The Domestic Report Concerning the Condition of Sheep and Goat Breeding in Poland

Country report on sheep and goat husbandry in Poland

Niźnikowski, R.Martyniuk, E.

Kuźnicka, E.Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding

Sheep and Goat Breeding Unit

Warsaw Agricultural University, Poland

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ABSTRACT

In the beginning of the 1980s the development of sheep husbandry in Poland should be considered as a dynamic one. The sheep population was increasing rapidly due to the subsidized anti-import wool production as well as the growing importance of lamb exports to the west. Such a situation resulted in almost five-million sheep in 1986, the population being the highest in the post-war history of Polish sheep husbandry. Since 1987, the number of sheep in Poland was, at first very declining slowly; after 1990 there was a more rapid decrease and in 1996 only 11.05 percent of the sheep population size of the year 1986 was left.

Goat breeding in Poland before the year 1982 practically did not exist. The performance recording of this species was officially introduced in 1983. In June 1996 goats were, for the first time, included into the national census of farm animals. By then, the published statistical analysis had not taken into consideration that particular species, thus giving the clear account of the situation concerning the goat breeding is still difficult.

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INTRODUCTION

The development of sheep husbandry in Poland in the beginning of the 1980s should be considered as a dynamic one. The sheep population was increasing rapidly due to the subsidized anti-import wool production as well as the growing importance of lamb export to the west. Such a situation resulted in almost five-million sheep in 1986, the population being the highest in the post-war history of Polish sheep husbandry. Since 1987, the number of sheep in Poland was at first declining very slowly, then after 1990, there was a more rapid decrease; in 1996 only 11.05 percent of the sheep population size of the year 1986 was left.

In this report, the production costs as well as sheep and goat product prices are given in Polish zlotys (PLN). The current price of US$1 amounts to 3.50 PLN, while 1 ECU equals about 4.05 PLN.

Sheep and goat population size and farm structure

The Figure 1 presents the dramatic fall in sheep numbers which has been rapidly progressing since the 1990s. The main reason for such a situation was firstly the lack of profitability of wool production and, secondly, the breakdown of the public sector in Polish agriculture which resulted in slaughtering many flocks belonging previously to the state farms.

Figure 1. Distribution of total sheep population, number of ewes under recording scheme and

ewes registered in flock books in years 1990 -1996 in comparison with 1986

In 1996, the total sheep number was estimated as 551570 and the ewe number as 350062. The performance recording was carried out in 143527 sheep (41 percent of total population), and 115872 ewes (33 percent of total population) were registered in flock books.

In June 1996, there were 179316 goats kept in Poland, including 102659 females. Only 4762 animals of this species were covered by performance recording, and 1967 were entered into herd books. The extremely small number of goats undergoing performance recording (4.6 percent) in comparison to a considerable size of total goat population, reflects an initial stage of development and organization of breeding of this species.

According to the assessment of the Polish Sheep Breeders Association there were about 3500 commercial and 2000 pedigree sheep flocks in Poland in 1997. In goats, there are no such statistics available because of considerable dispersion of goat population where small groups or single animals are often kept on farms. However, all goats under a recording scheme at the end of 1996 were kept in 223 herds, out of which 93.3 percent were private.

According to the last analysis of the Polish Sheep Breeders Association, dated September 1997, the average size of a commercial flock amounts to 35 sheep and of a pedigree one to 70, while the average flock size equals 48 sheep. In comparison, the average size of a goat herd included in the recording scheme in 1996 consisted of 21.3 heads. We have not got any data pertaining to the size or the number of commercial goat herds so far.

At present most sheep, 77.4 percent of the total population, are kept on individual private farms.

In 1996, the structure of sheep farm size was as follows:

Farm size in ha / 1.01-4.99 / 5.00-5.99 / 10.00-14.99 / 15.00-19.99 / 20.00-49.99 / 50.00 and
more
percent of farms / 26.29 / 19.07 / 13.66 / 10.57 / 20.36 / 10.05

According to data of the Polish Sheep Breeders Association of October 1996, the structure of pedigree and commercial flocks goes as follows:

Sheep number
(heads) / up to 49 / 50-99 / 100 and more
Pedigree flocks / 64.5% / 23.7% / 11.8%
Commercial flocks / 85.2% / 8.9% / 5.9%
Total population / 78.6% / 13.7% / 7.7%

As it is shown above, the majority of sheep flocks consists of less than 50 heads. The relatively big flocks, over 100 animals, are more often found within an active population than a commercial one.

