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Livestock raising, based on millions of head of sheep, goats, cattle, horses, and camels—often referred to as the “five animals” (tavan khoshuu mal) in Mongolia—accounts for some four-fifths of the value of agricultural production. Herding cooperatives (negdel) were first formed in the 1930s, but the main campaign by the revolutionary party to organize the livestock herders into large cooperatives took place in the years 1955–59, when most of the livestock belonged to the cooperatives. The cooperatives were disbanded during the democratic reforms, and private ownership of livestock was encouraged, although the pastures continued to belong to the state. The high market value of cashmere boosted the herding of goats, which became the most numerous of the five animals. Consequently, there was a considerable growth in the total size of the herds. The Tsaatan keep small herds of reindeer in the northern part of the country.
Only roughly 1 percent of Mongolia’s land area is used to grow crops. Production is concentrated in the wetter northern parts of the country, particularly in the broad lower valleys of the Orkhon and Selenge rivers. Because of the long cold winters, only a single annual crop is possible. About three-fourths of the cropland is sown with grains—primarily spring wheat but with some barley and oats—and the rest with potatoes, fodder crops, and such vegetables as cabbage and carrots. Yields are relatively low and vary greatly from year to year. In most provinces, hay is produced for feeding livestock in winter, and emergency stockpiles are maintained. During the socialist period, production of grains and vegetables was centred on the larger state farms, which also kept some livestock. These farms were disbanded in the 1990s and largely replaced by machinery-owning agricultural companies for grain production and private farmers for growing vegetables for the main urban areas.
Mongolia’s small logging sector produces a modest amount of timber annually that is used largely for firewood, with some lumber production. Likewise, a small quantity of freshwater fish is landed annually. There is no aquaculture.