Farm sheep breeding business plan. What should you pay attention to? Financial aspects of business

It is considered a traditionally popular business, and there are several reasons for this. First of all, the business is attractive because of its relatively low labor intensity. This is explained by the fact that sheep are quite unpretentious animals.

The second reason for the popularity of these animals for breeding is their relatively low mortality rate. It is also attractive that you can start such a business with a very small herd. The entrepreneur will not have problems with feed, because sheep are grazing animals.

According to statistics, the population of our planet is constantly growing in demand for food. Lamb is no exception. The share of annual consumption of this meat is about eight and a half million tons. As for Russia, the sheep industry here is experiencing a period of deep crisis.

Confirmation of this fact is the rapid reduction in the number of animals. There are only 1 million sheep on farms, 4.4 million sheep in agricultural herds, and 9 million of these animals are raised in private households.

If, in order to receive income, you have chosen a type of activity such as sheep farming, a business plan, as in any other business, must certainly be drawn up. In this document, reflecting the main stages of development farm, such an item as company registration must be indicated without fail. Only in in this case your activity will be considered legal.

The legal form of the company is peasant farm enterprise (peasant farm). Registering a sheep breeding business is similar to registering an individual entrepreneur. Organization legal entity in this case it will not be necessary.

Anyone who draws up a business plan for sheep breeding must definitely study the list of documents that need to be collected for submission to the registration authority. This list includes:

• application for registration of a farm;
• power of attorney for the MFC;
• a receipt confirming payment of the state duty for registering the farm;
• original and a copy of the passport of the head of the peasant farm;
• document confirming the person who registers the farm;
• original and a copy of the birth certificate.

Another document that a sheep farming business plan must provide for is a SES permit. Without it, it will be impossible to open a farm.

The business plan of a farm in which sheep breeding is the main activity should consider animal nutrition issues. To provide food, you will need to find a suitable pasture option.

When planning a business such as sheep farming, be sure to draw up a business plan taking into account the fact that one animal (with offspring) will require 1 hectare of pasture throughout the year. This should be taken into account when calculating the planned number of sheep.

Where can sheep and rams be raised? The business plan must mention options required premises for the farm. It can be an ordinary wooden pen. Today it is not difficult to find one of the abandoned farms, of which there are many in villages and villages.

It is not necessary to provide for the creation of any kind of housing system, because sheep tolerate frost well. In case of extreme cold, it is enough to install only a stove-stove.

What animals should be in the herd to make a business like sheep farming as profitable as possible? The business plan must have an article providing for the costs of purchasing breeding stock. You need to negotiate the supply of animals only with verified, certified farms. This condition will protect the newly created farm from possible problems with the offspring. And in order to avoid interbreeding of animals, it is advisable to purchase individuals from different sellers.

The business plan should also describe which livestock breeds will predominate in the peasant farm. Many entrepreneurs raise sheep for meat. That's why they purchase it. It is meat-based. However, it is worth keeping in mind that in practice the advantage of the Romanov breed over others has not been confirmed. You can buy long-haired Russian, Prekos, etc. But if the business plan sets the main objective of the business as selling meat, then the Romanov breed should still be given preference.

After registering a peasant farm and resolving issues about housing and purchasing livestock, you will need to hire workers for the farm. It will be impossible to organize sheep breeding on your own, without additional personnel. The business plan should have a section that will present a list of professions and indicate the number of people who will be needed to properly run the business. For every three hundred head of livestock, four workers must be hired. These will include:

• shepherd (shepherd);
• vet;
• milkmaid;
• a specialist who produces haircuts (possibly on a temporary basis).

When creating a small-scale sheep farm, members of one family will be able to handle the work.

If you correctly organize your working day and plan the necessary activities for the whole year, then for an entrepreneur sheep farming is profitable business. Breeding these animals, which requires little investment of money and time, may not be the only direction for farming.

Wool, meat and milk are what will bring income to the entrepreneur. The amount of possible profit is also pre-calculated by the business plan (sheep farming). The finished product in the form of wool today does not have a particularly high price. That is why you should not place special bets on it. It is also problematic to sell large volumes of sheep milk. Only meat can provide a decent profit. It can be offered to restaurants, cafes, kebab shops, and also sold on the market. Of course, the demand for lamb is much lower than for pork, but concluding agreements with regular buyers will make a business based on sheep farming as profitable as possible.

A sheep farming business plan should also include financial issues for the future project. Below are approximate calculations of the costs of organizing, as well as generating income for a farm with three hundred animals.

So, in order to open your own peasant farm, a novice businessman will need:

• for rent of pastures and premises - 100 thousand rubles each;
• for issue wages employees (per year) - 600 thousand rubles;
• for (per year) - 50 thousand rubles.

