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| Hogs and pigs have historically been an important part of North Carolina agriculture. The industry has changed dramatically from the small farm raising a few hogs to the large confinement type operations. North Carolina is far ahead of the rest of the country in this structural shift towards larger size farms, and the coordination between producers and processors. This shift is apparent when reviewing the number and size of operations. In 1986, the state had 15,000 hog farms. Of these operations,13,000 had less than 100 hogs and pigs, and only 800 operations had more than 500 hogs and pigs. Total hog inventory was 2.4 million head. By 2000, the total operations with hogs and pigs had decreased to 3,600. Operations that had less than 100 head controlled less than 1 percent of the total inventory of 9.6 million head. The 1,500 operations with more than 1,000 hogs controlled nearly 99 percent of the inventory, nearly 9.5 million of the June 1, 2000 total inventory. North Carolina is now the second largest hog producing state in the nation, exceeded only by Iowa. Cattle and Calves North Carolina's number of cattle and calves on farms has remained relatively stable throughout time. Sale of cattle and calves account for about 3 percent of the state's total agricultural cash receipts. Potential exists for inventory to increase to make use of feed produced on land irrigated with nutrients from the increasing number of hog lagoons associated with the rapidly expanding hog industry. The northern mountain and northern piedmont counties have traditionally raised the most cattle and remains the leading cattle producing area of the state. As of January 1, 2001, the cattle and calf inventory was estimated at 950,000 head. Beef cow inventory was 436,000, head. Milk cow inventory and milk production have continued to trend downward in recent times. Milk production reached a record high in 1985 with 1.748 billion pounds produced. The number of milk cows on farms was a record 384,000 head in 1944. On January 1, 2001, milk cow inventory was a record low 69,000 head. Sheep Sheep is a term for selective grazing animals that may be domesticated (tamed) or wild. This material will primarily focus on domesticated sheep. Behaviorally, sheep are gregarious, precocial, defenseless creatures. But what does that mean? Gregarious means that they flock together or like to be with a group. It is rare to see a sheep by itself because of their gregarious nature. Precocial means that they have a high degree of independence at birth. This means that they can stand on their feet shortly after birth. Sheep are defenseless for the most part against predators like coyotes and wild dogs. Sheep are also very selective in their grazing habits. Sheep have a split in their upper lip, with this they are able to pick the preferred leaves off of the plant. At one time all sheep were wild. Around 10,000 BC sheep were domesticated by the humans. Most of the wool breeds of sheep were developed from Moulfan sheep. Most of the hair breeds are similar to the Urial sheep of ancient times. Prior to domesticating sheep, the dog and reindeer were domesticated. As the animals were raised under tamed conditions, they went through several changes. On the outside the sheep began to develop more wool and less hair. The color of the wool and hair changed from brown and shades of brown to whites and blacks. Their ears became more of a lop ear than an erect ear. The horns that the wild sheep possessed were weakened and disappeared from many breeds. On the inside the sheep changed as well. These internal changes happened at both ends. The tails had less vertebrates, or bones than the sheep do now. Today's sheep also have a smaller brain than the sheep 12,000 years ago. Sheep were tamed for several uses that still apply today. The sheep were first used for meat, skins, milk and wool. Sheep are still used for these basic purposes plus many more. Sheep by-products are in many items that we use everyday. |
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