SHEEP AND GOAT PRODUCTION IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Mátlová, Vra
Research Institute for Animal Production
104 00 Praha 10 - Uhínves,
Czech Republic

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ABSTRACT

The national programme of the protection and employment of genetic resources was elaborated in 1996 in the Research Institute for Animal Production (RIAP) for the fulfilling of ratified international agreements on the protection of animal genetic resources. Among others, three breeds of sheep and goats are included there.
Within the last few years new trends in sheep husbandry resulted in the introduction of intensively bred foreign meat-type breeds. Rearing of the original breed, well adapted to the conditions of pastoral regions (higher amounts of precipitations, lower temperatures, shorter vegetation period) at the very cost of its lower performance, is possible with a subsidy only.
As a successor of aboriginal rustical breeds, the Sumavka breed plays an irreplaceable role in the ecosystem of such regions. The breed regeneration started in 1954, concentrating 300 representatives in a breeding centre. Accredited in 1986, its population reached 15 000. Today the estimation is about 7 000, of which only 1 000 animals are registered and performance-tested.
The white and the brown shorthaired goats are the other protected breeds. Both originated from the breeding of local domestic coloured goats with imported bucks of the Saanen and the Harz breed, respectively, since the beginning of this century. In the last 6 decades, they represent closed populations without any new import and reflect a breeding effort of our breeders. Despite rather large numbers of animals (about 35 000 and 4 000 as for the white and the brown goat, respectively) the active population producing the regular breeding stock is 2 000 and 150 registered animals only. Since the cutting off of the state subsidies for breeding programmes, the use of non-licensed bucks in the population is increasing. The run of the performance testing alone, as well as coordination of the breeding process, is distressed by the great dispersion of animals (90 percent of them are kept in small holdings of 1-3 heads).
The programme of protection presumes 2 000 registered animals of each kind to be sufficient for maintaining the breed. This will be ensured by rearing live animals and by the cryoconservation of the sperm and embryos from selected individuals. In the sheep, 5 herds (1997) are involved, in contrary to goats which for the most part are kept in a traditional small holding.
The origin of the reffered animals must be evident both on the mother's and father's part, although in the first year (1997) there could be exceptionally registered animals of one-part origin known, corresponding to the breed standard. The reproduction is carried out by the rotation of sires of at least six unrelated strains. To ensure the regular progeny testing, there is a need to extend methods of artificial insemination. Registration, performance recording and the specified breeding programme realization is in the charge of breeding associations. RIAP is coordinating all the activities and, using the animal model, evaluating reffered animals. The best 85 percent of does (ewes) and 10 percent of sires, up to 2 000 of each breed, is proposed to be granted. Animals should be ranked every year based on the annual calculation of their breeding value.
Subsidy level is calculated to balance the difference between the average costs and returns plus 10 percent profitability; for the year 1997 the subsidy proposals are about 28.6 and 30 ECU for goat and ewe, respectively. An extra bonus of 11 ECU is proposed for the brown goat to stimulate the production of breeding stock. As for sires, the subsidy proposal amounts to about 100 ECU. In the case of using sperm conservation, there is a cost estimation of another 3 600 ECU per year and breed.
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INTRODUCTION

The National programme of the protection and employment of genetic resources was elaborated in 1996 in the Research Institute for Animal Production (RIAP) for the fulfilling of ratified international agreements on the protection of animal genetic resources. Among others, three breeds of sheep and goats are included there.
Within the last few years new trends in sheep husbandry resulted in the introduction of intensively bred foreign meat-type breeds. Rearing of the original breed, well adapted to the conditions of pastoral regions (higher amounts of precipitations, lower temperatures, shorter vegetation period) at the very cost of its lower performance, is possible with a subsidy only.

PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT

Agricultural land area per head is 0.41 ha, from which 60 percent is situated in mountain and sub-mountain regions. Despite that, 74 percent of this land is arable. Four-tenths of a percent of total agricultural area cover biodynamic husbandry.
Private farms cover 24% of land, with average 35 ha,
co-operatives 43% 1 400 ha
trading companies 32% 670 ha
state enterprises 1% 700 ha

In small farms (up to 5 ha) 82% of land is owned by farmers,
in farms 5-50 ha, only 55% of land and
in larger farms only 15%.