All these expenses will total 850 thousand rubles. A novice entrepreneur will need to invest capital in the purchase of animals. How much does one sheep cost? The price of the animal will depend on the purity of the species. Let's look at the most popular Romanov breed. The cost of one sheep will be 250-300 rubles. per 1 kilogram of live weight. In general it will be 8000-12000 rubles. Fat-tailed lambs are somewhat cheaper. Each of them will cost 5500-8000 rubles.

What is the profitability of such a business? If you sell whole sheep, you can earn five hundred thousand rubles a year. The entrepreneur will receive one hundred thousand rubles from the sale of wool. Half a million can be received by selling the meat of fifty heads. Thus, the annual income of the peasant farm will be 1,100,000 rubles.

All the above figures are, of course, approximate. Much will depend on the region of business and on the existing average market prices for the final product. However, even the most conservative calculations allow us to talk about the payback of sheep farming within just one year. This is a pretty good indicator, which in the current economic situation clearly indicates in favor of this business.

Fattening and further resale of lambs will allow increasing profits from sheep breeding. Young animals can be bought in the spring for little money - 120 rubles. per 1 kg of live weight. By autumn, animals reach 60-65 kilograms. During this period, they can be sold profitably.

One of the famous directions among entrepreneurs who start their activities, living in rural areas, sheep breeding is traditionally revered.

This popularity of this type of business is due to several reasons. Firstly, sheep are unpretentious animals and raising them is not as labor-intensive as other types of work. Secondly, the mortality rate of sheep is much lower than that of any other animal. Thirdly, since sheep are animals that feed on pasture, there are obviously no problems with feed. And finally, fourthly, in order to start breeding sheep it is not necessary to start on a large scale, you can even start with a small number of heads.

Despite the variety of advantages, this line of activity also has disadvantages - the low profitability from sheep production leaves much to be desired. On given time, perhaps, declare figures of 10-15 percent. This, you see for yourself, is not the kind of profit that will give incentive to the newcomer, and which he fervently expected to have. However, with a precise approach, sheep farming can provide, albeit insignificant, but constant income, which can later be used to promote other areas.

As a professional businessman, you must realize that starting any business without having a rough business plan in your pocket is impossible. And earning money in the Agriculture sector is no exception.
And so let’s look at the question: where to start organizing a sheep farm?
First you need to choose a place for pasture. When planning this, keep in mind that feeding one sheep with children requires one hectare of grazing meadow per year. Accordingly, to raise sheep, you first need to own a certain area with a number of hectares equal to the number of sheep you have in your herd.

A room for raising sheep needs the most ordinary thing; even a wooden pen for cattle or abandoned farms, such as a large number of can probably be found in any village. During the winter season, heating is not required for sheep, as sheep tolerate low temperatures admirably. Well, if you are already so worried, then as a last resort you can build a stove-stove if abnormal cold strikes unexpectedly.

Where can you buy sheep?
It is best to buy sheep from proven professional farms. This can help avoid problems in the future. With a significant expected population, it is much better to buy from different farms in order to avoid inter-generic mating.
The “Romanov” breed of sheep is especially famous among novice farmers; to be honest, their advantage over other breeds is practically unfounded. You can completely buy sheep of other breeds. Nevertheless, the Romanov breed sheep themselves are good for breeding for meat. We need to remember this.

What personnel will be required to raise sheep?
Once the housing has been found and the sheep have been purchased to start with, I think the time will come for you to hire staff. You will need one shepherd for every three hundred head of the herd. Other workers you will need are a milkmaid, a veterinarian to vaccinate the sheep on time, and an expert in sheep shearing. Let's summarize - for our start we need at least four workers.

The main products that you can count on when raising sheep are meat, wool and milk. Selling milk in significant quantities is quite problematic. The cost of wool today is not as significant as old times, which is why it makes no sense to make big plans for this direction. But the most profitable view The profit is probably from selling meat.

The most significant consumers are city bazaars, as well as cafes, kebab shops, and restaurants. As a result, the demand is not as significant as, for example, for pig meat, but it is there, and if you manage to find stable buyers, you will be able to make your business more profitable.

It's time to review a sample Business Plan!

In this part of our business plan for sheep production, we will analyze the financial components of the analyzed business project. Let me remind you that we are calculating this business plan with a sheep farm herd size of 300 heads.

Let's start by considering the costs that will affect the following items: Land rent will be approximately 100 thousand rubles per year, Rental of premises for their maintenance will be another 100 thousand rubles, the average salary for staff will be about 600 thousand rubles per year, everyday expenses will be approximately 50 thousand . rubles per year. The total, according to our conservative estimates, is 850 thousand rubles per year.

