Fürth (dpa / lby) - It bleats and mows less often in Bavaria: The number of sheep in the Free State fell last year, as did the number of sheep farmers. This means that over a ten-year period, the sheep population has declined by 11.2 percent to 254,300 animals, as the State Statistical Office in Fürth announced on Friday. In the same period, the number of sheep farmers fell by almost 17 percent to 2000.
Even if there have been slight fluctuations in recent years, the sheep population in Bavaria is tending to decrease. "In 2012, there were still 2,400 sheep holdings with a total of 286,500 animals," reported the state office's statisticians.
Nevertheless, the trend towards larger herds that can often be observed in other livestock species is not evident in the case of sheep: an average of 127 animals per farm. Although that is 7 more than in the previous year, this value remains in the middle of the long-term corridor of around 120 to 134 animals.
In 2022, the total number of all sheep in the Free State fell by 1.9 percent. Most of the animals were ewes for breeding, lambs and young ewes under one year old. As of November 3, 2022, the number of companies had fallen by 200 to 2000 compared to the previous year - a value that had already been recorded in the years 2018 to 2020.
The local sheep owners exported 706 tons of sheep's wool worth a good 2.1 million euros last year, mainly to Belgium, Austria and Poland. At the same time, 1,600 tons of sheep's wool worth 3.9 million euros were imported to Bavaria. Important importing countries were France, Belgium, Greece, Switzerland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. "In the last ten years, the amount of sheep's wool exported from Bavaria has more than doubled. The amount imported, on the other hand, fell by 14 percent," the state office summed up.