Generally, yields of both main crops and animal products are 20-45 percent lower than that in EU countries (milk yield is about 25 percent). The unfavourable effect of this fact on the production costs is obvious.
Agriculture accounts for only 3 percent of the gross national product (Hungary 7 percent) and employs 6 percent manpower (Hungary 8 percent), with an average salary of 210 ECU, which is 81 percent of the country average.
State subsidy (production subsidy equivalent) amounts to 10 percent (Hungary 11 percent, EU 43 percent, Switzerland 82 percent, Australia 9 percent). In 1997, only 2.6 percent of the state budget is expended on agriculture, so that farmers paid more in duties and taxes than they received as subsidy.
Economic results are mostly negative, the positive ones are gained only in larger farms (about 100 ha, producing cereals, oil crops and landscape management without animal production). The worst results come from farms in marginal regions, even though they increase their production intensity and output amounts and despite the subsidies extended. Unbalanced relations between input costs and production prices devours this effort (input costs increased in 6 years by 300 percent, production prices by 148 percent)

SHEEP AND GOAT FARMS

Farm size and ownership

• Ninety percent of sheep and 95 percent of goats are kept in traditional smallscale flocks (up to 5 ewes or 1-3 does, respectively), with only minimal land size (1-5 ha). Among larger sheep herds (over 10 heads) there are no more than 10 percent where sheep are the main source of income and therefore reared intensively. The percentage of sheep on private farms is 95.5, 3 percent are in co-operatives and 1.5 percent in state enterprises. As for goats, 98 percent are on private farms, 1.5 percent on co-operative farms and only 0.5 percent are on others enterprises.
  On private farms, family labour is used with some temporary labour, mostly for the forage conservation in the summer (average 200 hours/year). Smaller farms with land area up to 10 ha without appropriate machinery engage service corporations for some work (i.e. mowing or grassland harrowing). The co-ops or state farms provide all work with their own employees.
  All the sheep and almost all goat farms use grazing systems. From the large goat herds, only one is using zero-grazing. However, the small "back-yard" holders mostly keep their goats indoors because of their devastating manners.
  Small farms produce the whole amount of forage on their own, with winter feeding based on hay and, eventually, about 15-20 percent root crops. Cereals or concentrates which represent 10-20 percent of the feeding ration are purchased. Milk replacers are used in the large intensive dairy goat operations (over 100 heads). These farms also purchase specialized mixed feeds for goats and kids.

Because of the lower quality of grasslands in marginal regions, about one-third of the larger farms purchase 30-40 percent of the hay and usually 100 percent of the straw for bedding.
Housing of large herds is usually of medium standard with a great amount of hand-work, as investment funds for modernization are low or none. Some 20 percent of farms established in the few last years are newly-built, while the rest are reconstructed and modernized buildings. The keeping environment in small-holdings is 50 percent unsatisfactory from the standpoint of animal welfare, hygiene and labour demands.

• The equipment and machinery level on farms is fairly good, with the exception of modern labour saving pasture accessories (fencing systems, dipping, penning for the prophylactic care). Small-holdings up to 1ha usually are not provided with any mechanization.

As for goats, all of the larger herds (over 30 heads) were established in 1992 to 1997 as intensive dairy operations. Twenty-five percent of herds are co-operative and Ltd, the rest are private. All these farms provide the complete dairy operation including processing, packaging and transport of milk products by their own manpower. Due to rather strict hygienic requirements, milking and dairy technology used is new and of a high standard (all the farms over 10 goats use milking machines, cooling and pasteurization equipment with obligatory registration).

ECONOMIC SITUATION REGARDING DIFFERENT SIZE OF FARMS

• Generally, the economic situation depends more on business attitude than production ability. Even the small farms with a well established image and advantageous locality (e.g. either near Prague or in some attractive holiday spot) have their own standing customs and rather high income reliability. To establish and maintain such an image, of course, is a pretty bit of work and high quality is the basic presumption. Farms without such an outlet possibility usually spend an excessive amount of time and funds to bring their products to market. Despite this, some 10-60 percent of that production is not sold.

Larger farms may partially mitigate the transport costs by a larger amount of production supply. An attempt was made to organize purchase and collective processing but it failed due to high raw milk transport costs with small collected amounts. However, the market was not able to absorb the higher amount of goat milk products because of the higher price and less attractive image compared to the massive supply of cow milk products.