Well, the time has come to calculate the profit from sheep breeding:
Sales of meat will amount to 500 thousand rubles (50 heads at 100 rubles/kg), where in turn the sale of sheep will total 500 thousand rubles. We can get a profit from the sale of wool approximately equal to 100 thousand rubles. In total, our earnings will be: 1,100 thousand rubles per year.

As a representative calculation, the payback of this project under suitable maintenance conditions will be about one year, which today, these calculations show that this is a positive indicator.

Sheep farming has been an interesting niche for a very long time. It’s worth noting right away that you won’t earn billions, but by opening such a business you can certainly ensure a comfortable old age.

In livestock farming, the business of sheep breeding is relevant. They are less susceptible to diseases, which is a favorable factor for this industry. In Russia this direction is quite promising.

Let's consider the advantages of sheep farming as a direction in livestock farming:

• Opportunity to get state support for the development of agriculture;
• Small start-up investment;
• Low feed costs;
• High demand for lamb with low competition;
• Year-round production;
• Minimum requirements for conditions of detention;
• Rapid maturation and livestock growth;
• Not a labor-intensive process.

As you can see, this business is very profitable for the entrepreneur, since the rapid increase in livestock fully justifies the costs and generates income in the shortest possible time.

But there is one significant drawback that should be mentioned. This is a low profitability, which is about 15 - 20 percent. It is also necessary to keep in mind that the first income will have to be reinvested into improving the sheep herd. In order to ensure a steadily growing and reliable business.

However, the demand for sheep products (meat, wool, milk) is constantly growing and, according to statistics, amounts to 2 - 2.5 tons.

Thus, we see three components of the success of sheep farming as a business - these are minor start-up investments, consistently high demand, and minimal requirements for living conditions. Therefore, this type of activity is an ideal option for farming.

When drawing up a business plan for sheep breeding, it is necessary to take into account issues related to production technology.

First of all, it is necessary to create conditions for walking the livestock and think over their diet. Sheep are unpretentious in terms of food and maintenance, so this should not be a problem.

Sheep are not fed by the clock, so they must have constant access to feed. The pen must have feeders with food and drinkers with water.

Pieces are added to the feeders rock salt, which promotes the digestion of sheep. In summer, if there are good pastures, fertilizing is not required. And in autumn and winter, animals are fed grains - barley, oats and hay.

It is worth thoroughly preparing for winter. It is necessary to calculate the amount of necessary fertilizing, prepare mowed grass in advance so that it is the main component in the diet of the livestock.

The most suitable grasses for feeding sheep are clover and bluegrass.

If you plan to harvest and sell wool, then it is worth diversifying your diet with vitamin supplements. Despite the fact that expenses will increase, income from the sale of high-quality wool will not only cover them, but will also bring profit.

One sheep needs per year:

• 1.5 centners of hay;
• 1 quintal of straw;
• 1 quintal of concentrate or grain;
• 2.5 quintals of green grass.

To find out the amount of your costs for feeding all the sheep, you need to multiply these figures by the number of available individuals.

On this moment a suitable period has emerged for the implementation of the idea of ​​​​breeding sheep as a business.

There is little competition in this niche. Which leads to a reduction in financial risks and to a pricing policy aimed at maximizing the entrepreneur’s profit.

The trend towards a reduction in the number of sheep was a consequence of high demand for products and low competition.

Statistics on the number of sheep in private farms indicate that business in in this direction promising According to the numbers, this is approximately 10 million individuals. Due to their territorial location, not all regions of Russia are suitable for this type of business. The southern and central regions are considered acceptable for this.

These are the Caucasus, Stavropol and Krasnodar regions, Southern Urals and Volga region. The listed areas are provided with the most fertile areas for walking animals.

Different breeds of sheep adapt differently to different climates and natural conditions. The most suitable for meat and fat breeds are regions with cold climates and mountains. For coarse-haired - North Caucasus, for fine-haired - Central regions. The best climate for sheep breeding is in the Caucasus, where it is found greatest number farms and pastures.

If you decide to breed sheep and build a business on it, then the question of registering it arises. As a rule, the owner needs constant distribution channels, which require documentary evidence of transactions. Therefore, it is necessary to register an individual entrepreneur.

In addition, you will need to obtain permission from the sanitary and epidemiological authority to work with wholesale clients.

Permission from the fire department is required to confirm that the sheepfold meets all technical requirements.

If you want to save time and nerves, you can resort to the help of specialists. Then the purchase of such services is reflected in expenses.

After all the documents have been completed, a pasture suitable for raising sheep is found.

