Young people who resist, Stefano's story: "Me, among valleys and canals. I was just a child."

"I'm 24 years old ," says the Coldiretti representative. " I officially joined the company three years ago , but I've actually been helping my parents since I was little. We have two businesses, one fishing and one aquaculture. I grew up in the Po Delta valleys and would struggle to see a future away from this environment." His job, his philosophy, are all about sacrifice.

"Yes," he says, "the difficulties begin as soon as you start fishing. A world increasingly complicated by the environmental imbalances created by the arrival of alien species like the blue crab, which not only damages shellfish farms but also fishermen's gillnets. And then it ruins the fish that get caught in the nets." It's a daily struggle in the valleys. On the market, prices are increasingly low, especially for those on the front lines.

"Another major challenge is the traders," he explains, "who try to maximize their profits while giving the fishermen the least. This forces us to extract more to generate income, and this damages the environment and its balance." These challenges don't take the smile off Stefano, the young farmer. "Steal fishing ," he explains, "is a tradition in our valleys that is in danger of disappearing. My great-grandfather started it, or rather, his father, who was a valley guard." Mullet and the occasional eel, once considered a poor man's fish, end up in the nets.

It's not just water and canals. "I'm also a beekeeper, inheriting my grandfather's legacy, who loved these insects. Another job I love, like the sea." Traditions on the brink of extinction. "I have a family behind me, and I'm able to get by," he says. "Those guys who are now starting a farm are heroes to me. Making money from the land has become almost impossible." But he perseveres.

He's not alone; there are 500 farms run by young people in our province. Of these, 200 bear the Coldiretti logo. These are signs of hope. The number of young people working in the fields is increasing, with an 18% increase in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the same period the previous year, highlighting a return of those under 35 to agriculture, where traditional tasks are increasingly being integrated with new forms of employment linked to the spread of digitalization and multifunctionality. The increase in agricultural employment under 35, which has risen to 122,000, bucks the general trend, which sees a 2% decline in young people across all sectors, from industry to services. Figures from the large farming village of Bologna.