• Opening an active marketing strategy is inaccessible for farmers on their own because of a lack of skills in this field. They have no funds to make the image of their production more attractive and they have no funds for a massive promotion (a 30 second TV spot requires 8 000 ECU) to compete with Jim Beam or Nestlé.
  Farmers depending on meat merchants for their outlet usually must share their gains with the merchant and terminal seller so that they obtain not more than 30 percent of it. The large herds are situated mostly in regions with the state subsidy for landscape maintenance and may have some profit from it.

Numbers of sheep and goats (in thousands)

Number of herds of various size

Structure of herds

Sheep in the registered herds with performance testing are 15 800 in 209 herds. The majority of sheep (76 percent) are therefore not registered, are widespread over the whole country in small-holdings and include crossbred of formerly kept Merino with other breeds.
Goats are 90 percent white shorthaired dairy breed, 3 percent brown short-haired dairy breed, and the rest are crossbreds. Numbers of other dairy breeds are negligible (about 15 does of Toggenburg breed and 40 does of French Alpine). Registered animals with performance testing are 2 900 goats (7.5 percent) in 470 herds. Meat-type German Boers were imported in the last two years and bucks are used in 5 herds to produce meat crossbreds.
Other breed types are negligible (angora and cashmere).

Registered herds

Main products

Sheep
The average consumption of lamb, mutton and goat meat per head is only 0.3 kg. Meat sold to merchants (600 tonnes/year for the lowest price of 1.2 ECU) represents 4 percent of the total meat market amount. Moreover, about 600 tonnes of lamb is sold directly from farms for 2-2.5 ECU/kg and about 900 tonnes of lamb and culled sheep meat is spent as a self-supply.
Not more than 700 ewes are regularly milked and cheese and other milk products are made and sold in specialized "health food" stores.

Goats
The main market product is milk and cheese, which is mostly the fresh or soft type, less ripened type. Milk production from about 2 000 goats is sold at 80 percent in stores and 20 percent directly on the farms. Milk sold represents about 25 percent of total production e.g. 250 tonnes/year; cheese amount is estimated as 100 tonnes/year. Weaned kids are sold as an exclusive product, mostly directly on the farms (estimated 350 tonnes, for 2.5 ECU/kg), Easter kids (50 tonnes) are sold to merchants for 1.3 ECU/kg. About 600 tonnes of kid and culled goats meat is used during the year as self-supply.
Production of goat milk cosmetics includes 8 products, mainly skin creams, lotions, and bath components; in 1997 about 250 000 pieces were sold.

Estimated yearly production

* stock as own replacements not included

Export and import

• Agreements with the EU allow us the export of 1 900 tonnes live animals and meat with 0 percent customs tariff. Bilateral agreements are signed within the CEFTA with Poland, Hungary and another one with Bulgaria. Despite this, export is almost negligible, except live animals exported mainly to Germany for third markets. Export of goat breeding stock decreased in 1996-97 by 25 percent of former numbers.

Frozen meat is imported for a very low prices (0.1 ECU/kg) from New Zealand, Iceland, Chile, Denmark and Germany. Wool originates from Australia and England, whereas live animals are mostly breeding stock from Germany, France, Denmark and Holland.

Export/import in 1996

Organizations available for breeders and farmers

The main breeders organizations are two: - the Association of Sheep and Goat Breeders and the Czech Association of Small Animals Breeders which also includes other animals (poultry, rabbits). The first one joins together mainly sheep farmers and is in charge of keeping the stud book and the central registration of sheep; the other one plays the same role for goats. Through the mediation of about ten licensed corporations in regions, sire rotation, performance recording, animal identification and judging is made, and summarized by the breeders associations. Both associations organize auction fairs (about 50 for sheep and 20 for goats in regions), best animal presentation on the national and regional shows, tours to some European shows and farms, the purchase and sale of breeding stock, consultancy and extension service in breeding, as well as publishing their own periodicals.
No extension services are organized by Agriculture Chambers or Regional Offices of the Ministry of Agriculture. Consultancy service in feeding provided by the producing companies as a part of their product price, and is almost never used, as farmers usually cannot afford to buy these feeds. The extension service in housing, technical equipment, feeding and farm management is available free in the Research Institute for Animal Production and is used mainly by the newly established, progressive farmers. However the widely accepted application of modern ways and technologies is limited by the lacking funds and therefore farmers do not feel the necessity for extension services.

