Mutton is so expensive, why do few people raise sheep in rural areas?

Mutton is a common but expensive meat in life. In the past, we often saw many sheep in the village, but now there are fewer and fewer.

Why are there many people who used to raise sheep, but now they are short of sheep? Although mutton is very valuable now, especially at home, it can be sold for fifty or sixty yuan a catty. It seems that killing a sheep can earn a lot, but it actually costs more. Raising sheep looks relaxed and free, but it actually takes a lot of time. Everyone who lives in the countryside knows that if you have a flock of sheep, you need to drive them to the mountains to eat grass every morning, and then come back at dusk, and someone will watch them, otherwise it will be easy to get lost.

Everyone who shepherds sheep in rural areas knows that sheep breeds in rural areas are impure, and most of them are very miscellaneous local sheep, which grow slowly and farmers are unwilling to buy feed. Sheep tend to eat grass. Sheep run fast and eat grass every day, which is unbearable for ordinary people all year round, and the loneliness in the process of herding sheep is also very strong.

The current situation in rural areas is that young people go out to work, leaving old people, women and children behind. These people are also the main force in raising sheep. Although part of the labor has been mechanized, it is semi-mechanized, and there is still a lot of work to be done. Raising sheep itself is a chore, and raising sheep is really tiring and hard. The price of sheep will change in a few days, and the injury and death of sheep from other places is no longer news. There is a saying among the people that "the family wealth is rich, but the hairy ones don't count", because no matter how many sheep may disappear overnight, coupled with the low price of sheep in recent years, the herdsmen's hearts are cold one after another and they can't get excited!

Because the cost of raising sheep is high, but the return profit is very small, so more and more people no longer raise sheep.