Many people are considering buying their own land. But optimal solution In order to start raising sheep, you can consider renting a plot. This is a less expensive option with no financial risks.

Sheep easily get used to weather conditions, so in summer it is advisable to use walking in open areas, and in winter - in pens, with small heating units.

For beginning farmers important issue When raising sheep is what breed can be raised.

Three types of sheep are popular in Russia:

• Meat-greasy - this includes the Astrakhan and Kazakh breeds. These breeds good weight And speed dial body weight.
• Meat breeds include Texel, Suffolk and Zwartbles. These animals reproduce well and quickly get used to the climate of central Russia. They grow quickly. A one-year-old sheep can already be sold.
• Romanovsky is the most popular species in Russia. Sheep grow very quickly and produce good offspring. Withstands temperatures down to -30°C. Males are used for meat, and females are used for breeding.

Let's consider the basic requirements for living conditions and breeding. We will choose Romanov sheep.

Pastures for sheep are:

• Steppe - suitable for both early and late grazing. The grasses that grow on such pastures are feather grass, thin-legged grass, sheep fescue, and forbs.
• Mountainous - legumes and grains grow on them.
• Artificially created - a distinction is made between annual and perennial pastures. Winter rye, mogar, sorghum, sudanese, and oat mixture grow on annuals. For perennials - alfalfa, clover, bluegrass, fescue, honey grass, sweet clover.

In winter, sheep are fed hay consisting of cereals, legumes, and wormwood.

Sheep are unpretentious and live in cool conditions, so in winter it is enough to provide them with a room with insulation. It is advisable to build it in a dry and sunny place.

The room should not be higher than three meters, with good air ventilation and reliable insulation. The temperature should be kept at 10 - 15°C.

In winter you can get by with roughage. In summer - oats and fresh grass.

Sheep are fattened when they reach 7-9 months, then they are sent to slaughter. The best animals are kept in the sheepfold, while others are castrated to improve the quality of the meat. They are selected at the age of 4 - 6 months.

Feeding occurs on natural pastures. After fattening, it is recommended to carry out final fattening in the paddock, which has a beneficial effect on the fattening period in the direction of reduction.

When developing a plan for sheep breeding, you need to ask which breeds are most popular for breeding in Russia. These are:

• Gissarskaya are very large sheep. Weight - up to 180 kg.
• Texel is a Dutch breed. The meat is odorless. Hardy, takes root well in the middle zone.
• Romanovskaya - suitable for central and northern regions. Valuable wool.
• Karachaevskaya - valuable wool, high immunity. Adapts well to temperature changes and tolerates high humidity.
• Edilbaevskaya - suitable for the southern regions. Especially valuable meat. Capable of year-round grazing.

When forming a budget for the purchase of animals, you should expect that the minimum possible quantity sheep - 200 individuals. With such a livestock it will be possible to recoup the costs quickly.

For a natural increase in the number of sheep, mating is used during breeding. It happens:

• Free - occurs on farms with a small number of sheep - up to 200 heads. One ram can breed with 50 females or more. Mating is applied in July, juveniles appear in December.
• Planned - sheep are grazed in such a way that the rams are separated from the sheep. They are then brought together for 2-4 weeks for mating. This tactic requires additional expenses. Since every 30 sheep will need their own shepherd.
• Artificial fertilization is the most expensive. But the lambs have high performance quality.

Shearing of livestock is carried out in 2 stages:

• In the spring, the sheep's wool is sheared so that the wool is evenly distributed;
• in spring and autumn - sheep with a heterogeneous wool type.

Before cutting the wool, you need to make sure it is dry to avoid damage during storage. Sheep do not need to be fed for 24 hours before shearing. And you should not drink for 12 hours.

It is carried out manually or using a special machine. The fleece is cleaned in a special way, and then folded.

The business of raising sheep for meat involves working on issues such as slaughtering. There are usually no difficulties with this, since sheep are quite calm animals.

Slaughter is carried out in two ways:

• IN horizontal position. The sheep is tied up and the arteries in the neck and near the ears are cut. They are waiting for the blood to drain. They cut it up.
• In a vertical position. To do this, the sheep's legs are tied and suspended. They do everything the same as in the previous case. But this method keeps the skin and meat clean.

To breed the Romanov breed, it is necessary to develop a business plan that includes a clause on employees. It’s worth noting right away that if you are going to open a small home business, then you can do without employees.

If you plan to start a business with a larger farm, then the following employees will be required:

• worker for feeding sheep and cleaning;
• shepherd;
• vet;
• sheepshearer;
• milkmaid.

