Division 3.4 Feed (for products of animal origin only)

Since open-air rearing is the most common technique, only extensive or semi-extensive production systems are permitted. The animals graze in an area with characteristically wild vegetation including pine forests, thickets and meadows. Transhumance, where the animals are moved to other zones (or pastures) located in the same geographical area (according to the time of the year and available feed) is practised regularly. Other pasture and fodder species are also usually grown in the region and are used as feed supplements for local sheep during periods in which feed is less available. However, and only in times of extreme climatic and soil conditions (snow or drought for instance), straight or compound feedstuffs may be used to strengthen animals’ diets, mainly at the start and end of the gestation period or at the height of the lactation period. The use of these feedstuffs must be authorised by the producer group and is controlled both quantitatively and qualitatively by the certification body.