Sheep

It is a domestic animal, mammal, herbivore and ruminant. It was domesticated around 8000 years BC. It was a wild animal native to the Middle East and more precisely to Turkey, Asia Minor, as far as Iran.

Its meal consists of 60% grass, or around 1.5 to 2 kg of hay in winter, 20% corn, 12% cereals, 2% oilcake and vitamins and minerals. He also eats bread, carrots and apples.

The sheep must be sheared once a year, in spring. It is a question of health for the animal against diseases caused by lice, ticks, parasites, etc. A sheepskin weighs approximately 1.5 kg depending on the breed.

Around 2 billion sheep and goats are raised on our planet. The main breeding and producing countries are New Zealand, Australia, China, Nigeria, Patagonia and the British Islands.

Since the 19th century, New Zealand and Australia have dominated the international sheep meat market. Lambs are raised there for their meat on huge farms for export. New Zealand is also a supplier of dairy products to the global market.
 The sheep farms there are immense since they have an area of ​​several thousand hectares, between 1500 and 6000 hectares, and 3000 to 13,000 sheep are raised per farm.
In France, sheep farms have nothing to do with New Zealand or Australia,
but 55,000 breeders raise more than 5 million sheep. They are mainly found in New Aquitaine and Occitanie.
This situation leads to a significant difference in the price of sheep which penalizes French farmers since the price per kilo of French lamb remains €14 higher than New Zealand lamb at €9, or €9 for €23, and the European Union is importing more and more New Zealand lamb. In 2023 we are talking about 125,000 tonnes which have been purchased in New Zealand.
Another argument in favor of imports concerns customs duties which are exempted thanks to various free trade agreements. We therefore realize that it is the price of New Zealand lamb which is not expensive enough.

Each year, in France, around 4 million lambs and 560,000 sheep are slaughtered, mainly during the Easter and Christmas periods.
In 2019, 45% of French households purchased sheep meat for home consumption, and it is those over 65 who consume it the most, 62% of this sheep meat was purchased in supermarkets. Sheep meat consumption only represents
20.6% of total consumption in France, or 150,000 tonnes, while all meats correspond to 5.8 million tonnes. France imports 39% of its sheep and lamb meat needs from the United Kingdom, 22% from Ireland, with the remainder coming from Spain and New Zealand.

The animals that make up the sheep breed:

 Lamb less than 12 months old
 Lambs less than 12 months old
 The ram: male over 12 months old
 The sheep: female over 12 months old
 Sheep: sheep species in general
 Artenais: lamb or ewe lamb born the previous year and unsuitable for reproduction.

The figure for the sheep herd for the year 2022 is less than 5 million head, a sharp decline of 6% on the previous year and thus making this sector the poor relation of our agriculture. We also note a lack of attractiveness of the French sector with difficulties in ensuring security. It is a sector neglected by the CAP (common agricultural policy) and this sector suffers from the lack of parity with the beef sector in terms of premiums. And also the health constraints which have been reinforced against diseases, mainly scrapie.