If necessary, it is possible to use the one-time services of a veterinarian and someone who will shear the sheep. It is possible to combine several positions in one person. This way you can reduce personnel costs.

For large production volumes, it is necessary to include these employees on staff.

Provide decent wages to employees to avoid frequent changes in staff. Before doing this, analyze the labor market by comparing nearby areas.

The viability of a business depends on a successful marketing policy. Sales and pricing depend on it. To competently study these issues, it is necessary to research and analyze the market from all sides.

IN last years There is a clear trend that many of our fellow citizens are starting to do business. This is due to the fact that people want to have more income and (oddly enough) confidence in tomorrow, which work in an office or government agency cannot provide.

Various livestock industries are becoming very popular. However, this is not surprising, considering historical background and the amount of abandoned land in our country. As a rule, the leadership of local municipalities provides assistance if you want to engage in farming. In this article we will present a simple business plan. Sheep breeding will be our main activity.

The fact is that this livestock industry is very profitable, as it has excellent profitability. Sheep are grazing animals and therefore easy to feed. They are extremely unpretentious, they can dig food directly from under the snow, and cases of death are extremely rare.

They have offspring once every six months, and the queen can easily bring up to four lambs in one lambing. By the way, it is precisely because of the large number of offspring that we can recommend breeding Romanov sheep. This is a domestic breed, distinguished by its extreme unpretentiousness, excellent taste of the resulting meat, as well as excellent wool and skins, which are readily purchased by procurement organizations.

These animals feel excellent in the central and even northern regions of our country. As we have already said, one uterus can produce up to four lambs.

Note that a large number of offspring still has disadvantages: there is not enough milk for everyone, and therefore it is necessary to feed the lambs with special mixtures or goat milk. In addition, the meat of these sheep is not liked in the Caucasus, and therefore it can only be sold in the Central regions and the Far East.

We continue to discuss our business plan. Sheep breeding will be profitable in any case. Let's not promise mountains of gold: in the first years, the profitability of this type of business rarely exceeds some 25%.

But this is a stable profit that you will receive almost guaranteed. In the case of dairy cattle, this is sometimes only a dream.

Since we take as an axiom the lease of land (since few people have the money to buy it), it is difficult to say about the specific amount of costs for it: in different regions in our country, the cost varies greatly.

Pay attention to the distance to the nearest settlement: the farther it is, the lower the rental price. The scale of money received is immediately influenced by two main factors: the availability and quality of the food supply, as well as the number of animals and the degree of reproduction. In general, sheep breeding (as a business) has a high chance of paying off only if you have sufficiently large pastures.

It is very important to immediately calculate how much specific pasture you will need. Otherwise, the profitability of your production will be in serious danger. To do this, let’s take the classic formula, which was developed by the Soviet luminaries of sheep breeding at the dawn of the formation of the entire industry.

G = U/N x P. What is what in this expression? Let's look at this important issue in a little more detail.

• G is the number of sheep that will account for one hectare of pasture.
• Y is the amount of grass that grows on a particular land multiplied by the percentage of maximum possible feed utilization. This value directly depends on the type of pasture you use. If it is natural, then sheep will be able to eat up to 60%. On pastures of an improved natural type, they can consume about 70-80% of the grass stand. Artificial plots are the most productive: on them, more than 90% of the grass can be used for feed. If we talk about productivity, then on average this figure is within 100 centners per hectare.
• N is the standard consumption of grass by one sheep per day. In the case of the Romanov breed, this figure is 10 kg.
• P – time during which this pasture was used.

Since there is most often no money for “improving” natural pastures, and even state sheep breeding companies often do not have it for creating completely artificial plots, we have to make do with what we have.

But if there is at least some possibility of choice, it is better to take advantage of it. After all, our business plan (in which sheep breeding is at the forefront) is designed to make a profit, and without food there will be no profit in any case.

Virgin steppe pastures are ideal for early fattening. The grass on them is varied, and appears virtually with the first rays of the spring sun. In summer, pastures of this type are completely burned out, but by autumn a second harvest appears on them. Thus, they can be used for early and late fattening. There should be an average of 0.1-0.2 hectares per animal.

Hereditary sheep farmers say that the best plots are mountain pastures with an incredible variety of grass and high nutritional characteristics of plants.

As you can see, in 99% of cases in our country you will not find anything like this. Therefore, we will include some tips on creating artificial pastures in our business plan. In this case, sheep breeding will become much more profitable.

Remember what we said about the high costs of this event? But they can be reduced to a minimum if half-abandoned agricultural fields are used.

Firstly, this way you will be able to restore their fertility to a significant extent. Secondly, artificial pasture can feed many more sheep.