Aids and governmental supports available

Because of state fund savings, some former aids were cut down since 1996. In 1997 the following aids are available :

Sheep
· 50 percent allowance on breeding stock purchase;
· 53 ECU for production of a licensed stud ram;
· 26 ECU by recognizing an ewe as elite mother of stud rams;
· 106 ECU per year allowance for holding a stud ram for common use (930 rams in 1997);
· 2.6 ECU per year allowance for performance testing (the cost is 5.3 ECU);
· Special subsidy is given from the National Programme for Genetic Resources Fund for breeding of the Sumavka breed (29 ECU/ewe/year).

Goats
· 53 ECU for production of a licensed stud buck;
· 13 ECU by recognizing a doe as elite mother of stud bucks;
· 116 ECU per year allowance for holding a licensed stud buck for common use (1 250 bucks in 1997, the cost of license is 21 ECU);
· 5 ECU per year allowance for performance testing (cost is 16 ECU per doe for small-holdings and 10 ECU for large herds);
· Special subsidy is given from the National Programme for Genetic Resources Fund for breeding of the white breed (10-24 ECU/doe/year according to her performance) and brown breed (15-34 ECU).
Breeders associations are provided with a state allowance for their activities in performance testing and stud book keeping in a yearly amount about 50 000 ECU.
Alternative utilization of small ruminants

• Sheep and goat farmers in some marginal regions are provided with an allowance for the landscape maintenance (80 ECU/ha/year), depending on the land quality.
  In fact, the role of sheep and goats in landscape management is underestimated and for the time being, the only target support in this field is for beef cattle. From the 500 000 ha grasslands in mountain and sub-mountain regions about 15 percent is not suitable for cattle grazing or mechanized maintenance care. It represents a production capacity for 500 000 ewes with the production of 10 000 tonnes lamb.
  Since 1994 there are three research projects in our institute dealing with this problem. I am pleased to state that the results helped us to change the opinion of some people engaged in the nature reserve ranks, to involve them in our programme and to support us.
  For the next year, there are further requirements for sheep farming support (30 ECU/head/year) and for biodynamic agriculture (about 50 ECU/ha/year) proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture for the governmental and parliament approval.

Strategy to survive

• In 1995-6, strategy for farmers to survive was formulated by our specialists and is extended by all available means. However, the progress is going rather slowly, influenced by the overall instability and decreasing level of the whole agricultural sector.

The main tasks:
Sheep

• 1. Consistent orientation towards meat performance, so that incomes from meat lamb make at least 85 percent of total income. It requires :
  · yearly production of two lambs per ewe;
  · application of the accelerated lambing system (three times in two years);
  · increasing the growing intensity of lambs and carcass quality by the application of crossbreeding with meat breeds.
  Complete breeding programme for the next 10-15 years (e.g. recommendation of breeds according to production conditions and the level of their production traits to be achieved) is outlined.
  2. Inputs cut-down
  · application of modern pasture systems and extension of the pasture season on 200/250 days;
  · change of lambing season towards the spring term;
  · use of low-cost and labour-sparing housing technology with the possibility of the secondary exploitation in the pasture season (poultry or hog fattening).
  3. In favourable conditions apply sheep milking.
  4. To focus on the highest degree of first-hand sale and value of products including wool and skins.

Goats

• 1. To focus on the market demands, e.g.:
  · to improve the range of products;
  · to improve the product image;
  · to extend the production season of milk products. It requires changing the reproduction management and increasing herd size.
  5. To increase income from the kid meat sale. It requires using the meat-type bucks for crossbreeding.
  6. To improve the nutrition system in large herds to increase milk production.

Rather big reserves are in breeding/genetic improvement and nutrition. Neither in sheep nor in goats is the real breeding value of animals estimated, which is the basic condition for any improvement. In sheep for example, only 50 percent of registered herds achieve 150 percent prolificity and another 30 percent are even further under this level. In goats, there is still a low degree of improvement in milk protein content (variability among herds is 2.3-3.6 percent). Carcass quality of kids should be improved as well.
Insemination is almost never used, due to high cost (5-6 ECU) and rather low success of this method compared to the natural mating. The only insemination station was cancelled in 1990. Moreover, there is a benefit in holding a licensed ram/buck, as there is a state allowance of 106/116 ECU, as mentioned above.
As for nutrition, basic failures are in the winter feeding, which is not the best quality and quantity. There are big reserves in the pasture improvement, however it requires investments which are not always available.

