Changes in markets for lamb in livestock family farming in Brazil

•The main objective of sheep farming is the livelihood of family farmers.•The historical tradition in sheep breeding defines the breed to farm.•Main commercialization channel for lamb is informal individual sale.•The great challenge is securing a regular supply to make the sheep meat market viable. The global decline in the wool market has increased the importance of sheep meat markets, inducing changes in production systems, especially among family livestock farmers. In Brazil, this situation has a significant impact on the productive dynamics within smallholdings in the South of the country. Since little is known about the current configuration of these markets following such changes, this article is aimed at mapping the marketing channels accessed by family farmers to sell lambs, to understand the dynamics that guide these transactions. To this end, 39 interviews were carried out with family livestock farmers who breed sheep in southern Brazil, and, complementarily, 34 social actors participating in different sheep meat marketing channels were interviewed. The findings show that 74.4 % of family livestock farmers sell lambs or sheep meat using as their main marketing channels informal sales to individuals (38.5%), sales through farmers' associations (33.3%), and sales through either middlemen or livestock dealers (10.2%). Findings suggest that the family farmers’ choices do not follow the mainstream logic of supply and demand, and that one of the main challenges to the operation of this market is supply regularity, overcoming seasonality of breeding. It is possible to affirm that the former strength of the wool market remains rooted in the imaginary of family livestock farmers, a reference that justifies not only the persistence of this activity, but also the reduced interest in commercializing sheep for meat. The sheep meat market that could generate satisfactory income for the family farmer, appears as a space yet to be explored. Thus, research findings may help to better define actions and priorities regarding the fostering of the sheep meat market, especially regarding programs for organizing the production chain, building a regular supply and resignifying the activity among family farmers.