Small ruminant exploitation in Ceará state. A vision of capital, income and costs.

Abstract

This study was made in order to describe capital arrangements on some surveyed farms engaged in goat, sheep and cattle raising and crop culture, in order to determine relative costs and income return from these activities. Total capital was distributed among livestock, land improvement and buildings and facilities. A small portion of capital was assigned to equipment. Cattle raising activity provided the greatest in come exclusively from sales, followed by crop, goat and sheep income. A substantial portion of small ruminant products was used for personal consumption, while some crop products were used to pay share croppers. A high percentage of variable costs involved with cattle raising activities were allocated for feed and labor. Variable costs related to crops were expended with sharecroppers. Goat and sheep were responsible for 42% and 32%, respectively, of the total farm income. However, their contribution to total costs was very high, 54% and 38%, respectively. Goat and sheep husbandry contributed with 26% to total gross margin income as compared to only 8% of the total variable costs. Thus, small ruminant rearing activities showed a gross margin income per unit of cost four times higher than cattle and crop activities.