Raising cattle is an activity of paramount importance. The rich natural potential for agriculture in Romania contrasts with the low level of economic performance in the animal breeding sector. Thus, raising cattle has become an increasingly unprofitable occupation in Romania, especially among the owners of small farms . Romania had merely a total of 1977232 heads in 2018 (-63,25%), compared to 5380780 heads in 1990. This paper presents the cattle market in Romania between 1990-2018. In order to carry out this research, the number of cattle were analyzed. The data were collected from the National Institute of Statistics and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. In order to better highlight the dynamics of the sector, numerous specialized journals, books, studies and reports were consulted. At the same time, the analysis of the distribution of cattle according to the development regions is presented. In the European Union there are many small animal farms, but in Romania there are the smallest farms in the European Union]. Our country must take advantage of every opportunity to turn cattle farms into producer associations in order to be competitive on the Union market and aim, first and foremost, to diversify production and to make farms profitable. Increasing the competitiveness of this sector through innovation is essential]. Also, a better objective description of the goods and services derived from animal husbandry is necessary. The period analyzed was divided into two intervals: 1990-2006 pre-accession to the EU and 2007-2018 - post-accession to the EU. As a result of the analysis made, it concluded that there are no statistically significant differences between the two analyzed periods. Also, it was observed that after a sharp decrease in the number of cattle between 1990 and 2010, there was a stabilization of this indicator as a result of the subsidies received per animal and the access of European funds by farmers

cattle, livestock, Romania, statistical analysis, development regions

field crops and pastures

Presentation: poster