There is no information available with regards to sizes of goat farms. The structure of goat herds is very difficult to characterize as well. However, it can be said that most of milking goats are kept in the vicinity of big cities, to utilize easy access to the market. Quite often, single animals are kept in the household to provide milk for self-consumption. More numerous herds are rarely encountered.

Breed structure in sheep and goats

The sheep population consists of 21 breeds, 7 synthetic lines as well as prolific crossbreds and backcrosses (Table 1). Out of all sheep breeds the following ones are most important and their share in the total population is as follows:

Merino sheep40.6 percent,

Polish Lowland sheep29.6 percent,

Polish Longwool sheep 9.3 percent,

Polish Mountain sheep 6.2 percent,

Meat breeds 8.2 percent.

Most of sheep kept in Poland represent the dual purpose - wool and meat - type. The increasing number of synthetic lines and meat breed, as well as prolific crossbreds, shows a tendency to transform sheep stock into sire and dam breeds.

Among the goat population kept in Poland seven breed groups and two groups of crossbreds can be distinguished. The respective share of different breeds in the total goat population is presented below:

White Improved70.5 percent,

White Unimproved 2.8 percent,

Fawn Improved 3.9 percent,

Fawn Unimproved 5.5 percent,

Sanaen 9.4 percent,

Alpine 5.8 percent,

Toggenburg 1.6 percent.

The most often maintained crossbreds are White Improved x Boer (0.3 percent) and White Improved x Anglonubian (0.2 percent). At present, the goat population in Poland is still being formed. That is why the population is divided into breed groups on the basis of coat colour, white and fawn. However, the major contribution of the White Improved breed indicates milk as a target purpose of goat utilization in our country.

Table 1. Distribution of ewes of different breeds , types and varieties entered into flock books in 1996

Breed or type of sheep / Heads / % / Variety or breed / Heads / %
Merinos / 47 062 / 40.6 / Polish or German Merino / 46 902 / 99.7
Black Merino / 160 / 0.3
Total / 47 062 / 100.0
Polish Lowland Sheep / 34 255 / 29.6 / in Wielkopolska type / 6 057 / 17.7
in Corriedale type / 733 / 2.1
remaining Polish Lowland Sheep / 27 465 / 80.2
Total / 34 255 / 100.0
Polish Longwool Sheep / 10 730 / 9.3 / in Pomorska type / 5 673 / 52.9
in Kamieniec type / 2 076 / 19.3
in Pogorze type / 1 821 / 17.0
remaining Polish Longwool Sheep / 1 160 / 10.8
Total / 10 730 / 100.0
Breeds of coarse wool / 8 215 / 7.1 / Polish Mountain Sheep / 7 123 / 86.7
Polish Heath Sheep / 1 092 / 13.3
Total / 8 215 / 100.0
Purebred Longwool breeds / 419 / 0.4 / Romney Marsch / 133 / 31.7
Leine / 286 / 68.3
Total / 419 / 100.0
Prolific breeds / 554 / 0.5 / East Friesian / 296 / 53.4
Finn / 78 / 14.1
Booroola / 33 / 6.0
Olkuska Sheep / 100 / 18.1
Romanov / 47 / 8.5
Total / 554 / 100.0
Meat breeds / 9 518 / 8.2 / Texel / 89 / 0.9
Ile de France / 2 886 / 30.3
Blackhead Mutton Sheep / 3 229 / 33.9
Suffolk / 1 758 / 18.5
Berrichone de Cher / 1 459 / 15.3
Dorset Horn / 34 / 0.4
Hampshire / 9 / 0.1
Charolaise / 54 / 0.6
Total / 9 518 / 100.0
Synthetic lines / 2 292 / 2.0 / Whiteheaded Mutton Sheep / 594 / 25.9
Blackheaded Mutton Sheep / 130 / 5.7
Meat line in Berrichone type / 827 / 36.1
Meat line in Dorset type / 150 / 6.5
Prolific lines / 355 / 15.5
Prolific-meat line / 186 / 8.1
Prolific-wool line / 50 / 2.2
Total / 2 292 / 100.0

Production system, utilization purposes and market of goat and sheep products

Considering production systems in sheep husbandry in Poland, the intensive production has been located in two regions only: Wielkopolska and Kujawy. Both regions have got about 27 percent of the total sheep population. The rest of the sheep are kept in conditions close to extensive ones. The semi-intensive system, which was typical in 1980s, is not used any longer due to the high costs of concentrates.