First, the field should be sown with alfalfa. Closer to lunchtime, it is necessary to fence off a certain area, mow the grass on it, which should be placed in feeders. The animals are kept in this pen until nightfall. At sunset and until 11 am they are released to “free bread.”

By lunchtime the whole procedure is repeated. This regime will not only allow rational use of pasture resources, but will also increase weight gain.

Now let’s calculate whether it is profitable to raise sheep in this way. From one hectare we will get an average of 100 centners of alfalfa. Since one animal eats only 10 kilograms per day, 1000 animals can easily be fed per hectare. However, we have already agreed on rational use land.

To use the scheme with fenced areas, 50 hectares will be enough. A thousand heads in just a day gives an increase of no less than 20 thousand. In a couple of years, the profit will exceed three million. In addition, by the end of the season the field will be richly fertilized with manure, and therefore next year will give a bountiful harvest.

In winter, it is best to feed animals hay. On average, a kilogram costs about five rubles. It is best to use hay from legumes and meadow grasses. Food made from forest crops and grasses grown in acidic soil is unsuitable. One ewe needs about two kilograms of hay per day. Please note that the livestock will consume a certain amount of feed per day, and lactating animals must also be fed with bran.

In most regions of our country, to maintain them you will need to build a simple wooden pen. There is no need to even heat it, since these animals can easily tolerate even quite very coldy. Buying one purebred sheep will cost you no less than 10 thousand rubles.

We have already said that the Romanov breed produces excellent skins and wool. But at the present time, the demand for them is far inferior to the population’s needs for meat. That is why our business plan for sheep breeding assumes meat productivity.

Professional shepherds are a must. You also cannot do without the services of milkmaids who will obtain milk to feed the lambs. Of course, you can trim animals yourself, but it would still be much better to hire professional shearers for the season. The cost of wool largely depends on the quality of its cutting, and therefore you yourself will obviously spoil it to a substandard condition.

Also take care of purchasing at least one truck, since you will have to transport a lot of the same feed.

If you sell sheep by live weight, you can earn up to 200 rubles per kilogram. If meat, then in major cities for the same weight they will give more than 400 rubles.

But dealing with sheep's milk and wool can sometimes be very difficult. If possible, it is best to sell wool and skins to specialized procurement offices, and sell milk to milk processing plants.

Now about the costs that sheep breeding requires. For the initial increase in the number of 300 animals, you will spend at least a million, and the profit margin is unlikely to exceed 250 thousand. Thus, it is better to start at least 1000 sheep right away.

To engage in sheep farming, an individual entrepreneur is enough. There is less fuss with documents, and simplified taxation schemes are a nice addition. In general, a sheep business, if properly organized, will provide you well!

Breeding small cattle(MRS) is gaining more and more popularity today. Sheep farming deserves special attention as a business for a beginning farmer, since this niche in the market has not yet been fully occupied. Thus, the demand for lamb remains high to this day. How to start your own business correctly, what is needed for this, and whether it will be profitable, we will analyze below.

Raising sheep as a business can become quite profitable if self employed will find a point of sale for livestock. These could be slaughterhouses or private farms. In general, the relevance of sheep breeding is based on the fact that keeping such livestock in Russia today is less common than breeding cows and pigs. At the same time, the demand for sheep meat is quite high, especially if we consider restaurants, meat processing plants and chain supermarkets as potential buyers.

The possibility of subsequent sales of sheep wool should not be ignored. It is well purchased by enterprises engaged in the manufacture of products from sheep wool. And although the demand for this type of product is not particularly great, the sale of wool remains relevant when breeding sheep.

Large financial investments are not required at the initial stage of business development. So, if the livestock is bred in order to obtain a breed and further market it, then the costs are generally minimal. Sheep are grazing animals, and if they require investment in the purchase of feed, it is only in winter. As for raising sheep for meat, the relevance of the business here is high, and the costs will only be for the purchase of slaughter equipment and the livestock itself.

Important: when starting a sheep farming business, you should immediately decide on its purpose - selling meat or breeding young animals.

Breeding sheep for meat as a business has many advantages. The most basic:

• High demand for lamb, especially in big cities. In this case, there is no seasonality.
• Ease of keeping sheep. Here we are talking about the unpretentiousness of animals to food and living conditions.
• Minimum start-up investment in business development.
• Low costs in the process of keeping animals.
• Low competition in this niche of private business.
• Opportunity to participate in a credit program for agricultural development.

Before starting your own agricultural business, in order to avoid mistakes and miscalculations, it is worth drawing up a business plan for breeding sheep. The estimate should include the following expense columns:

• registration of all necessary documents;
• purchase or lease of land for keeping sheep and pasture;
• purchase of livestock;
• acquisition of necessary equipment;
• workers' wages.

