Ram costs

Sendhelp

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Scotland
What has everyone spent on a ram? i am on my second Tupping and have heard two schools of thought. You buy cheaper or from the fat ring and run them then sale the ram( if bad) or you buy a more expensive quality breeding accredited tup and keep for few years. What is everyone's opinion on this i am puzzled?
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
I once viewed a farm and was discussing the ingoings with the retiring tenant, who was thinking he might sell me his sheep too. He was very proud of his (Suffolk) rams and the fact he’d never spent more than £140.

You could certainly see it in his lambs.🤐

That said, you can buy some rubbish for a lot of money too.
 

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
buy from the fat / cull ring you ask for all you get lol , had a new customer lately who said all 3 of his texels he bought last year are throwing pig mouths and wont finish , these are destined for the cull pens , im in absolutely no doubt they will be bought for breeding as they are very good shaped rams , by someone who likes a bargain.
, you need to buy from the right place , someone who has done their job right means you will get 5+ years of good lambs and a high % that fall in the right spec and grow quick , this doesnt mean highly fed wobblers at mart , when you see the next pen of good fat lambs ask where they source their rams will tell you a lot

A good ram say costing £500 , at say easy 50 ewes a year , will sire 375 lambs over 5 years @ 150% , works out at £1.30 a lamb , not much really for a fat lamb worth around £100 conservatively, click costs as much these days , and he will still be worth £100 as a cull , Thats why its important to find the right breeder because if that ram lasts 1 year and dies because the liver or kidneys are fkd from over feeding , your looking at £6.66 a lamb .
 
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Tim W

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Wiltshire
Pay your money & take your chances
I had a call from someone who had bought an (alleged) Exlana ram wanting a refund as it hadn't got any ewes in lamb.
Turned out he had bought it from a dealer who had got it from the cull pen at mart...it was there because it was a teaser with only a few teeth left but neither the dealer or the complaining farmer had thought to check that 😁 ...the big red X on it's back should have been a hint 😜
 

Ysgythan

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Ammanford
What has everyone spent on a ram? i am on my second Tupping and have heard two schools of thought. You buy cheaper or from the fat ring and run them then sale the ram( if bad) or you buy a more expensive quality breeding accredited tup and keep for few years. What is everyone's opinion on this i am puzzled?
Got 4 ram lambs I’m running as shearlings that will be the second type, and three I’m culling that will be the first type. You’re the boss, take your pick…
 

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
Pay your money & take your chances
I had a call from someone who had bought an (alleged) Exlana ram wanting a refund as it hadn't got any ewes in lamb.
Turned out he had bought it from a dealer who had got it from the cull pen at mart...it was there because it was a teaser with only a few teeth left but neither the dealer or the complaining farmer had thought to check that 😁 ...the big red X on it's back should have been a hint 😜
Cheapskate fkrs deserve all they get ,
 
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Farmer_Joe

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
The North
You can get decent accredited rams for sensible money,

got them at Skipton,

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The cheaper one was just wet from night before and not quite as toned but he’s a real nice long good tup, why risk sh!t for a few hindered extra
 
Location
Cumbria
I seem to spend around 10 fat lambs on a shearling tup,so this year 1000.I could get cheaper and maybe not get much less for my fat lambs but I do think it is worthwhile, and on the other side if I was breeding a decent tup wouldn’t want to keep it for 18 months and then sell it for 200 and give a warranty for 6 months .
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
I seem to spend around 10 fat lambs on a shearling tup,so this year 1000.I could get cheaper and maybe not get much less for my fat lambs but I do think it is worthwhile, and on the other side if I was breeding a decent tup wouldn’t want to keep it for 18 months and then sell it for 200 and give a warranty for 6 months .

I’ve suggested the ‘10 fat lambs’ model to a few on-farm buyers this year, which always led to silence while they tried to work out if I was being serious…

How anyone can justify £1000+ for a crossing ram is beyond me, and that’s from someone breeding & selling them!
 
Location
Cumbria
I’ve suggested the ‘10 fat lambs’ model to a few on-farm buyers this year, which always led to silence while they tried to work out if I was being serious…

How anyone can justify £1000+ for a crossing ram is beyond me, and that’s from someone breeding & selling them!
I don’t need to justify it but if I’m keeping my own replacements I want to look at a field of ewes and rams that I like.I admit it might not make the best financial sense but then what in farming does.
 

Farmer_Joe

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
The North
As said in other post not accredited crosses were more in other ring, I don’t ‘ get it’ my self, I often ponder that farmers think they will be cheaper in there so head for that ring it always much more busy in there?
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
I don’t need to justify it but if I’m keeping my own replacements I want to look at a field of ewes and rams that I like.I admit it might not make the best financial sense but then what in farming does.

I can fully understand it if you’re breeding replacements off them, those genetics influence more than one generation in that case.👍

Spending that sort of money on a ram to ‘just’ produce finished lambs gets more questionable though imo. Plenty round here do it still, but usually as they want their neighbours to see them doing so.🤐
 

Anymulewilldo

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Cheshire
I can fully understand it if you’re breeding replacements off them, those genetics influence more than one generation in that case.👍

Spending that sort of money on a ram to ‘just’ produce finished lambs gets more questionable though imo. Plenty round here do it still, but usually as they want their neighbours to see them doing so.🤐
Yeah… I’ve never followed the over 1k for a tup to just produce finished lambs (nearly put fat lambs there, close escape) ours are anywhere from 450-800 depending on the type of tup. Mostly between 5-650. I see the blokes who pay big money for the xb tups and there lambs aren’t that different too my homebred lambs…
 

Jockers84

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Caithness
Buy decent well grown tup lambs @ £200-£300, run them on the ewes then sell them as shearlings turning a profit. It’s a step away from the engrained mindset of accepting that tups make a loss - be it a cheap nasty one or a very expensive one.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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