of around 9–12 miles per day, limited by the ever increasing area of the existing vineyard.

Extensive farming, meaning sheep graze naturally for 365 days a year, always provides a lower volume of milk than intensive farming. That is why Cantagrullas Farm complements their farming by selling suckling lambs with PGI (Protected geographical indication for suckling lambs from Castile and Léon).

Non-industrial, artisan cheese factories now not only face the handicap of social prestige, but also a lack of political will to recognize the value of the profession and its product. In Spain, the per-capita consumption is a far cry from the quantities eaten by the cheese country par excellence, for example: France. They are also far below the European average of 37 lb 15 oz (17.2 kg). In 2018, Spaniards consumed almost 17 lb 10 oz (8 kg) per person, while their neighbors consumed three times this amount: almost 52 lb 15oz (24 kg).

There are regions, like La Mancha, that are fortunate to have a cheese industry that has been promoted for many decades for various reasons. This has led to an appreciation in value in the collective imagination, meaning they enjoy much better profit margins. These specific cases of a good product image which infers cultural and economic value have received institutional support for years.

Over the last 10 years, there has been a shift, with urban professionals moving into the rural environment. Various livestock farms have been opened, with some also producing cheese. They aim to boost the value of farming as a profession, changing the perception of the countryside and its products. Continued and unfettered institutional support from politicians would offer untold value to this vision.

One example is Juan Luis Royuela, owner of La Cabezuela Dairy in the province of Madrid. While he has no livestock of his own, he obtains goat's and cow's milk for his cheeses from semi-extensive farming. He points out that in the area, extensive farming with shepherds is almost non-existent, due to the lack of availability of grazing land, as well as low financial returns, generational replacement, and many other factors.

One case where livestock farming corresponding to cheese production has survived is that of the Gamonéu cheese in Picos de Europa. A few families there make their living from the most sought-after Spanish cheeses. Shepherds climb the mountain with their sheep and goats on June 1, and stay until October, looking after the animals and making cheese.

"The shepherds who do this spend four months living in cabins, under the stars, and move around for 17 hours every day. They wake up at six o'clock in the morning. They milk their cattle, sheep, and goats until ten o'clock. They mix the milk with that from the previous night, and dedicate their day to making cheese until three o'clock in the afternoon," explains Guillermo F. Buergo in El Comercio, an Asturian newspaper.

Felipe Molina is a shepherd and farmer, and owns a flock of sheep in the province of Córdoba. He is also very active on social media. The sixth generation of a family of shepherds, he maintains that shepherding is a vocation, but he agrees with Rubén Valbuena that country work has an image problem. He points out that today, being a shepherd is a valid profession, and not badly paid. Despite this, it is almost non-existent in his region too.