Grasslands of the World.pdf - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

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Grasslands of the world
2001). Sheep are gathered three or four times each year. Drinking water comes
from springs and lagoons, rivers, artificial ponds and windmill-pumped
groundwater.
Patagonia is free of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE disease) and
Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) (Robles and Olaechea, 2001). Environmental
conditions constrain the development of internal parasites and anthelmintics
are often not necessary (Iglesias, Tapia and Alegre, 1992); no antibiotics or
hormonal treatments are used. Patagonian farms supply wool and meat that can
naturally reach the highest standards of quality in terms of food safety and lack
of contaminants. Despite this, sheep stocks have declined continuously since the
1980s (Figure 4.4) and, under current conditions, sheep farming is unsustainable ,
whether in economic, ecological or social terms (Noy-Meir, 1995; Borrelli and
Oliva, 1999; Pickup and Stafford-Smith, 1993). Factors contributing to this are
low wool prices, small farm size, poor adoption of available technology, desertification,
high winter losses, predator losses, high farmer indebtedness and lack of
sustainable development policies (Borrelli et al., 1997; Consorcio DHV, 1999).
Sheep farming systems
Conditions and attributes of sheep farming in Patagonia are quite heterogeneous,
in spite of the general characteristics summarized above. The main sources of
variation are:
• rain and temperature gradients, which form twelve biomes that differ in rangeland
vegetation , primary and secondary productivity and potential for rangeland
improvement (as discussed in the natural vegetation section, above); and
• farm size, as the sustainable number of sheep that can be kept on a farm
depends on the area for grazing and its carrying capacity . Because sheep products
are the only source of income, flock size determines farm income.
Three kinds of farms can be recognized (Table 4.2): (1) Large commercial
farms, with more than 6 000 head and which are usually derived from the first
TABLE 4.2.
Farm distribution by size in Argentinian Patagonia .
Province Criterion Subsistence farms Small to medium units Big companies
Chubut
Neuquén
Río Negro
Santa Cruz
Tierra del Fuego
Total Argentinian
Patagonia
SOURCE: Data from Casas, 1999.
By no. of farms: 52% 43% 5%
By no. of sheep: 8% 61% 31%
By no. of farms: 89% 9% 2%
By no. of sheep: 20% 44% 36%
By no. of farms: 69% 30% 1%
By no. of sheep 20% 64% 16%
By no. of farms: 16% 65% 6%
By no. of sheep: 2% 49% 49%
By no. of farms: – 37% 63%
By no. of sheep: – 10% 90%
By no. of farms: 54% 40% 6%
By no. of sheep: 8% 54% 38%