The Finarda is a breed of large domestic sheep from the regions of Lombardy and Piemonte in northern Italy. It is heavy breed raised mainly for meat, although it also yields 4–6 kg of wool per year. It results from cross-breeding the Bergamasca and Biellese breeds. It is one of the forty-two autochthonous local sheep breeds of limited distribution for which a herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep-breeders. However, in 2008 the herdbook was empty, and may in fact never have been activated. Most data for the breed dates from 1983.
The conservation status of the breed was listed as "not at risk" by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2007. In 2013 total numbers for the breed were not reported; the population is estimated at 5000 head.
References Le razze ovine e caprine in Italia (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Ufficio centrale libri genealogici e registri anagrafici razze ovine e caprine. p. 55. Accessed September 2013.
Consistenze Provinciali della Razza F9 Finarda Anno 2013 (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia: Banca dati. Accessed September 2013.
Norme tecniche della popolazione ovina “Finarda”: standard della razza (in Italian). Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali. Accessed May 2014.
Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. . Archived 23 June 2020.
Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. . pp. 218–19.
Breed data sheet: Finarda/Italy. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2013.