Characterization of lowland and upland sheep production systems at Central-Northern Spain

Abstract

Maintenance and development of sheep production systems are dependent of productive capacity to permit equivalent benefits than other economic activities. The distribution of total output between subsidies and products (milk, meat and wool) must be considered specially under marginal conditions like Southern Europe areas where the productive and country side conservation are in a difficult separation way. Characterization of different sheep production systems must considere the type and amount output per ewe, flock size and land use (Pirchner, 1991). Current Community Agricultural Policy (CAP) in sheep production take into account the special role of grazing low inputs systems on country side conservation but the results after a period of spanish integration in the EC (from, 1986) must be checked (Alderman, 1991). The aim of this paper is to define two sheep production systems (lowland and uplad) at the Central-North of Spain and their relationship with land use.