In addition, the business plan must contain information about the expected sales channels for the products and the expected income of the enterprise.

Approximately financial plan for keeping 200 heads of sheep will look like this:

• rent of pasture and land for keeping livestock - 100–120 thousand rubles. ;
• purchase of livestock - 400 thousand rubles. ;
• construction of premises for livestock - 55 thousand rubles. ;
• purchase of feed for the winter - 35–40 thousand rubles. ;
• staff salary per year - 200 thousand rubles.
• (provided that all types of activities are performed on your own, this column is halved);

unforeseen expenses - 55 thousand rubles.

Total: 870 thousand rubles.

• The expected profit from agricultural activity will look something like this:
• income from the sale of lamb - 300–350 thousand rubles. ;
• income from the sale of young animals - 200 thousand rubles.

(4–5 thousand rubles per head);

Important: when breeding meat sheep, taking into account proper farming, the initial investment in the business will pay off in 2–3 years.

• power of attorney for the MFC;
• Business registration
• When breeding sheep, it is necessary to register a private business. You can register both individual entrepreneurs and peasant farms. To register you need to prepare the following documents:
• application for registration of individual entrepreneur or farm;
• passport of the owner of the enterprise (copy and original);
• document confirming the place of residence of the owner of the enterprise;

The optimal regions for breeding and keeping sheep in Russia are the Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories, as well as the Caucasus and Kalmykia. A moderately hot and sunny climate with moderate cold creates ideal conditions for keeping a sheepfold. It is worth emphasizing that in these regions, pastures have a long season of flowering and grass growth, which makes it possible to easily prepare food for animals for the winter. In other regions, preparing food for the winter and grazing sheep during the cold season can become problematic.

When choosing a pasture area, it is worth considering that one sheep with its offspring requires about 1 hectare of land per year. It is important to take into account that the further north the purchased or leased plot is located, the more expensive it will cost to maintain and breed livestock.

Important: finance for renting or purchasing land to maintain a farm can be obtained through one of convenient programs loans, which are offered today at low interest rates by many Russian banks.

In addition to the cattle pen, which may not be too warm, but must be protected from drafts and predators, you will have to purchase special equipment for further procurement of products. So, depending on the purpose of the enterprise (if sheep are supposed to be slaughtered), you will need to purchase the following:

Important: all equipment is purchased according to the needs of the farm and can be purchased over time as the livestock grows.

Depending on the number of sheep in the herd, it is necessary to hire additional workers. Although one person can cope with a population of 100–150 sheep. In general, a flock of 250 animals will require the following workers:

• shepherd/sheep breeder (and assistant for him if necessary);
• milkmaid or milkmaid;
• veterinarian;
• sheep shearer;
• butcher.

Important: an experienced worker can handle grazing, shearing and butchering livestock on his own. At the same time, salary costs will be significantly reduced.

The choice of sheep breed should be approached very wisely. The fact is that some of them are especially good for breeding livestock for meat, while some are suitable only for producing milk and wool. Experienced farmers recommend paying attention to the following breeds of sheep:

• Romanovskaya. Due to the very thick wool, the breed can be kept at low temperatures in an unheated room. Moreover, the increase in meat in such sheep is significant even with a modest diet. Over 4 months, on average, a young lamb gains 50% of its initial weight. In addition, Romanov sheep have high fertility. Other meat breeds of sheep include Barbados Blackbellied, Zwartbles, Texel and Suffolk.
• Fat-tailed sheep. These animals are especially good for rapid population growth, since females have well-developed fertility. Sheep are often used for meat. The percentage of meat in this breed of sheep is 60–65%.
• Edilbaevskaya sheep. The breed is classified as meat-greasy. The sheep is characterized by rapid growth and good milk production. In about three months, a young ram can reach a weight of 190 kg.
• Gissar sheep. Brought from Uzbekistan. This Uzbek sheep is meat-fat. Breeding Uzbek sheep is popular in Russia today.
• Katumskaya sheep. It has a smooth coat and is bred exclusively for meat.

Purchase of livestock - important point in business organization. You need to purchase animals only from a trusted supplier with a good reputation in the market. You can rely on both personal recommendations from already experienced farmers, and from reviews on the network. They mainly buy sheep from private farms in regions close to the future farm. This will reduce the cost of transporting livestock.

When purchasing livestock, it is important to pay attention to the quality of the animal’s coat, its behavior and age. Healthy and active young animals, as a rule, have thick coat of even color, are mobile and active.

Advice: when purchasing livestock, you can use the services of your own veterinarian, who will assess the condition of the animals.