SHEEP FARMING IN ESTONIA

Piirsalu, P.
Institute of Animal Husbandry
Estonian Agricultural University
EE2400 Tartu, Kreutzwaldi 1, Estonia

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ABSTRACT

• • • • • • • • The total landsurface of Estonia comprises nearly 4.5 million hectares in 1997, of which 2.02 million hectares (45 percent) is devoted to forest and woodland and 1.13 million hectares (25 percent) to arable land. The average size of the agricultural enterprise was 480 ha and the private farm 22 ha. The main branches of livestock production are dairy and pig production. Sheep and goat production are the branches of secondary importance in the national agricultural sector.
                There were 142.8 thousand sheep in 1992 and only 39.2 thousand at the beginning of 1997, so the sheep population decreased 364 percent during the last 6 years (the number of dairy cows reduced 154 percent and pigs 267 percent).
                The average size of an Estonian sheep farm is small. It is estimated that the average herd size on private farms is 10-12 breeding ewes and 4-6 ewes on household plots.
                The main products of Estonian sheep farms are mutton, wool and skin. The most important is mutton (lamb). Most of the produced mutton (1 846 tonnes in 1992, 509 tonnes in 1996) is consumed in the home market.
                Wool gives approximately 10-15 percent and skins 5 percent to the annual income of Estonian sheep farmer.
                Activities to improve sheep husbandry are led by the Estonian Sheep Breeders Association.
                There are two breeds of sheep: the Estonian Blackhead (Eesti tumedapealine) and the Estonian Whitehead (Eesti valgepealine). At least 70 percent of the sheep population are of the Estonian Blackhead. The Estonian Whitehead represents about 30 percent. The number of recorded sheep has declined to about 1 000 ewes from 29 herds. The average size of recorded herds is 30 ewes.
                Sheep farming in Estonia is based on extensive or semi-intensive management systems.
                Currently, any subsidies in the sheep farming sector do not exist in Estonia.

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INTRODUCTION

The total landsurface of Estonia comprises nearly 4.5 million hectares in 1997, of which 2.02 million hectares (45 percent) is devoted to forest and woodland and 1.13 million hectares (25 percent) to arable land. The remainder is natural grassland (7 percent), inland water (6 percent) and other land (17 percent). The area of agricultural land was 1.45 million hectares (32 percent of the total area). The population of Estonia is 1.46 million of whom 30.6 percent live in the rural area. There were 854 active agricultural enterprises and 22 722 private farms in 1996. The average size of the agricultural enterprise was 480 ha and the private farm 22 ha. The gross agricultural output of enterprises was 46.3 percent, of household plots- 30.6 percent and private farms - 23.2 percent from the total agricultural output of the state in 1996. The gross agricultural output constituted 5.59 in 1996 and 6.84 billion krones in 1993 (at 1995 prices), i.e. 18.3 percent less than in 1993. Livestock production constitutes approximately 50 percent of the total agricultural output. The main branches of livestock production are dairy and pig production. Sheep and goat production are the branches of secondary importance in the national agricultural sector.
General information about sheep farming

There has been a heavy decline in the size of the sheep population during the last 6 years in Estonia (Table 1).

Table 1. The number of sheep in 1992-1997 (thousands)

There were 142.8 thousand sheep in 1992 and only 39.2 thousand at the beginning of 1997, so the sheep population decreased 364 percent during the last 6 years (the number of dairy cows reduced 154 percent and pigs 267 percent).
The average size of an Estonian sheep farm is small. Unfortunately, statistical data about the average herd size and farm size in the sheep farming sector are not available in Estonia. The biggest sheep farm, Aravete OÜ, county Järvamaa, has an average 220 breeding ewes. There are some other farms with 80-120 breeding ewes, but it is estimated that the average herd size on private farms is 10-12 breeding ewes and 4-6 ewes on household plots. But there is a tendency to ward disappearance of small flocks which has not yet been compensated by the opposing tendency of establishing large flocks.
The main products of Estonian sheep farms are mutton, wool and skin. The most important is mutton (lamb) which comprises approximately 80-85 percent of the farms' total annual income. The consumption of mutton per capita decreased from 1.3 kg in 1992 to 0.35 kg in 1996. At this moment there is a demand for lamb in home market, but the market price for lamb is not satisfying local producers. By the initiative of the Estonian Sheep Breeders Association there was some export of live animals in 1993, 1994 and 1995 (respectively 5 000, 2 750, 1 500 animals) to Syria and through Hungary to the other countries. But most of the produced mutton (1 846 tonnes in 1992, 509 tonnes in 1996) is consumed in the home market.
Wool gives approximately 10-15 percent and skins 5 percent to the annual income of the Estonian sheep farmer. The role of wool may increase if a farmer gives wool for processing and sells its further as yarn. A more profitable use of wool is its use for knitting purposes (hand or machine). There is a remarkable market for woollen jumpers, socks, gloves etc. with typical local patterns. Most of the wool products are marketed in a home market and wollen products are enjoying a great revival, especially among tourists. Some wool products such as jumpers, socks and gloves, with local Estonian patterns, are exported to the Scandinavian markets. There are some sheep skin manufacturers, but a small sheep population doesn't give the opportunity to invest in a new technology.
Health and economy