In goats a small scale, backyard system is dominant. It is often connected with the exploitation of occasional pastures and purchase of feed. Bigger milking herds are kept in more intensified conditions with the usage of farm-produced fodder and grain. On some goat farms, which are often experimental research farms, milk processing has been carried out, so animals are kept in intensive conditions and goat production is fully connected with field production. However, only a small percentage of goats are used in such a system.

Meat production is the main goal in sheep husbandry in Poland. The lack of a domestic market for lamb and mutton and, in the same time, opportunities to export, has led to regard slaughter lambs as the main sheep product. In the year 1996, 369000 heads were sold for foreign markets (the Italian and Spanish market - prime lambs, the Arabic countries - culled ewes and rams). There have been some attempts to initiate carcass export to the west. A new slaughterhouse, especially for sheep and in accordance with the EU requirements, was built in Lesko. However, the effort to introduce carcass export on a larger scale has failed. The export of slaughter lambs is subject to the EU quota on sheep meat, granted annually. Due to an extremely low sheep number the quota has been used only 50 percent in recent years. In Poland a very small number of animals are intended for home market and mostly for the household consumption at farms. The lack of lamb appreciation, traditional in Polish society, as well as its high price, if available on the market, results in a very low consumption sheep meat per capita - 0.5 kg only.

Meat production is considered as a leading one because the output coming from selling lambs amounts to 95 percent of total income in commercial flocks. The current prices of lambs for slaughter range from 5.1 to 8.8 PLN for 1 kg of live body weight depending on the conformation and the body weight standard. In the case of culled adult sheep the price varies from 1.7 to 1.9 PLN per 1 kg. Sheep milk is a product which may increase in importance. The tradition of keeping dairy sheep is the strongest in the Podhale region (The Karpaty Mountains). In the south of Poland sheep milk is processed and sold as dairy products, not as a raw milk. It is usually used to produce hard smoked cheese (so called oszczypek) as well as white soft cheese (named bundz and bryndza). As a by-product, whey (also called rzentyca) is obtained. Oszczypek cheese it is the most popular sheep dairy product in Poland; at the market it is sold at the price of 14 to 18 PLN per kilo. There are also attempts to develop sheep milk production in the lowlands as well as to initiate the production of soft cheese, sheep yoghurt and smoked cheese, in oszczypek type, like in the highlands.

Sheep wool has completely lost its importance, because of very low prices and lack of production subsidies, which were applied in Poland till 1989. Now, wool provides only 5-10 percent of the outputs in sheep production. In 1996, 1900 tonnes of greasy wool were produced, which meant that average wool yield was about 3.4 kg per sheep. Right now wool is regarded as a by-product and is purchased at the price of 3.5 to 3.8 PLN for 1 kilo on the greasy-wool basis, depending on the commercial quality type.

In pedigree flocks, the important source of income comes from selling the breeding stock. By the year 1996, the income from selling breeding rams was of significant importance, because of state subsidies available for the purchase of pedigree rams. Since 1997, when the new breeding programme was introduced and the subsidy system changed, the demand for female breeding material has increased. The average price of ewe-lamb for breeding sold at the market was about 110 PLN.

The home-produced sheep skins stopped being widely used, mostly because of live lamb export and, at the same time, withdrawing from skin re-import. The demands of the tannery industry are fulfilled by sheep skin import, mostly from Great Britain. At present, because of small sheep numbers, it would not be possible to satisfy industry demands with home skin production. The average price of raw skins bought by tannery workshops varies from 5 to 20 PLN for one piece, depending on the size and quality.

