The role of the breed group in the results of sheep farms in the great plain

Monori, István

Keywords: sheep farming, technology, revenue, aid

The sheep farms covered by this study have a breed mix different from the domestic average, and have larger flock sizes as well. Larger flock size, however, is accompanied by obsolete technology, which puts a limit on potential yields. The cost structure reveals that in addition to the cost of feedstuffs, the share of labour costs is very high despite the concentrated flock structures of the farms surveyed. This is also emphasizes the obsoleteness of the pig-keeping technologies used. When revenues are analysed by breed groups, the outstanding performance of dairy sheep farms is readily apparent, while the figures for meat breeds and cross-breeds hardly exceed those of the
Merino breed group. When assessed revenues by farm size, it was found that the sales revenue of farms with 300 to 600 ewes/sheep was significantly higher than that of either smaller or larger farms. Sheep farms are profitable thanks to the direct or indirect aid they receive, which may even exceed their revenues from production. The efficiency of aid could be increased by tying it to factors and innovative components which promote the development of this sector of agriculture.

Full article