SHEEP PRODUCTION IN ARGENTINA

Wool production has historically been, and still is, the main purpose of raising sheep. Particular importance is placed on the quality of the wool, its fineness and colour. Black fibres substantially reduce the value. The increase of cattle production, agriculture, desertification of the fields in the Patagonia region, and the low relative profitability, has caused a decline in sheep production, although its main goal has remained unchanged.

An unusual feature of the argentine sheep flock is the large number of castrated male animals that are kept to an old age. This is because these sheep produce the finest quality wool. They can live to old age (more than 6 years) as they are not stressed by pregnancy and lamb raising.

Between July 1996 and June 1997, Argentina exported 72,300 tonnes of greasy wool, mainly to Italy, Germany and China. In spite of the reduction in wool production in recent years, Argentina is still one of the leading wool exporting countries of the world.

Sheep meat production is a distant second to wool production, and is mainly for consumption of the family that lives on the farm. Occasionally, lambs and adult animals are sold for slaughter. There is a small export trade in boneless cuts. These are all killed in a single abbatoir in the Buenos Aires Province which is a SENASA-controlled facility. This is the only plant in Argentina that renders sheep or goat material and the MBM so-produced is fed only to pigs, poultry, pet or laboratory animals. Sheep milk production has no significant importance. (Solanet 1992).

Breed and genetic selection criteria are based on production traits. The current flocks with their different biotypes and breeds evolved from the native sheep. In 1550, Juan Nuñez del Prado imported the first animals. The little wool that was produced was used in the colony. Exports were not feasible due to the Customs policy enforced by Spain. (Fig A1).

After 1810, with the abolition of the monopoly imposed by Spain, the number of flocks increased dramatically, and exports of fine wool became Argentina’s most important economic activity. At this time crossbreeding with merinos increased. These developments were aided by new technology such as provision of water supplies and more efficient methods of fencing. (MINOLA 1976).

However, the long term future of the industry is uncertain and there are possibilities for the reduction of sheep rearing or using sheep more for meat production.

In 1937 an argentine Flock Book Register was established by the afore-mentioned Rural Society and supervised by the Argentine Ministry of Agriculture (TABLE A4).

2 REGIONALISATION BY BREEDS

After 1905, the Argentine Merino was the preferred breed. It was later replaced by Australian Merinos and Corriedales (a cross between Lincoln and Merino) from Oceania (Australia and New Zealand). The Australian Merino spread in the southern territories (Chubut, Río Negro and Neuquén) and replaced the Argentine Merino. Corriedales were first adopted in Tierra del Fuego and Santa Cruz, and only later in the Provinces of Buenos Aires and Corrientes. Corriedales were then preferred in all the Provinces and became the most numerous breed in the country. (Mendoza 1928).

At present, the breeds which have a numeric importance are: Corriedale (in Buenos Aires, Corrientes, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego), Merino (in the Province of Chubut), Romney Marsh (in the lowlands of the Province of Buenos Aires and Corrientes) and the Criolla in the Northwest (Map A1).

The British breeds other than Romney were not much accepted. However, it is not unusual to find short trials of crossings for commercial reasons, mainly with Hampshire Downs, to produce lambs exclusively for slaughter.

Black faced animals are excluded from the flock because their fleece has dark fibres which cannot be processed or marketed with the fleece of the general flock. The market demand for the resulting lambs is low because they produce a significant amount of fat, and although they are usually heavier animals and often reach 20 kg in two or three months, they are marketed at the same or even a lower price than the 12 kg lambs that the small Argentine market is accustomed to eat.

MAP A1

Ecosystems and husbandry practices

3 EVOLUTION OF THE NUMBER OF SHEEP

The decrease in the number of sheep has been caused by the development of other economic activities that were more profitable than sheep production. The various censuses and surveys carried out to estimate the number of sheep in Argentina indicate a continuous decline in the number of sheep from 74 million head in 1895 to slightly over 13.5 million in 1997 (TABLE A1).

4 PRODUCTION SYSTEM

Sheep production can be found throughout the country but is largely regionalised and mainly separated from areas used to raise cattle. The most important areas are in the northeastern region (South of Corrientes and North of Entre Ríos), the Province of Buenos Aires, and the Patagonia (Provinces of Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego).

