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Ökologischer Betrieb
© BLE, Bonn/Thomas Stephan
Ökologischer Betrieb
Institute of

BW Farm Economics

Project

Beef and sheep production as well as grassland use: production systems and economics



Our analysis is world-wide within the framework of the agri benchmark Beef and Sheep Network
© agri benchmark
Our analysis is world-wide within the framework of the agri benchmark Beef and Sheep Network

Economics of beef and lamb production as well as grassland use (international competitiveness, technology-related research, policy impact assessment)

Beef and sheep production in Germany: business or side products?

Background and Objective

With the global market integration, the future of particular branches increasingly depends on how competitive they are in international comparison. This is particularly valid for beef and sheep production which have also been identified as a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. The project makes the following contributions to the field of work: Improvement of the understanding of production systems for beef and cow-calf production world-wide, analysis of the competitveness of the German beef production, policy analysis, farm-level development strategies.

Approach

Data of typical farms and production systems are collected using standardised methods and working with local experts / advisors and producers. Infomration ana analysis on world markets, agricultural policy and sectoral developments of the beef and sheep sectors are added to the farm-level analysis. Based on the farm comparisons, the analysis is presently extended to refelct environmental impacts, greenouse gas emissions and animal welfare aspects.

Preliminary Results

Approximately 85 % of the beef produced in Germany has a dairy origin. Thus, beef production is highly dependent on whatever happens in milk production.

The international competitiveness of German beef production has improved in the last ten years when measured in cost of production, returns and profitability. The productivity levels of cow-calf production and beef finishing in Germany are on comparatively high level, too. However, regional and local competition for land has increased, particularly with milk production, crop production as well as biogas plants. Maize for silage plays the main role in this competition. The negative impacts of the recent CAP-reform (decoupling of the cow-calf premium, conversion of single farm payments into regional area payments) have been compensated by the increases of beef prices in most of the cases.

After the abolition of the milk quota in 2015 a gradual increase of dairy-type breeds at the expense of dual-purpose or beef-type breeds can be expected. This increase is likely to aggravate the shortage of quality calves for beef production. On the other hand, an increase of the suckler-cow numbers cannot be expected due to the lack of additional grassland area.

Sheep production in Germany plays a minor economic role. Locally it plays, however, an important role in landscape stewardship programmes and the maintenance of cultural landscapes.

 

Links and Downloads

http://www.agribenchmark.org/beef-and-sheep.html

http://www.agribenchmark.org/beef-and-sheep/publications-and-projects.html

 

Duration

Permanent task 1.2001 - 12.2026

More Information

Project status: ongoing

Publications to the project

  1. 0

    Almadani I, Weeks P, Deblitz C (2022) COVID-19 Influence on developments in the global beef and sheep sectors. Ruminants 2(1):27-53, DOI:10.3390/ruminants2010002

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn064479.pdf

  2. 1

    Almadani I, Weeks P, Deblitz C (2021) Introducing the world’s first global producer price indices for beef cattle and sheep. Animals MDPI 11(8):2314, DOI:10.3390/ani11082314

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn064255.pdf

  3. 2

    Freitas MBC, Ventura-Lucas MR, Izquierdo L, Deblitz C (2020) Competitiveness of Portuguese Montado Ewe Production systems among the European Ewe Production systems. Agriculture 10(5):184, DOI:10.3390/agriculture10050184

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn062311.pdf

  4. 3

    Freitas MBC, Ventura-Lucas MR, Izquierdo L, Deblitz C (2020) The Montado/Dehesa cow-calf production systems in Portugal and Spain: An economic and resources’ use approach. Land 9(5):148, DOI:10.3390/land9050148

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn062303.pdf

  5. 4

    Chará J, Rivera J, Barahona R, Murgueitio E, Deblitz C, Reyes E, Mauricio RM, Molina JJ, Flores M, Zuluaga A (2018) Intensive silvopastoral systems: economics and contribution to climate change mitigation and public policies. Adv Agroforestry 12:395-416, DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-69371-2_16

  6. 5

    Reyes E, Bellagamba A, Molina JJ, Izquierdo L, Deblitz C, Chará J, Mitchell L, Romanowicz B, Gómez M, Murgueitio E (2017) Measuring sustainability on cattle ranches : silvopastoral systems. Braunschweig: agri benchmark ; Thünen-Institut, 28 p, Briefing Paper Agri Benchmark

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn059296.pdf

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