As for keeping and feeding livestock from scratch, everything should be built according to the following principles:

• The premises for livestock should be moderately spacious and bright. It is advisable to install a pen for livestock at the rate of 3 m 2 per head. At the same time, it is not at all necessary to intensively insulate the room. It is enough that it is dry and draft-free. In severe frosts, you can lay a straw bedding on the floor.
• It is important that the floor surface in the sheepfold is raised above the soil layer by at least 30 cm.
• The temperature in the pen can be no higher than +5 degrees. This is enough for livestock to stay comfortably indoors. During the breeding season, the temperature should be slightly higher: +15 ... +18 degrees.
• It is also important to provide artificial lighting for the comfortable stay of livestock in the sheepfold at night.
• It is necessary to have stall partitions that can be installed in pens if necessary.
• Feeders and drinkers need to be installed in each pen.

For rapid growth of livestock and for the purpose of rapid growth of young animals for meat, it is important to adhere to the correct feeding diet. It looks something like this:

• 7:00. Feeding young animals with food.
• 7:30. Feeding adults with silage.
• 10:30. The flock must go to water.
• 13:00. Feeding livestock with silage.
• 18:00. Feeding the flock with roughage.

This feeding schedule is designed for the winter. In the spring-autumn period, the flock grazes on pasture. Only at night the sheep are given hay and some concentrates in a ratio of 1 kg per 200 g. In late autumn, when the grass is no longer so lush, the cattle are supplemented with silage, root vegetables and hay.

In winter, it is necessary to prepare sufficient quantities of feed. On average, the following amount of feed is required per head in winter:

• hay - 200 kg. ;
• silo - 300 kg. ;
• concentrated feed - 25 kg.

Important: if signs of mold are found in food, it must be disposed of without hesitation. Otherwise, feeding animals with them will lead to poisoning of the livestock.

The bulk of the money can be saved by preparing your own feed. It can be purchased, but many farmers prefer to prepare grain-based feed. To prepare you need to take:

• barley - 3 parts;
• oats - 2 parts;
• wheat - 2 parts;
• sunflower cake - 1 part;
• table salt - a handful;
• calcium supplement - a handful.

All ingredients must be mixed and carefully detailed. The food is ready to be given to the animals.

In addition, if the area of ​​the land allows, you can plant fodder beets for winter feed.

The slaughter of sheep and the cutting of carcasses should be carried out by a professional. An experienced master handles livestock quickly and with minimal waste. In general, from a livestock of 100 you can get about 500 thousand rubles for meat alone. Additional profit will be an income of 200 thousand from the sale of wool and about 200 thousand from the sale of milk, if the livestock is kept for the purpose of breeding.

Important: all fresh meat sanitary standards should only be stored in refrigerated or freezers in a container special for this purpose.

Marketing lamb can be done in several ways:

It is important to understand that the cost of sheep wool and milk today is much lower than it was 50 years ago. Therefore, income from the sale of this type of product can be considered only auxiliary. In addition, you can additionally sell lamb skins and manure if there is demand and a buyer for them. Or you can process all secondary products yourself, making lamb cheese, woolen products, etc.

Tip: subject to availability good conditions When keeping sheep, they can be kept until winter or even early spring and then slaughtered. During this period, the cost of lamb is significantly higher. Such business planning will be much more profitable.

Every beginning farmer must understand that any enterprise involves some risk. In the case of a sheep farm, these may be the following pitfalls:

• Weather. Unpredictability of weather can lead a farmer to a dead end. For example, summer may be cold and not at all sunny. In this case, grass growth and quality will be reduced. Accordingly, grazing will not be as productive. In addition, in bad weather it is more difficult to prepare hay and other feed for the winter.
• Death of livestock. If the farmer is inexperienced, diseases may begin in the flock, resulting in most of sheep die. The work of a competent veterinarian is very important here.
• Difficulty in selling secondary products. It's about about wool, skins and milk. The demand for them today is low. Therefore, you will have to try to find a buyer.
• The breed does not conform to the stated characteristics. For example, this could be low fertility or low weight gain of each livestock unit.

In any case, a novice farmer should know about possible difficulties in running a business.

The profitability of the enterprise will be higher, the less costs are spent on payments to workers. That is, than more work will be carried out by the farmer himself and his family members, the higher the profitability of the enterprise will be. In addition, it is important to prepare the ground for marketing products in advance. It will be very good if there are buyers for secondary products - wool, milk and hides. In this case, production will be virtually waste-free.

To date, the price of lamb and the demand for it remain stable. Therefore, when competent organization and running a sheep farming business, from the provided idea you can implement profitable production and get quite good profit, over time increasing the number of the flock.