Providing that the feeding is properly arranged, there are almost no other health problems than external (sheep scab, lice, ked) or internal parasites (roundworms, tape-worms, liver flukes, coccidiosis). Due to the selenium deficiency of soils, selenium and vitamin E treatment is necessary for prevention of white muscle disease of lambs.
Currently, any subsidies in the sheep farming sector do not exist in Estonia (in contrast to the EU countries). So it's hard for the local farmer to survive under the conditions of a liberal market economy. Up to now there are no import taxes (duties) for any agricultural products, including sheep meat, wool and skins. The important problem in sheep farming is marketing sheep products (lamb, wool, skins) and to get satisfactory prices for them.

The organizations

Activities for improving sheep husbandry (especially sheep recording and extension) in the whole country have been led by the Estonian Sheep Breeders Association (ESBA) since 1990. Currently ESBA has 307 members. In the head office in Tartu there are two agronomists and one clerk. They carry out a sheep recording scheme, perform breeding selection, register sheep in the herd book, arrange sales of breeding animals and guide farmers in sheep and goat breeding, feeding and management. ESBA receive some subsidy from the state for sheep breeding. ESBA have their own journal - Sheep and Goat.
There are two breeds of sheep: the Estonian Blackhead (Eesti tumedapealine ) and the Estonian Whitehead (Eesti valgepealine). At least 70 percent of the sheep population are of the Estonian Blackhead. The Estonian Whitehead represents about 30 percent. The Estonian Blackhead was developed from local indigenous sheep with Shropshire and Oxford Down. Currently, some blood from Oxford Down has been introduced. The Estonian Whitehead sheep originates from crosses between local sheep and Cheviot. Currently Texel and Norwegian Dala sheep have been used. The number of recorded sheep has declined to about 1 000 ewes from 29 herds. The average size of recorded herds is 30 ewes. Sheep data are stored in a sheep breeding database in FoxPro.
Sheep farming in Estonia is based on extensive or semi-intensive management systems. The grazing period occurs from May until November (about 6 months) and sheep are grazed on the long term pastures. It's necessary to keep sheep over the long winter in insulated barns. The sheep are usually kept in old cow sheds or hay sheds. The interior of sheep housing is very simple. Winter feeding is based on self-produced feeds (hay or straw, barley or oatmeal, some fodder beet during pregnancy and the lambing period). Mineral and vitamin supplements are purchased.
The importance of goat husbandry is trivial in Estonia. Statistical data about the number of goats in Estonia are not available. But is considered that the population consisted of about 1 000 dairy goats in 1997. The goat population has been affected very little by foreign breeds. Today there are white or grey-colored shorthaired, mainly horned individuals. Unfortunately there are no recorded data about milk production. Recently some blood of Norwegian elite bucks has been introduced by using deep frozen semen in artificial insemination. The main product of goat farming - raw milk - is consumed in an unprocessed form on the farm.

PRESENT STATE OF HUNGARIAN SHEEP BREEDING

Jávor, András Kukovics, Sándor
Nábrádi, András Ábrahám, Mária
Molnár, Györgyi Research Institute for Animal
Molnár, Balázs Breeding and Nutrition
Debrecen University of Agricultural Sciences Herceghalom, Hungary
Debrecen, Hungary

