Enhancing Sustainability of Farming Systems by Integrating Crop and Animal Production Activities: Easier Said Than Done.

Sustainable agricultural systems acknowledge that plants and animals grow by natural laws, which must not be overpowered by chemicals and other unnatural methods.  Integrating sheep in plant production farms to graze unwanted vegetation enhances sustainability of these farms.  Sheep are believed to be the most efficient, the most adapted to extreme environments, that can use practically all types of forage, including crop residues.  A pilot crop-sheep integration experiment in a semi-arid irrigated region in the Jordan Valley indicated that this is a more complex operation.  A small sheep flock (maximum number of 32 heads) was introduced to a date palm plantation in February, 2004 and was removed in January, 2009.  Sheep needed to be contained within a housing facility to avoid damage to established crops.  Hand-pulled weeds were provided for sheep.  Weed biomass was frequently insufficient to fulfill sheep feeding requirements, thus, feed was continuously supplemented.  Weed growth was entirely absent in many occasions during winter making supplemental feeding very crucial.  Sheep were found to be not easy to be handled by the inexperienced current laborers.  Vaccinations were needed frequently to eliminate internal parasites.  Pregnant ewes needed extensive monitoring and support prior and after delivery.  New born lambs required extra attention, nevertheless, many died hours-to-days after being born.  Contrary to plants, sheep are valuable portable commodities that easily attract burglaries.  Better fencing and security measures are needed once sheep are present within cropping enterprises, hence, an extra task for the management.  Marketing was unsuccessful due to the small flock size.  Unfair prices were predominant for purchased feeds and sold animal products.  This experiment indicates that introducing sheep to plant production farms should be practiced with precaution; the process is not an easy assignment.  Educating farm mangers briefly will not allow them to handle vital daily requirements of sheep flocks.