EVALUATING EXTENSIVE SHEEP FARMING SYSTEMS

Alistair W. Stott, Bouda Vosough Ahmadi, Claire Morgan-Davies, Cathy M. Dwyer, Pete Goddard, Kate Phillips, Catherine E. Milne, Beata Kupiec-Teahan, Sian Ringrose and Tony Waterhouse

No 61123, Working Papers from Scotland's Rural College (formerly Scottish Agricultural College), Land Economy & Environment Research Group

Abstract: Data from each of 5 commercial, extensive sheep farms in Cumbria, UK were used as parameters in a linear program (LP) representing labour and grazing management in such farming systems. The LP maximised ewe enterprise gross margin subject to constraints dictated by the labour availability and land types on each farm. Under the assumptions used, labour availability and price restricted ewe numbers well below those observed in practice on 2 farms i.e. land resources were adequate for the farming system practiced. On two other farms stocking levels and hence returns were limited by the availability of forage and hence feed input prices relative to output. On one farm, greater grassland productivity was the key determinant of system performance. It was concluded that a holistic systems approach was needed to properly evaluate these farming systems in terms of their potential contribution to animal welfare, land use, profit and hence their sustainability

Keywords: Livestock; Production/Industries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 7
Date: 2009
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:srlewp:61123

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.61123

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