Research Institute for
Animal Breeding and Nutrition
Debrecen University of Herceghalom, Hungary
Agricultural Sciences
Debrecen, Hungary
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ABSTRACT
Several elements constitute the feeding on Hungarian sheep farms, and the most significant is pasture-based feeding; but the area of 1140 thousand ha pasture provides limited use due to variable yields and dispersion of sheep farms. Pasture application is further limited by the following factors:

There is a short period - usually 150 days annually - available for providing the feed requirement of sheep on pastures.

The organization of work: sheep have limited grazing time due to the inappropriate grazing system. Sheep must adapt to the working time of the shepherd, not inversely.

Many areas are not used; this is attributable to the low stocking rate and disordered ownership.

As a consequence of these factors pastures become old since they are not cut.
The produced forage is an another major feedbase for sheep; these are mainly maize and alfalfa, as well as making silage and/or hay.
Once the practice was to use stubble for sheep. The beet-, maize-, cereal-, papilioniceae- and legume stubble were extremely important. Unfortunately there is no way of using these areas by sheep due to the ownership structure change. In this context integration could be a solution.
A similar problem arises with using by-products, especially with crop production origin. Huge amounts of byproducts in the canning industry, brewery and sometimes sugar factories are wasted because of lack of interest.
There is also a high importance of concentrate use in sheep feeding. The low production level also contributes to this problem. Farmers are going to reduce costs, perhaps as an incorrect reflex, since the profitability of the sheep industry is low on the present production level. Considering the physiological traits of sheep, 50-60 kg of concentrate can provide a condition which utilizes genetic potential. This quantity constitutes about 10-15 percent of total annual costs of sheep production, which can result in an abundant return in yields.
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INTRODUCTION
Several elements constitute the feeding on Hungarian sheep farms.
The most significant is pasture based feeding. The potential pasture area in Hungary is approximately 1.140 million hectares (ha). About 1.5-2 ewes can be fed on one ha of pasture that is minimally maintained. Thus pastures in Hungary could provide feed for 3-4 ewes per ha. Therefore, in theory, 1.95-2.6 million ewes could be fed on this potential area. In contrast about 800 000 ewes and their progeny can be considered and most of them are getting old.
But there are factors decreasing potential area such as effect of motorization near roads
(100 000 ha), cattle production (200 000 ha) and game feeding (250 000 ha estimated).
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Therefore 650 000 ha is available for sheep. The average stocking rate – 1.23 ewes (60 kg each) per ha - is low. It should be increased to 2 per ha so the flock would consist of 1.55 million ewes as a minimum. Certainly our grasslands would provide higher yields.
The area of 650 000 ha of pasture provides limited use due to variable yields and dispersion of sheep farms. Pasture application is further limited by the following factors:

There is a short period - usually 150 days annually - available for providing the feed requirement of sheep on pastures.

The organization of work: sheep have limited grazing time due to the inappropriate grazing system. Sheep must adapt to the working time of the shepherd, not inversely.

Many areas are not used; this is attributable to the low stocking rate and the disordered ownership.

