The branch of Russian sheep breeding has always been an integral part of the national economy. Sheep breeding provides the market with wool, meat, sheepskin, astrakhan fur, and in some regions with milk. The industry's products are considered, perhaps, the most environmentally friendly, since the breeding and rearing of livestock require the presence of spacious pastures, the world potential of which is almost exhausted, which gives Russia an exceptional advantage in the development of this area. However, today the industry is not even able to satisfy the needs of the Russian lamb market. According to the World Health Organization, the norm of lamb meat consumption should be 5 kg per person per year, while at the same time, Russian consumption statistics show that in our country the average consumption is no more than 1.5 kg per year. Russians prefer poultry meat to a greater extent. The industry is faced with the task of transforming and developing the Russian market by changing the perception of this type of meat by consumers, creating an attractive image of the product and its physical accessibility. In the structure of world meat production, the share of lamb in the volume of other types of meat is only 4.5%, and the share of Russian imports is about 5%.
In the regional structure of Russian lamb production, the output is mainly concentrated in three regions: in the Moscow Region (30%), Stavropol Krai (27%) and the Republic of Dagestan (25%). The state is interested in the development of the sheep breeding industry and is implementing extensive measures to support this direction. In 2021, more than 2 billion rubles are allocated for sheep and goat breeding. A new measure has been introduced - compensation for part of the costs of producing sheep and goat meat at a rate per 1 kg of live weight. The farmers have access to preferential investment loans for construction, reconstruction, technical re-equipment and modernization of facilities for the primary processing of wool, storage facilities, as well as for the purchase of machinery and equipment. Effective measures will lead to the transition of the industry to vertical integration and industrialization. A large share of production will move from the private sector to the peasant farm sector. In turn, peasant farms will come to realize the need for integration into consumer cooperatives with their processing and sale. The high level of quality and information capacity of accounting information will largely ensure the intensity and efficiency of the development of sheep-breeding organizations, which determined the choice of the research direction.