AgricultureID

Region · IT-25

Lombardy

The agricultural heart of Lombardy is the humid subtropical Po plain, with hot, humid summers, cold, foggy winters and year-round rainfall, fed by abundant water from Alpine rivers and lakes; the northern Alps and Prealps are far cooler and wetter.

Major crop systems

  • Grain and silage maize, the leading crop, feeding the dairy and pig sectors
  • Rice on the flooded plains of the Lomellina and Pavia — part of Europe’s main rice belt
  • Forage crops (Italian ryegrass, lucerne) for the dairy herd
  • Soybean and other cereals in rotation
  • Wine grapes in Franciacorta, Oltrepò Pavese and Valtellina

Major livestock systems

  • Dairy cattle for Grana Padano and other cheeses — Italy’s dominant milk-producing region
  • Intensive pig production supplying cured-meat chains
  • Poultry and egg production on the plain

Agricultural land: The intensively cultivated lower plain (bassa pianura), watered by an old and dense network of springs (fontanili) and canals, is among the most productive farmland in Europe and supports Italy’s largest concentration of dairy and irrigated arable farming. Irrigation: Gravity-fed irrigation from Alpine rivers, lakes and the fontanili springs, distributed through centuries-old canal systems, sustains the rice, maize and forage economy and makes surface-water rights a central feature of farming here.

Agroecological zones: Cfa (Humid subtropical), Cfb (Oceanic (marine west coast))

Documented crops & livestock

Official institutions

  • Direzione Generale Agricoltura, Regione Lombardia — Regional directorate-general for agriculture.
  • ISTAT — Italian National Institute of Statistics.
  • CREA — Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura).

Data coverage & limitations

Descriptive profile; subnational statistics for Lombardy are published by the Regione, ISTAT and CREA and are not reproduced numerically here.

  • Regional boundaries and the classification of agricultural land follow the official ISO 3166-2 subdivision and national statistical definitions.
  • Any statistics are dated and source-specific; consult the year and dataset version at the cited official body rather than treating figures as current.
  • Farming is overwhelmingly concentrated in the irrigated lower plain; the Alpine north contributes little cropland, so region-wide land figures understate cropping intensity where it actually occurs.

Sources

This article draws on the following authoritative sources. See our sources & methodology for how they are selected.

  1. [1]European Commission — Agriculture and rural development (opens in a new tab)

    European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture

    Authoritative

    Cited for: EU Common Agricultural Policy framework and Eurostat regional farm statistics

    Type:
    Government agency
    Jurisdiction:
    European Union
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12
  2. [2]FAO — Food and Agriculture Organization (opens in a new tab)

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Global crop and livestock production context

    Type:
    Intergovernmental organization
    Jurisdiction:
    Global
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12