If not integrated with other operations, sheep production is usually found on poor or marginal lands which are inadequate for any other type of activity. When the land is appropriate for other activities, sheep production was replaced by other more economically attractive operations.

Family farms in the north and northwestern part of the country produce low volumes of end-products and are basically closed nuclei that produce sheep and goats together. In the Province of Jujuy, some valleys of the Andean foothills, and the areas adjacent to the valleys in the Province of Neuquén, there is transhumance production of native breeds. In this system sheep are kept at lower attitude during the harsh winter months and are moved to mountain pastures at a higher attitude in the summer.

There are 36 abattoirs authorized by SENASA to slaughter sheep, and the volumes they produce are relatively low. There are however over 300 local abattoirs which slaughter sheep often in very small numbers or slightly larger numbers for local consumption. None of these abattoirs produce sufficient sheep waste to justify rendering and it is either incinerated or buried under the supervision of SENASA as there is a need to ensure no risk from FMD should it occur. Four of the 36 SENASA-licenced abattoirs in 1997 produce sheep meat for export and none render the waste so produced. This is because the abattoirs are in Patagonia and the kill is seasonal. The waste is either incinerated or buried, again under supervision. Of the remaining abattoirs producing sheep meat for domestic consumption very few, if any, render the resulting waste which is treated as above.

Adult animals are slaughtered for export to the European Union, and lambs are slaughtered for domestic consumption. Only the plants authorized by SENASA, and which are approved for domestic consumption and exports, may slaughter for the important commercial markets. These authorized plants slaughter significant volumes, 517,374 head in 1998, (TABLE A2). Only one of these is licenced to slaughter both sheep and cattle and this is the only one that could produce MBM that originates from both species. However, this abattoir no longer slaughters sheep. Most other abattoirs slaughter such small numbers of sheep that rendering is not a profitable enterprise.

The ratio between animals slaughtered at SENASA-approved plants and the total sheep stock is low (10%). That is because there is a low weaning rate and because most animals are slaughtered elsewhere (mostly on farm or at small local abattoirs). In addition, the ratio between the number of adult and young animals slaughtered at authorized plants indicates that the rate at which sheep meat is extracted from the system for important commercial markets is as low as the culling rate. The fact that castrated males are retained for many years for wool production, contributes to this low rate. (TABLES A1, A2, and FIGURE A2).

These indicators show a production trend which is clearly oriented towards wool production and slaughtering on the farms. The low demand for sheep meat in the local market, and the impossibility of exporting bone-in carcases to Europe due to the FMD sanitary embargo (except the sheep production from the Patagonia region) are factors which contribute to this situation.

Regarding production, only the carcase sides are used; fat, offals, heads, and bones -in the case of exports- and all other waste is either buried or incinerated under SENASA supervision under the FMD programme or is buried. A very small quantity is sent to rendering plants. The products so generated are used for purposes other than human and ruminant feed (ie pet food, fertilizers, pig and poultry feed). There is a seasonal slaughter between November and April. Older animals are slaughtered for export to the European Union. In September and October, lambs are slaughtered for domestic consumption.

The average age at which sheep are slaughtered in SENASA-approved plants is higher than in countries dedicated to a fat lamb production system. This is beacause of the relatively high number of castrated male sheep kept to an old age. Such a system offers large numbers of adult animals for clinical inspection and enhances the likelihood of detection of scrapie should it ever occur.

Source: SENASA

5 PRODUCTION AREAS

Sheep production can be divided into the following areas:

• Patagonia (with Merinos in the Northern region, and Corriedales in the South);

• the Province of Buenos Aires, which is divided into two areas: (1: Pringles, Bahía and Coronel Suarez and; 2: the Salado River Basin); and

• Mesopotamia where wool is produced in the Curuzú Cuatiá area with Corriedales, and Romneys in Paso de los Libres and Mercedes.

5.1 Patagonia

Sheep production is the main activity in Patagonia which includes the Provinces of Chubut, Santa Cruz, Tierra del Fuego, Río Negro and Neuquén. To the east is the Atlantic Ocean, to the West the Republic of Chile, and to the South, the Beagle Channel.

The typical weather conditions in Patagonia are: cold, windy, low rainfall, winter snow, and arid soil with low forage production. These conditions are a limitation for livestock production, except in the Andean region and Andean foothills, some valleys, and the Atlantic coast, where weather conditions and soil conditions are more conducive for livestock production, and in some areas, for agriculture.

