Future and problems, current state of sheep meat production in Turkey, European countries and the world

In this study; It is aimed to compare the present situation of sheep meat production in the world with the European countries and Turkey. The material of the work shoop is composed of master's and doctoral theses written about this subject and various articles and collections published in domestic and foreign source. The world sheep number is 1.195 million heads as of 2013 and has the highest sheep populations in continental Asia. World sheep meat production is 8960 thousand tons. Asia has the highest sheep/lamb meat production. The average sheep/lamb meat consumption in the world is 1.91 kg. In the EU (27) countries sheep number were 83470 million as of 2014. Britain is the country with the highest sheep. The highest sheep/lamb meat production in the EU (27) countries is in Britain with 298 thousand tons. In the EU (27) countries, lamb meat consumption is the highest, while in the country 12 kg is Greece. In Turkey, the number of slaughtered sheep is 4083 thousand heads, sheep meat production is 82485 thousand tons, the average carcass weight is 20.19 kg. The average consumption of sheep / lamb meat per capita is 1.7 kg. New agriculture and animal husbandry policies need to be developed at regional and national level in order to resolve the recent increases in red meat prices in our country. As a result; Imports must be acted with the awareness that it is not absolutely the right solution for our country, and precautions must be taken to protect small ruminant breeders in necessary situations.