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ABSTRACT

• • • • • • • • Among the problems of Hungarian sheep breeding, there are general ones that prevail in all Eastern and Central European countries and others that are specific to Hungary. The most obvious general problems are the decreasing stock numbers, the stagnating quality, poor yields, expensive production, poor security and relatively high foodstuff usage. Some of the countries have to cope with the problem of decoupled breeding and production. This means that the top breeds and nucleus breeds do not have an effect on productive enterprises. The rate of use of artificial insemination is also very low, which poses further problems for the industry. The present income possibilities do not allow a financial base sufficient for a change in the situation.
                The most important specific problem of Hungary is that it basically has only one breed, the Merino, the proportion of which is approximately 95 percent. This determines the achievable yields and the possibilities of keeping and feeding. Another typically Hungarian problem is that most of the product, 90 percent, is sold on one market. Of course these problems mean certain advantages as well, that is a swift breed change is feasible, though a breeding strategy of this kind has certain limitations. The dominantly single market means a relatively high price besides its vulnerability, resulting from the fact that two markets could have become accustomed to one another although there are still some fluctuations in production.
                Another characteristically Hungarian aspect is that following the change in the property structures after the transition, a brand new land size and owner structure has been formulated. The stock has been dispersed, pastures or even the buildings themselves were transferred to new owners. This has a profound effect on production, since huge foodstuff reserves of pastures, stubble fields and agricultural by-products became unavailable due to changed property situations and stocks with less than 100 ewes.
                The development plans of the government, for which it provides huge resources relative to the carrying capacity of the country, have had results that allow for modest optimism only. The decrease of stock has been stopped, but neither stock increase nor quality changes, which would mean the improvement of production indicators, have managed to be carried out. The industry, however, could play a pivotal role in environmental protection, land utilization and employment. Its importance is further emphasised by the fact that virtually all of its products are for export markets and no imported materials are used in their production.

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INTRODUCTION

• Among the problems of Hungarian sheep breeding there are general ones that prevail in all Eastern and Central European countries and others that are specific to Hungary. The most obvious general problems are the decreasing stock numbers, the stagnating quality, poor yields, expensive production, poor security and relatively high foodstuff usage. Some of the countries have to cope with the problem of decoupled breeding and production. This means that the top breeds and nucleus breeds do not have an effect on productive enterprises. The rate of use of artificial insemination is also very low, which poses further problems for the industry. The present income possibilities do not allow a financial base sufficient for a change in the situation.

THE STOCK

Compared to the 1982 stock data, the total number of sheep, and within it the number of ewes, experienced a significant decrease (Table 1).

Table 1. Proportions of stock changes

(Kukovics et al., 1997)

Not only has the number of stock decreased, but this change was different by counties. The decrease was 12 percent in 1996 alone (Table 2).

Table 2. Number of sheep in Hungary 1995,1996

(Jávor et al., 1997/b)

The property structure of the industry has changed; in 1996, 74 percent of the total stock was produced by private producers (mainly small-scale producers). The majority of these small farms had far less than 100 sheep on average (Table 2).
One less than 6800 private and legal bodies were producing sheep (Table 3.). Of the total stock, 78.8 percent was owned by private producers, while 21.1 percent was owned by communities (co-operatives), LTDs and PLCs. More than 92 percent of sheep breeders have stocks with less than 300 sheep, which is considered to be the minimum in terms of economic efficiency (Table 3.).

Table 3. Distribution of ewe stock according to size and ownership

Number of ewes			Private producers		Enterprises		Total
			Number of private producers	Number of ewes	Number of Agricultural Coop's, PLC, LTD	Number of ewes	Total number of producers	Total number of ewes
1	-	10	1 294	8 503	0	0	1 294	8 503
11	-	50	2 540	69 691	5	179	2 545	69 870
51	-	100	1 100	87 322	7	541	1 107	87 863
101	-	200	870	132 571	16	2 505	886	135 076
201	-	300	400	101 375	19	4 828	419	106 203
301	-	400	173	60 644	15	5 408	188	66 052
401	-	500	107	49 400	15	6 823	122	56 223
501	-	1 000	104	72 739	48	34 695	152	107 434
1 001	-	2 000	21	28 805	34	49 238	55	78 043
2 001	-	3 000	7	16 856	12	29 245	19	46 101
3 001	-	4 000	2	7 478	5	17 146	7	24 624
4 001	-	5 000	1	4 145	3	13 079	4	17 224
5 001	-		0	0	1	8 047	1	8 047
Total			6 619	639 529	180	171 734	6 799	811 263

(Source: Jávor et al., 1997)

The sheep had almost disappeared from Trans-Danubia by 1996, and its stocks have significantly decreased in the Danube-Tisza region, and in Eastern-Hungary - even in the Trans-Tisza region.