Rainfall on the Atlantic coast varies between 150 and 300 mm per year, whereas on the plateau it drops to 150 mm. It then increases towards the Andean foothills to 150 - 300 mm, and in some areas of the Andes, reaches an annual average of 2000 mm.

The predominant moderate to strong winds are from the West and are constant in Spring and Summer, reaching up to 160 km. per hour in some cases.

Temperatures are milder in the coastal area and to the north of the region, but drop to the south and west. Summer temperatures along the coast can climb to 40°C, and in winter the temperatures on the plateau, the foothills and the Andean region can drop to -20°C. There is a significant temperature variation between the seasons, and even in one day there can be a temperature difference of 25°C. Patagonia occupies 786,983 sq km, and is predominantly a livestock production region.

Although sheep production is the main and almost exclusive activity in Patagonia, in the valleys of the Andean range, the foothills and the areas under irrigation, cattle production is gaining more importance. Goat production is dropping and mainly found in the more arid areas of the central plateau of the Province of Chubut, Río Negro and in the Province of Neuquén.

The Australian Merino is the most important sheep breed in the Province of Chubut, Río Negro and Neuquén, whereas Corriedale is the preferred breed in the Province of Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego.

The areas of Chubut, North of Santa Cruz, Río Negro and Neuquén mainly produce fine wool whereas the rest of the area produces fine wool crossbreeds. Wool is mainly produced for export.

Sheep meat production in Patagonia, particularly for export, has dropped significantly. Between 1976 and 1978 (3 years), 26,400 tons were exported whereas between 1986 and 1988 (3 years) the volume dropped to 5,300 tons. The reason for this decline is the deterioration of the soil leading to desert formation.

Sheep are sheared only once a year in the Spring months and during January and February. The animals are then treated for mange. Tupping is in the March - May period, and lambing is between August and November. Between three and four breeding rams are used for every one hundred ewes. The remaining tasks on a sheep operation include shearing around the eyes (to permit the sheep to see better) and ear-tagging which is performed between September and December, depending on the area.

The farms in the Andean range area, due to the severe weather conditions, are only used during the mild summer months (approximately between October and April). The animals are taken to lower and more protected fields during the remaining months of the year ("wintering" fields). This implies a significant movement of flocks going up to the mountain pastures in summer.

The activities with the general flock include:

• shearing, in December, January and February;

• shearing around the eyes, in April and August;

• tupping in May;

• lambing in October;

• ear-tagging in December, and;

• dipping in April when the animals are also sheared around the eyes.

Three to five rams are used for every one hundred ewes.

The stocking rate is approximately one animal per 2.5 hectares.

5.2 Province of Buenos Aires

In the Province of Buenos Aires, the main sheep producing areas are grouped in two well defined zones: the joint grain production area, and the livestock production area.

The joint grain production area is located in the center-south of the Province of Buenos Aires. It includes the districts of Necochea, San Cayetano, Tres Arroyos, González Chaves, Coronel Pringles and Coronel Dorrego. The Corriedale is the predominant breed.

Sixty per cent of the soil in this area can be used for agriculture. On the remaining forty per cent, which is covered by coarse stones, the main activities are wintering and breeding of cattle. Sheep production is secondary, and there are no operations exclusively dedicated to sheep farming.

In the district of Tres Arroyos, González Chaves, Coronel Pringles, and Coronel Dorrego, on average, each farmer has 315 head of sheep, to meet his own requirements and that of the farm employees. Wool and lamb sales are secondary products. Lambs are sold at about 3 months old, when the lambs weigh about 12 kg. Sales from this group begin in August-September, there is a small percentage of lambing in the autumn and lambs from this group are sold between November and December.

The livestock production area includes 9,000,000 hectares in the center-east of the Province. Excluding the hills of the Tandilia range, the rest of the region is flat and has serious drainage problems. The predominant breeds are Corriedale (60%), Romney Marsh (30%), and Lincoln (10%). Eighty per cent of fodder production is from rangeland, and the remaining percentage is from perennial pastures, greenfeed winter crops and sunflower, corn and linseed stover.

Pastures mainly include grasses with a Spring-Summer-Autumn cycle, and which have a low production in winter.

