Friend of mine is thinking of getting into sheep to supplement her farm income. She pastures steers as well. How is the sheep market? Is there any market for the wool?
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Sheep market
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coopslave
Swamp Hen
LynBar Ranch
7 posters
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2 Re: Sheep market Thu Dec 27, 2012 5:49 pm
Swamp Hen
Active Member
I`ve got absolutly no authority on the subject, but last I heard the market for meat sheep, but more especially goat meat was doing quite well down east due to large populations of immigrant decent who are used to eating those types of meat. Wool, I got no idea, but I`d take a new sweater 
3 Re: Sheep market Thu Dec 27, 2012 7:18 pm
LynBar Ranch
Active Member
We used to breed Boer goats in Eastern Ontario and couldn't keep up to the demand, but wasn't sure what it was like here. We used to have people meet us at the farm as well. Sheep/goat meat was 75% of the red meat consumed, BUT again, I don't know what the market is here. I would *think it would be good and increasing due to all the new Canadians in the area.
Where she is, is cattle country of course and frowned upon.
Where she is, is cattle country of course and frowned upon.
4 Re: Sheep market Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:35 pm
coopslave
Golden Member
I am not sure what it is like here, but there was a saying in Australia.
"Cattle for show, sheep for dough."
"Cattle for show, sheep for dough."
5 Re: Sheep market Fri Dec 28, 2012 7:05 am
R. Roo
Active Member
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Last edited by R. Roo on Mon Feb 18, 2013 12:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
6 Re: Sheep market Fri Dec 28, 2012 8:02 am
bckev
Addicted Member
R. Roo wrote:last year lambs sold for $200 each, 80-100 lbs, these are approximate numbers-it gets too complicated. This year we are lucky if we can get over $100 each. So, if your friend is investing cash tell them to be careful. Many many people got suckered into buying infrastructure for what was supposed to be a lucrative opportunity. haha so sad too bad eh? If all I wanted, now , was money Id turf these critters in less than a heartbeat, once again it is in the hands of those who can reap the profit through large operations. To get what I feel is a fair price for my lambs I have to fight with all the BS involved with selling on kijiji and other sketchy sites. Lets just say for all this demand we hear about all I see is a group of people who want to slaughter their own lamb, on my land yet, ILLEGALLY! Thats where the money is around these parts, otherwise I do all this work for what?$20? profit if I am careful, Im supposed to save up all those $20 bills to pay for what, You try finding infrastructure for $20 bills...you need lotss n lotss of em.
Wool? More work? for What? there is a worldwide glut.
There is one company down east that wants control of the whole market to create the canadian brand lamb (think ab beef). They will give you munny, they will buy your lambs but you have to buy a quota from them for each and every lamb ($30 each). The consumer they all talk about apparently will not buy lamb at retail prices if we get paid the $200 per lamb, there are limits to what people will pay for food and lets face it canadians are cheap by necessity.
So, consumer wont pay high prices, the real demand is for illeagally slaughtered lambs, big biz is buying up what you need to operate and increasing costs for producers, The drought in the US threw this market upside down by dumping their livestock...it goes on a bit. Ive tried everything I could think of this year to recoup the prices we need for this to make sense, nothing worked at all without spending another boat load of munny.
My opinion is that if I can not get a minimum of $150 per lamb at auction they are better off rotting in the fields. They dont mind you, it seems Ive become attached...dammit! LAMBS ARE EVIL!
It isn't illegal for them to buy a live lamb from you and slaughter it themselves.
7 Re: Sheep market Fri Dec 28, 2012 8:30 am
honeybrook
Active Member
I know that mom sold lambs this year for half of last year, some are blaming the drought in the states but i know the price she received this year you cant make a living off of but they should go back up i hope
8 Re: Sheep market Fri Dec 28, 2012 9:43 am
R. Roo
Active Member
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Last edited by R. Roo on Mon Feb 18, 2013 12:15 pm; edited 1 time in total
9 Re: Sheep market Fri Dec 28, 2012 12:05 pm
Hidden River
Golden Member
I have a smaller flock and have had good luck selling in the last couple years. I sell mostly replacement breeding stock, from good lines and with specific qualities I like in my breed of sheep.
The ones that do not make breeding stock go to slaughter, I prefer to sell the lambs privately and deliver them to the butcher of the buyers choice, therefore eliminating the possibility of my non breeding stock to end up breeding.
I set my price and many have no problems paying it.
The flood of US lambs did drop the prices later this year, the spring/summer prices were very good in my opinion at close to $2 per lb but dropped considerably by the fall sales. I am hoping to see prices up again this spring.
We try not to put a lot of "inputs" into our sheep, that is why we chose a hardy breed. They only get grain (which we have to purchase) before lambing and after for the first month of feeding, then they are turned out to nice hay fields for the rest of the spring/summer/fall.
We only feed hay in the winter, which we grow ourselves, so that helps to eliminate some costs.
If a person has good fencing, good predator control and lots of "free food" then yes sheep can be a good market, but like all livestock there are going to be ups and downs, you just have to go with them. I find it is good to diversify your stock, because when one is down the other is usually up.
The ones that do not make breeding stock go to slaughter, I prefer to sell the lambs privately and deliver them to the butcher of the buyers choice, therefore eliminating the possibility of my non breeding stock to end up breeding.
I set my price and many have no problems paying it.
The flood of US lambs did drop the prices later this year, the spring/summer prices were very good in my opinion at close to $2 per lb but dropped considerably by the fall sales. I am hoping to see prices up again this spring.
We try not to put a lot of "inputs" into our sheep, that is why we chose a hardy breed. They only get grain (which we have to purchase) before lambing and after for the first month of feeding, then they are turned out to nice hay fields for the rest of the spring/summer/fall.
We only feed hay in the winter, which we grow ourselves, so that helps to eliminate some costs.
If a person has good fencing, good predator control and lots of "free food" then yes sheep can be a good market, but like all livestock there are going to be ups and downs, you just have to go with them. I find it is good to diversify your stock, because when one is down the other is usually up.
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