BREEDS AND BREEDING

Although there are 21 breeds (four of which are native to Hungary) bred in pure breed enterprises, more than 90 percent of the total sheep stock in Hungary is of the merino line (Table 4).
Until recently a strong negative tendency prevailed, not only in declined quality of ewes and rams in production (the majority of rams are considered to be "black market ram"), but in the stagnated production indices of pure breed enterprises and in the suppression of any other breeds.
Table 4. Registered sheep breeds in Hungary

(Kukovics et al., 1995)

THE PRODUCTION

The production of main products has decreased drastically (Table 5).

Table 5. Production of sheep products in 1990 and 1996 (tonnes, litres)

(Kukovics et al., 1997)

The outputs of the industry declined in times when the demand was increasing rather than decreasing. The utilization of the 1.3 million ha of grassland is around 40-50 percent. There will not be enough sheep for the lands planned to be set aside.
GENETIC BASES OF QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DEVELOPMENT

The leaders of Hungarian sheep breeding have been trying for many years to guide the industry to a course of improving results. An efficient means of improving intensity is specialization. There are several breeds around the world that, with regards to production indices, can surpass the Hungarian stocks by far. Most of these breeds are specially bred for a certain product of sheep. The staggering difference that prevails with regards to phenotype between the leading breeds of the world and the domestic stock must be taken into account during the development. This difference is 600-1000 percent in milk production, 80-120 percent in daily live weight gain, 50-60 percent in feed conversion and 150-200 percent in utilized progeny.
In public breeding our merinos practically became one-purpose mutton producers. The 90-110 percent utilized progeny, the 250 grams live-weight gain, the 45-47 percent slaughter value and the 84 percent low class mutton-body ratio are evidence of low quality production. We have the necessary genetic bases for increasing progeny rates and improving individual veal production capabilities of lambs. The prolific and mutton breeds, besides increasing the number of lambs, could improve feed conversion, live-weight gain, meat quality and slaughter value. Unfortunately, prolific and mutton breeds are used very rarely in the country (Table 6). The reasons behind this are tradition, habit, lack of knowledge, and fear of change. For improving mutton production, many direct and indirect crossbreeding programmes have been worked out and introduced with more or less good results in Hungary, the majority of which have however disappeared with the transition.
Also, many programmes have been developed to improve milk production in sheep. Crossing experiments proved that the total milk yield can be increased by 50-250 percent. In terms of milk yield it means an improvement of 20-200 percent and in terms of the length of lactation an improvement of 10-70 percent. It is true though that a decrease of 0.4-1 percent in fat and 0.3-0.5 percent in protein also has to be taken into account. For improving milk yields - which at present means a quantitative improvement - we have the necessary breeds, a part of which facilitates the increase of meat production (progeny) as well (Table 7).
At present, wool production due to the prices could not be a developed priority.

Table 6. Average production data on mutton breeds in Hungary

(Kukovics et al., 1996)

Table 7. Genotypes milked in Hungary

* (minimum data) (Kukovics et al., 1996)

SELF-SUFFICIENCY

The output production of the sheep industry is primarily determined by the export orientation. In the present circumstances mutton production is the primary production objective, milk and wool are considered as side or by-products.
The majority of the mutton produced goes to Western European countries, primarily to Italy. The shipment is almost exclusively made up of young lambs, while domestic demand is met with lower quality - mostly shoddy - ewes and lambs. The estimated 0.3-0.4 kg per head domestic consumption means 3-4000 tonnes of mutton with bones which is 25-30 percent of the total mutton production. Marketing possibilities of mutton and lamb meat produced depends on the level of self-sufficiency of the EU which is considered to be our major market. According to Table 8. The self-sufficiency of the EU is around 80 percent, which according to forecasts, will not be higher after the turn of the century.
The domestic wool industry was practically ruined in the last decade. Between 1985 and 1995 the domestic wool based fabric production plummeted to 2 982 000 m² from 36 100 m², and as a result the demand in the industry is low; besides, the average quality of the Hungarian wool is not really preferred among the remaining wool processors. With regard to milk and sheep milk products we cannot really speak about producing for the domestic market. It is in part because this product line has virtually vanished from the domestic markets and, in part, because these are relatively more expensive than cow milk-based products. The Hungarian customer does not demand and in fact does not really know the product made of sheep milk. Milk products that can be produced from 1.2-1.4 million litres of milk- compared to the 6 million litres annual milk production, considered ideal - are not enough to meet the demands of even the well paying export markets.
Table 8. Sheep and Goat economy in the 15 countries of EU in 1994