Agriculture
Farmland accounts for a little over 80% of the Falklands land area and a sheep appears on the islands' coat of arms, but agriculture is now less than 2% of the economy. As of 2007 670,000 sheep reside on the islands; roughly 40% of the national flock are on West Falkland and 60% on East Falkland. The base flock are Corriedale and Polwarth breeds with Dohne Merino, South African Meat Merinos, Afrinos and other breeds having been introduced to improve the fineness of wool and meat characteristics. The wool price suffered a slump in 2005/6 and a peak in 2008. Since 2003 the relative premium commanded by higher quality wool has increased with coarser wool missing out on the high prices in 2008. A summary of the prices for the period 2002 to 2010, which are often dictated by Australian exchange rate and weather conditions is shown below:
| Fibre diameter | Minimum price (p/kg) | Maximum price (p/kg) |
|---|---|---|
| 32 micron | 130 (2007) | 210 (2003) |
| 28 micron | 180 (2006) | 280 (2003) |
| 24 micron | 255 (2006) | 530 (2010) |
| 20 micron | 290 (2005) | 590 (2010) |
Although the production of wool is spread across the islands, the breeding of animals for slaughter is concentrated on East Falkland where the EU accredited Send Bay abattoir is situated. An additional cost borne by producers on West Falklands is the fare charged for crossing the Falklands Sound. As of 2010, the ferry company making the crossing charged commercial vehicles £30 per metre for a single trip plus £2 per head of sheep. Wool on the other hand is charged "£45 per tonne delivered to Stanley".
An increasing number of farmers are supplying lamb to the Falkland Islands Meat Company. The abattoir received export accreditation in December 2002 and began exporting meat in May 2003. The number of farms supplying lambs increased from 6 in 2003 to 27 in 2007 while the number of lambs sent to the abattoir rose from 2600 to 11,963 in the same period.
Selected statistics for the year 2008/9 relating to sheep farming are given below:
| Region | Area used for sheep (hectares) | Number of sheep | Sheep slaughtered | Wool clipped (kg) | Average fleece (kg) | Greasy wool yield (kg/hectare) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Falkland | 612,935 | 292,917 | 22,023 | 923,632 | 3.69 | 1.86 |
| West Falkland | 425,592 | 182,741 | 7,839 | 602,618 | 3.60 | 1.54 |
| Islands | 85,458 | 28,962 | 4,197 | 110,595 | 4.55 | 1.69 |
| Total | 1,123,985 | 504,620 | 34,059 | 1,636,845 | 3.95 | 1.70 |
There are also a small number of cows, pigs and horses on the islands that are reared for local use.
Read more about this topic: Economy Of The Falkland Islands
Famous quotes containing the word agriculture:
“But the nomads were the terror of all those whom the soil or the advantages of the market had induced to build towns. Agriculture therefore was a religious injunction, because of the perils of the state from nomadism.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“In past years, the amount of money that has had to be been spent on armaments, great and small, instead of on productive industry and agriculture and the arts, has been a disgrace to all of us in every part of the world.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)