Goat milk, sold after pasteurization, is the leading goat product on the market. There are also dairy products available, mainly soft white cheese and yoghurt. The price of goat milk is relatively high in comparison to the price of cow milk because of its nutritional value, especially in the diet of children affected by allergies. In Poland, the price of goat milk is on average four times higher than the price of cow milk and, in big city agglomerations in 1994-96, surpassed it even eight times. There is an analogy in establishing prices on goat milk and its products, which are treated as delicacies and sold mainly in big cities. Goat meat production has not been of much importance. The high price of goat milk does not encourage buck rearing, so they are usually slaughtered at the age of two to three weeks and used mainly for self-consumption at farms. There are rare cases of selling kids for export, but they have little economic meaning. The goat skin production has no economic importance. Although there is not much trade of pedigree stock because of a small number of goats under performance recording, the demand for breeding females for commercial herds is very high. The market price of a goat for breeding ranges from 150 to 250 PLN per head.

Status of property and sources of labour

The system of employment

Most sheep breeders run their own farms. In such a case the whole family works on the farm. Big farms often employ permanent workers; in many farms during the vegetation season, especially at harvest, there are also additional hands required and employed on a wage basis. For workers employed in state farms a specific collective employment agreement is applied. In co-operatives, the work agreement is based on the rules given in the co-operative law.

In highlands, a specific system of sheep leasing is traditionally implemented. The sheep owner rents out ewes from his own flock for the grazing season to a professional senior shepherd (so called baca). The milk obtained in this period is treated as a payment for taking care of sheep at highland pastures.

In goat husbandry the most common farm is a family farm. Extra people are hired for work in big herds or in cases where milk is processed at the farm for commercial scale.

Poland is one of a few European countries in which the private sector has always constituted the majority of farms. In the year 1996, 91.2 percent of farming land belonged to private owners. The highest participation of a private sector in the total area of agricultural land is noted in the central part of Poland and amounts to over 98 percent. The public sector embraces only 8.8 percent of agricultural land, mostly in the area of northern and western Poland.

In the private sector, the arable land comprises 65 percent, whereas meadows and pastures make-up18.2 percent of the total agricultural land. In the public sector these figures are respectively 9.8 percent and 4.5 percent, as presented in Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 2. Land utilization in private sector

Figure 3. Land utilization in public sector

After the year 1990, the property of many state farms were taken over by the Agricultural Property Agency of the State Treasury within the framework of the restructuring programme. The Agency rents out only land to the private landholders. The livestock and the buildings remain in property of the Agency or are sold. The land belonging to the Agency constitutes only 4.2 percent of total farming land in the country. According to the Main Bureau of Statistics, 88.7 percent of the sheep population is kept in a private sector and 12.3 percent in a public one, including 2.2 percent of animals belonging to the Agricultural Property Agency of State Treasury (Fig 2). Because of a drastic decrease in sheep number, the basic responsibility of a Warsaw branch of the Agency was to maintain the best pedigree flocks in treasury companies. In spite of many efforts, it was impossible to avoid a fall in sheep stock at farms belonging to the Agency. In the last four years, the number of companies involved in sheep breeding decreased from 37 to 26 and the drop in population size reached 43.5 percent. It affected mostly Merino sheep and Longwool ones, but also to some extent meat breeds.

The structure of individual sheep farms was presented in the first part of this report. In 1996, the average area of sheep farms was 7.44 ha. Although concentration of sheep production is uneven within the country, on the average there are three sheep kept on 100 ha of agricultural land while at individual farms the sheep stock rate is 2.8. The highest stock rate is typical for highlands, especially in the Podhale region.

Table 2. Distribution of sheep number within sectors (National census, 1996)

User / Number of sheep
in thousands / %
Public sector:
Sate property
( including the treasury farms ) / 62.4
62.4
12.0 / 11.3
11.3
2.2
Private sector:
Private domestic property including:
individual farms
co-operatives
Foreign property
Mixed property / 489.2
487.0
426.9
22.7
0.5
1.7 / 88.7
88.3
77.4
4.1
0.1
0.3

In the state-owned sector, goats have not been kept apart from the experimental herds belonging to the Agricultural Universities and scientific institutes. As for the private sector, there are no data available on the structure of goat farms.