On average, the farmers in the districts of Ayacucho, Rauch, Tapalqué, Azul, Olavarría and Tandil have 230 head of sheep.

Approximately 70% of the animals are ear-tagged. Most deaths are due to perinatal illness. Weaning is at the end of the year when lambs weigh about 25 kg. As the flocks are kept for meat production, the males are castrated when they are ear-tagged. The animals are sold at weaning and the others are slaughtered for human consumption as wether hoggets.

The Corriedale is the predominant breed, although in the Salado River basin there are some Romney Marsh breeders who have bred animals which are especially adapted to the lowlands and are resistant to foot rot.

Since 1989, and as a result of an initiative developed by the INTA in Balcarce, dairy farms with East Friesian animals imported from France were established. This activity is very recent and of low importance compared to the general production, but may achieve some importance in the future.

5.3 Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia occupies 56,000 sq.km. dedicated to sheep production in parts of the Provinces of Entre Ríos and Corrientes (between Latitude 29° and 31° south). Rangelands are the only source of forage. A characteristic of the soil is its low phosphorus content.

The sheep production region includes the district of Curuzú Cuatiá, Mercedes, Paso de los Libres and Sauce, although initially it also included the northern part of Entre Ríos and the southern part of the Province of Corrientes. Cattle production and agriculture then concentrated in the districts around Curuzú Cuatiá, in the Province of Corrientes.

The annual number of sheep slaughtered for human consumption is 650,000 head, mainly lambs. The average number of lambs obtained per hundred ewes is 60. This low reproduction rate is the result of an extended and inadequate lactation period and a deficient nutritional condition of the ewes.

At present, 90% of the animals in the region are Corriedale and 10% are Romney Marsh or Ideal.

The main animal health problems in the region are related to gastrointestinal parasites, mainly haemonchosis, myiasis and clostridial enterotoxemia. Mortality rates of adult animals are between 4% and 5%. In ewes the predominant disease with nervous symptoms is pregnancy toxemia which is controlled by appropiate treatment.

Due to myiasis, the flocks are inspected daily by field assistants who apply local treatment when they detect the disease.

5.4 Goat Production

Goats are produced in the rural areas of the arid and semi-arid areas of the northwest, centre-east, and southwest that have plains and mountains. The area has xerophilous vegetation (bushes) and is marginal for agriculture and cattle production.

Farmers have very few economic and technical resources. It is considered subsistence farming.

Goat production is mainly found in the northwestern provinces, although there is some in the Andean foothills of Patagonia. Only small farmers keep goats, and typically the farmer’s wife attends to them while the men work on a contract basis as migrant farm workers in distant areas.

There are a few and very recent commercial operations that use imported breeding animals from New Zealand in the Province of Buenos Aires. The region can be divided into the Chaco forest and the Hills. In turn, the Chaco forest is divided into drylands and areas under irrigation.

General purpose farms are in the drylands, whilst the breeding and dairy farms are in the area under irrigation. In the hills, delicatessen cheeses are produced with the seasonal milk production.

The native ecotype "criolla" predominates, although there are some recent introductions of Anglo Nubians and Saanens.

Some authors believe that the origin of the native goats is the white Celtiberic breed (which originated in Spain), although some recent findings related to Spanish breeds indicate that the native breed could be the product of three primary breeds: "Oriental" (Anglo Nubian type), "Alpina" (Togenburg and Saanen type) and "Prisca" (Celtiberic type).

Native goats do not have a defined breed but rather an ecotype. They are the result of a natural selection process and not by man. The crossing between native animals and exotic breeds was a practice between 1960 and 1990.

The incorporation of Anglo Nubians (for dual purpose) and Saanen (for milk production) occurred as of 1970. Some Togenburg and Pardo Alpina goats were imported in the period 1995-1996 from New Zealand but these breeds have not yet become popular. (See 4.4.2).

Originally, the breeding males were selected from the same or neighbouring herds. After 1980, official agencies and non-governmental institutions fostered the use of breeding males from distant areas or of exotic breeds.

Movement of live animals between distant regions is not at all frequent because the systems are very closed. The breeding males are either exchanged with a neighbour or through the coordination of a government agency or foundation.

