Rostov sheep farming shifts to meat production
The sheep population in the region decreased by 37.5% over the year, reaching 486,400 head. The main reason is the lack of demand for wool.
Apr 27, 2026 0
Falling wool demand spurs Rostov region«s sheep industry to focus on meat.
Source:
According to Rostovstat, as of the end of 2025, the number of sheep and goats in the Rostov region amounted to 486,400 head. This is 37.5% less than the figure for the previous year, 2024.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the region Alexei Vasilyev, speaking at the Legislative Assembly, explained the sharp decline for economic reasons. «We are seeing a big drop. This is due to the fact that our main direction in sheep farming is wool. But today, unfortunately, no matter how hard we try, wool is not in demand as it was in Soviet times,» the official said.
As a solution, the ministry is considering a complete reorientation of the industry from wool to meat production. «We worked on it last year, there is demand specifically for meat sheep farming. We plan to switch to it. This will solve two problems — meat production and the shortage of pastures,» Vasilyev said.
To develop meat sheep farming, high-productivity young stock is planned to be supplied to agricultural enterprises from breeding complexes located in the Belokalitvinsky, Morozovsky, and Millerovsky districts. For comparison, in 2019 the total sheep population in the region approached 1.2 million head, more than double the current figures.
Read more
