Is sheep farming profitable in 2017? Sheep farming prospects and profitability analysis
The main reason for the current sheep farming boom in our country is that the feed for poultry, ducks, meat dogs, pigs and other poultry and livestock is grain-based, so feed costs are relatively high, and the price of meat is relatively unstable, resulting in unclear profits and relatively high risks. Sheep, however, are herbivorous livestock, easy to graze and raise in pens, able to make extensive use of pasture grass, straw and various other grasses and leaves, and they also have the characteristics of fast growth, strong disease resistance, high reproductive rate and obvious economic benefits. Let's take a look below at whether sheep farming makes money in 2017!
Is sheep farming profitable in 2017?
For a long time, in the consumption structure of our country's meat product market, pork has accounted for a relatively large proportion, while mutton accounts for only 5.5%. As the income level of urban and rural residents in our country continues to rise and consumption concepts gradually change, mutton consumption is showing an upward trend. According to National Bureau of Statistics data, in 2002 the national per capita household consumption of mutton was 0.79 kg, and by 2007 it had risen to 1.06 kg, an average annual increase of about 6%. Extrapolating according to this trend, it is estimated that in 2016 the national per capita household consumption level will reach 1.8 kg, and based on an estimated population of 1.37 billion, by then the national household demand for mutton consumption will reach 2.466 million tons. If the portion of out-of-home consumption, which still cannot be accurately counted, is taken into account, the demand for mutton is even greater.
Reasons for the decline in sheep prices
1. Due to the impact of epidemics in recent years, people have lost their liking for mutton.
2. Imported mutton has had a great impact on the domestic market. Imported mutton is low in price, and people blindly regard imported things as good things.
3. People do not understand market operations very well. After all, most sheep farmers are still small-scale households. They cannot fully understand industry information, and many times they can only blindly follow the trend.
Of course, combining the above reasons, we have roughly understood the preliminary reasons for the decline in sheep prices. In fact, no matter what kind of farming is done, and no matter what the market situation is, it is never unchanging. Remember "things reverse at their extreme."
How to make money raising sheep in 2017?
1. Build resource advantages: have excellent forage resources, possess a certain amount of grassland, grassy hills and slopes, rich crop straw resources, a relatively low resource carrying capacity for livestock, and development potential.
2. Build industrial advantages: a relatively good foundation for the mutton sheep industry, a reasonable flock structure, and a mutton sheep inventory of more than 350,000 head. Have a good technical service system, possess slaughtering and processing capacity of a certain scale, and have relatively good market transportation and sales conditions.
3. Build growth advantages: the economic returns of mutton sheep farming are significant, farmers are relatively enthusiastic about raising sheep, mutton sheep farming is growing relatively fast, and there is relatively strong comprehensive production capacity.
4. Build concentrated and contiguous areas: farming areas should be concentrated and contiguous to form regional scale advantages.
Decisive factors in sheep farming profit
1. Breed selection: breed selection is like choosing seeds when farming. For example, when farmers plant crops, they first have to choose the seeds to plant for that season. Without good seeds, there will not be a good harvest, and farmers in different regions plant different seeds. If wheat from Shandong is taken to Guangdong to plant, can it produce a good harvest? So when raising sheep, the first thing is to choose the breed. Consider regional climate differences. If regional climate differences are large and breed selection is inappropriate, failure is certain.
2. Quality control: good quality control of breeding sheep and the introduction of high-quality breeding sheep can, for sheep farms that have just entered the farming industry, reduce a great many risks. For example, if quality selection is poor, the breeding sheep bought back may have diarrhea, catch colds, or even die. In that case, not only will benefits not increase, but some people in charge of sheep farms, in order to reduce the cost of farming investment in the early stage, cut costs when buying breeding sheep and buy some cheap breeding sheep. I believe everyone knows the principle that you get what you pay for. When the price is low, quality is bound to decline.
3. Feed matching: there are many, many feeds for raising sheep. For example, discarded crop materials such as corn straw, wheat straw, soybean straw, rice straw, pasture grass, peanut vines, sweet potato vines and others can all be crushed and used as sheep feed, and the cost of feed is also very low. In some areas, these feeds do not even cost money. The feed ratio should be based on the roughage prepared by the sheep farm, with concentrate added as well. The amount of concentrate corresponds to the roughage. If the roughage has relatively good nutritional value, less concentrate can be added, but if the roughage has very low nutritional value, the amount of concentrate should be greater. How much is appropriate, and how should it be proportioned? There is generally a set of data for this: roughage intake accounts for about 2.3% of the sheep's body weight, and concentrate accounting for 1% of the sheep's body weight can meet the needs. In addition, it depends on what stage the breeding sheep is in. During pregnancy and the late production period, the formula must be constantly changed to meet the nutritional needs of the breeding sheep.
4. Disinfection and vaccines: disinfection is extremely critical for sheep farms. Regular disinfection can effectively avoid the breeding of bacteria, thereby reducing the occurrence of diseases in mutton sheep. Disinfectant water should be replaced regularly to prevent bacteria from developing resistance. Vaccines are even more of a top priority. Vaccines can greatly reduce herd diseases, so with vaccines, do not, for the sake of avoiding trouble, save expenses, and end up locking the barn door after the sheep is gone. This is because some sheep look very good, but once there is an infectious disease, great changes will occur, and it may even lead to death, with more loss than gain.
5. Sales price: the sales price and the profit from raising sheep are inseparable. If the sales price can be 0.5 yuan higher per jin, then for each sheep at 100 jin that is 50 yuan, and for 100 sheep that is 5,000 yuan. If you sell directly to some sheep buyers, think about it: can they give you a high price?