Development situation and market outlook for the mutton sheep industry in Shandong Province in the first half of 2025

In the first half of 2025, the sheep industry in Shandong Province showed significant structural adjustment characteristics amidst a complex market environment, with the number of sheep slaughtered, the number of sheep on hand, and mutton production all reaching new lows for the same period in recent years, while mutton imports exhibited a "large inflow, small outflow" pattern. I. Sheep production situation in the first half of 2025 In terms of the number of sheep on hand, by the end of the second quarter of 2025, the number of sheep on hand in our province was 941.34 million, a year-on-year decrease of 20.98%, the lowest level since 2022 for the same period. The base of sheep on hand continued to weaken, mainly due to high breeding costs squeezing profit margins, with feed costs accounting for 60%-70% of the total cost of mutton sheep breeding. The price increase of feed grains such as corn and the rise in labor costs led to an increase in the cost of breeding a single sheep by ...