Health problems include parasitosis, goitre, diseases caused by nutritional deficiencies, coccidiosis, foot rot and lice. Some consanguinity problems were identified as a result of the closed nature of the operations. Three to four males are used for every hundred females.

At night, the goats are placed in enclosures fenced with branches, mud or stones and during the day are free to graze and eat the leaves off the branches. The young goats (kids) are kept in separate pens. They are not released from the pen until they are weaned. In some cases they are put in the same enclosure with their mother during the night, whereas other operations take them to their mother on a fixed feeding timetable.

Most of the goat producers have also a small number of sheep.

In the area there are no abattoirs to slaughter adult animals. In general, adult animals are not slaughtered, not even in small herds. They are retained until the time of their natural death. Kids are slaughtered at abattoirs that have been approved by the local municipality or are taken to the SENASA-inspected abattoir in Departamento Ojo de Agua which is in the southern part of the Province of Santiago del Estero.

In the humid areas, the following diseases that cause nervous symptoms have been detected: Oestrus ovis, nutritional deficiencies, and poisoning caused by the intake of toxic plants.

6 Genetic Improvement for production traits in sheep

Purebred animals are registered in the private Argentine Flock Book established in 1889 by the Breeder’s Association and later incorporated into the Sociedad Rural Argentina (Argentine Rural Society). There are 312 breeding farms of registered purebred animals that mainly have Corriedales (312 farms), Australian Merinos (80 farms), Romney Marsh (30 farms), and Hampshire Down (26 farms).

In 1937 an Argentine Flock Book register was established by the afore-mentioned Rural Society and supervised by the Argentine Ministry of Agriculture (TABLE A4).

Between July 1994 and June 1995, 14,727 purebred animals were registered, most of which were of the five above mentioned breeds. All such animals are doubled tatooed so they can be specifically identified: absence of black ear sheep assists in preventing misidentification

The Argentine sheep industry has a pyramidal structure similar to that for pig and poultry industry of western European countries. Thus, genetic improvement is hierarchical. Nucleus breeding flocks supply female sheep and rams to multiplier flocks for breeding. The commercial flocks have their own rams, or they purchase them from registered multiplier flocks. These in turn obtain the breeding rams from the leading nucleus flocks which buy from other major breeding farms. As a result, the genetic improvement of the national herd is strongly influenced by the policies adopted by the leading breeders, the Breeders’ Associations, and the Sociedad Rural Argentina to which all Breeder's Associations belong.

The leading Corriedale breeding farms import animals from Uruguay, Chile, Australia and New Zealand. Merinos are mainly imported from Australia, and Romneys from New Zealand.

Australia and New Zealand are generally regarded as Scrapie free and Uruguay and Chile have never recorded or reported the disease.

Interest in dairy and meat breeds began in 1992 and 1993. At that time, animals could only be imported from Australia or New Zealand because of the problem with scrapie. Imports of breeding animals and genetic material from Europe were banned in 1990 (based on Resolution 429/90 and its amendments).

Of all the British black face meat breeds, only a few Hampshire Down have been imported. Hampshire Down rams were imported for crossing with wool -producing ewes to produce a slaughter generation of animals for meat.

These animals are not retained in the flock because their wool reduces the value of the general fleece as it contains coloured (black) fibres.

The INTA has monitored all the exotic sheep breed imports for scrapie and other diseases, and has developed performance tests based on objective measurement parameters. These tests are carried out at INTA or private facilities, but in the latter case, these are inspected by INTA staff.

The INTA also supports an objective assessment programme of production parameters based on genetic selection, which is known as "Provino". This program is the result of an agreement between the INTA and six Sheep Breeders’ Associations: Corino Argentino, Cormo Argentino, Corriedale, Ideal and Australian Merino. It is an intra flock selection method by which each farmer defines his/her own objective and improvement goals and adjusts the parameters for the ranking system that is applied to the animals that will be selected. The "Provino" also includes a progeny test which is performed by the INTA in Bariloche. Every year, 10 to 12 rams are tested.

7 References

SOLANET, C. (1992) AAPA World Conference on Sheep and Wool. 1992 (pp. 9-21).

MINOLA, J. (1976) Historia del Lanar. Editorial Tranqueras abiertas. Julio 1976.

MENDOZA, P. (1928) Historia de la Ganadería Argentina. Talleres Gráficos Argentinos. 1928.

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