Profitability in Hungarian sheep farming

Fenyves, Veronika – Ertsey, Imre

Keywords: income, production cost, return from sales

Examining the income situation of the Hungarian sheep sector in the period 1998-2005, it can be said that the sector was loss-making every year, achieving a gross income in two years, 2001 and 2002. Farmers engaged in sheep farming could significantly improve on the sector’s income position by maximising utilisation of the various subsidy possibilities.

Beyond subsidy utilisation, adapting to the market is a means of improving their income, as is technological improvement. They should increase the sales ratio of their produce during the Christmas season, in relation to current Easter sales. Furthermore, in respect to sales of rams and ewe lambs, producers should take into account the significant difference in the profitability of fattening the two sexes as a function of sales weight. It is worth selling ewe lambs in a lower bodyweight category and rams in a higher one.

Full article