Lammastalouden kannattavuudesta Helsingin yliopiston Malminkartanon tilalla

Authors

• Viljo Ryynänen Helsingin yliopiston maanviljelystalouden laitos, Viikki

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23986/afsci.71730

Abstract

An experiment in the economics of sheep husbandry was started at Malminkartano experimental farm, University of Helsinki in 1962. One of the main aims was to study the economic and technical possibilities of sheep husbandry in conditions in which sheep rearing is a subsidiary job on the farm. Fodder consumption during the winter feeding period and the technique of pasturage in intensively cultivated pastures were also studied. The experimental farm has on old cattle shed which was used as a sheep shed to start with. A sheep shed of 112 sq.m, was built in 1964. The walls and ceiling are surfaced with sawn board. Heat insulation is provided by a 30 cm layer of straw in the walls and ceiling. The floor is of gravel with straw spread for bedding. Manure is removed once a year. The total cost of building the sheep shed was 3 000 marks, which worked out at 60 marks per ewe. The estimated life of the sheep shed is 15—20 years. Twenty sheep of Finnish native breed were bought for the farm in 1962. This stock was increased to a flock of about 50 ewes in 1966. The fodder used by the sheep and the distribution by type of fodder are shown in Table 1. The amount of pasture forage was estimated in accordance with the norms. The average fodder consumption per ewe including 5 months old lambs (average 1.8 lambs) as a three years’ mean was 440 fodder units. The ewes lambed for the first time at the age of 12 months. The average number of lambs born to all the ewes can be seen from Tables 2 and 3. The number of lambs born to ewes that lambed at an age of over two years was 2.7, and the number of five months old lambs was 2.2 per ewe. Fifty five per cent of the lambs were slaughtered. The lambs of the best ewes were used for breeding on the farm or sold as breeding sheep. The lambs were slaughtered at the age of 4 ½ months. The carcass weight according to slaughter-house records was 9.7 kg. The meat output per ewe was 17.5 kg (Table 4). Wool production in 1963—1967 was an average of 2.5 kg per ewe. Lambs left for breeding purposes yielded 1.0 kg wool at the age of six months (Table 5). The gross return from sheep husbandry at 1967 prices is given in Table 6. The gross return per ewe varied considerably. The main factors affecting this were the number of lambs used for breeding on the farm and the age and number of lambs sold for breeding. The average expenditure on sheep husbandry at the experimental farm is given in Table 7. It also shows the net return of sheep husbandry. Table 8 gives the calculated processing price per fodder unit for roughage (hay, silage, pasture, straw). This was calculated by deducting from the total return all production costs other than the price of roughage. The remainder was divided by the number of fodder units of roughage. Table 9 presents the processing price when the number of lambs per ewe varies. The gross margin of sheep husbandry per ewe is calculated in Table 10. The gross margin here covers labour costs, depreciation of buildings and interest on invested capital. Table 11 gives for comparison the processing price calculations for roughage in beef and milk production. The calculations for meat production were performed on the assumption that all the fodder consumed by sheep on an experimental farm went into meat production, that the livestock was kept in the same buildings as the sheep, and that the total labour input was equal for both productions. The figures on fodder consumption were obtained from experiments conducted by The Livestock Husbandry Research Institute (LARPES 1963—1968). The model calculation for a dairy cow is based on the average costs. The results obtained from the experimental farm and the calculations made show that milk production and the raising of calves (fed mostly on roughage) is more profitable than sheep husbandry. When the milk production of dairy cattle is under average, sheep husbandry can compete with dairy cattle as regards processing price for roughage. The calculations indicate that a sheep and a yearling or a heifer for beef production yield roughly the same processing price for the roughage they consume.