The botanical composition of grasslands: since pastures are not mown and maintained unfavourable elements usually develop such as growing forbs or weeds.
The other main reserve of the sheep feed base is the by-product with crop production and food industry origin. This group consists of cereal, pea, potato, beet and maize by-products. In
Hungary 12 500 000 tonnes and 1 210 000 tonnes of by-products are produced in the crop production and feed industry, respectively (Table 1). Only 10-12 percent of the former – being the more significant – is used for feeding animals and will be increased to 20 percent in the near future (Table 2).
Table 1. The quantity of main crop by-products (thousand tonnes)
Origin/date 1992 1997 2000
Straw
Maize stem
Maize cob
Sunflower by-products
Cuts
Other
Total in crop production
5 905
2 386
620
597
1 230
12 740
4 500
4 700
500
700
1 000
1 100
12 500
6 000
8 200
500
290
14 980
Food industry 1 166 16 740 -
Table 2. Alternative use of by-products with crop production origin ( percent)
Type of utilization 1988 1993 1997 2000
Energy
Nutrition
Bedding
Industrial use
Cultivation
Loss
2
21
23
2
52
9
39
2
1-2
10-12
20-25
1-2
50-60
10-20
15
20
20
5
35
5
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This amount is available mainly for ruminants, therefore cattle and sheep compete for this.
But high-lactating cows are not fed with this, only a small amount of fattening herd utilize it.
Only about 75 percent of the potential by-product quantity produced is available for sheep feeding, mainly out of the traditional Hungarian grazing period, and provides a good supplement to winter stubble. This amount – approximetely 973 500 – 1 152 500 tonnes – is available for sheep and provides feed for half a million ewes on dry matter basis (average 2 kg of dry matter is required by a ewe for a day). Certainly these can be used as a supplement to pasture or hay. Besides winter pasture, feed such as coleseed or barley should be available in this season.
Once it was the practice to use the stubble or its harvested products for sheep. On the one hand it is a simple source of nutrients, and on the other it has an important physiological role in sheep. The beet-, maize-, cereal-, papilioniceae- and legume stubble is extremely important.
Sheep, due to their sensitive and moveable lips, effectively graze on this. The stubble provides stem and grains –10 percent lost during harvesting – as feed. The ewe can cover its nutrient
2 requirement on 70-80 m of stubble a day, so one hectare provides one day’s worth of feed for
133 ewes or one month of feed for 4 ewes. Potentially there are about 2.5 million hectares of stubble of wheat (1 million ha), maize (1 million ha) and sunflower (500 thousand ha). This area provides 332.5 million feed days and even 10 percent of that could be used for stubble feeding, attributed to the diversified ownership structure and to cultivation. Thus it could cover the 40 day requirement of the total Hungarian ewe flock. Unfortunately, there is no way of using these areas by sheep due to the ownership structure change, and farmers who grow arable crops are not concerned with this. In this context the integration could be a solution, although balancing interest rates are really difficult. Otherwise stubble is a reserve in cost saving that could not be renounced.
The produced forage is an another major feedbase for sheep. The lowest rate of their use is suitable since these compete with cash crops for cultivation area and yields are low. However two types of forage must be underlined. The forage maize must be reckoned as an alternative, although its use is problematic. Animal health problems (listerosis) could arise in case of their use, and its main consumer is the dairy cattle. The other is the lucerne hay or the silage that can contribute as a protein source to better meet the sheep requirement.
Concentrate use is also of high importance in sheep feeding, especially in critical periods of ewe lactation and lamb fattening. Only sheep farms have lower standards on feed quality. The low production level also contributes to this problem. Therefore it is difficult to convince farmers of the fact that expensive concentrate returns in higher yields beside cheap cereals.
Farmers are going to reduce costs, perhaps incorrectly, since the profitability of the sheep industry is low on the present production level. Considering the physiological traits of sheep,
50-60 kg of concentrate can provide a condition which utilizes genetic potential. This quantity constitutes about 10-15 percent of the total annual cost of sheep production, which can return abundant yields.
CONCLUSIONS
The ideal use of feed base could be concluded as follows:
 integration or concentration to harmonize partial interests;
 reducing limits of pasture use by improving grasslands and grazing systems;
 optimizing the concentrate use reflecting on production level and age groups;
 reduce the rate of arable crops in the diet by replacing it with grazing on pastures, winter pastures as well, and supplemented by forages and by products.
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REFERENCES
Bai, A.
1997. Energetic bases of by-product use. In: Doctoral Thesis, Debrecen University of
Agricultural Science
Kukovics, S. – Jávor, A. – Molnár, Gy. – Ábrahám, M. & Molnár, A.
1997. A juhtenyésztés minőségének fejlesztése [Development of quality is sheep breeding]. In:
“Agro-21” Füzetek [“AGRO-21” Brochures, Future view of the Agriculture] 17:76-92.
Kukovics, S. & Jávor, A.
1997. Juh nélkül nem megy I. [No way without sheep I.] In:
Magyar Juhászat [Hungarian Sheep Breeding] 1997/ 1:6.
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