£91 to raise a fat lamb???

[Derrick Hughes]

Are these the same ewes as you kept at almost 5/acre? No feed, no fert and run by one man? I'm impressed.

What types were they?

Draft Ewes bought in North Wales for £2-50 each and claimed £30 sub on 3 months latter, put them to a Suffolk Tup and kept the X breed lambs , they were wintered on roots, along with the £10 i got for the lambs I done ok until I deducted my wage of £100/hour

 

[Six Dogs]

Well from someone who does not get a SFP I think I have a fair handle on our costs,I believe it does cost £60 + to cover the cost of production.
We run 1000 ewes of our own not paying high rents,our family income is topped up with contract managing our landlords 600 ewes

 

[Grassman]

I wonder if those who don't put a value on their land would do the same with a house they bought in 1960 for 10k. Can I rent it for £5 a week please?

 

[Bury the Trash]

i know that too well! All zealot, own boss, work in the most beautiful place on earth (sorry j boycott moment) but having as much money for your family to spend as their peers do??

yep, unless they got more about them than to worry about what others have got.20 quid phone instead of i phone still gets the text out.Mind you ,could always sell mole skins to supplement

 

[IH 684]

So your hay selling business is subsidising your sheep. If you costed your own use hay more honestly at just cop, your hay selling business is actually earning more.

The hay the sheep eat is basically a waste product, if I didn't keep sheep I would give it away as it is not worth the hassle of selling it just to recover delivery costs

 

[andybk]

They know what it costs you don't worry about that. They won't know what exactly each farm is costing but they know roughly because they have people to advise them on this

yes am well aware of that , but plenty of others read this forum , some policy makers , A while ago eblex did similar costings and theirs were similar , so when someone wants a quick reference (maybe from a support industry looking to see how much we will pay for a product ) they reach for what they assume is the industry bodies info , all im saying is don't undermine our cost base .
As above we value our own time and other investments very poorly .

 

[Jackov Altraids]

I think everyone is correct to a point, the figures are bent to fit your own situation.
All you need to know is that supermarkets and multi-nationals do not farm. There is no money in it. Or if there is, it's not worth taking the risks when they know there are plenty of other mugs willing to do it.
Unless you are 'factory farming' , it is pretty much impossible to have an exact COP as every factor is variable and open to interpretation.
Somebody buying ewe lambs last year to sell shearlings this year won't have earnt a huge amount but may not be too much different if calculated as how many ewe lambs it will buy this year.
I've just bought 12 month old heifers, to calve in 18 months, to sell fat cattle in 4 years time. Try calculating a cost for that.

 

[Bury the Trash]

The hay the sheep eat is basically a waste product, if I didn't keep sheep I would give it away as it is not worth the hassle of selling it just to recover delivery costs

Good well made hay is never wasted! better luck with the weather? or maybe just technique

 

[CopperBeech]

Earlier in the year, I put up a similar thread, where folk were saying that they were 'losing' £20 per lamb produced. . . . . .

There's going to be a few interesting years ahead that's for sure. Hopefully there will be a lot of people leaving the industry, and hopefully all of the land they utilise will come on the market (for sale and rent) and the rest of us who survived will be able to forge ahead. . . . . . it's not nice getting to where you want to be over the bodies of the fallen . . . . . .but that's life. Life aint fair and it never has been. . . . . .

I noticed someone earlier on saying that £100 an acre is 'fair' rent, and FT is always banging on about getting £1 per head per week for tack. . . . . . . its stuff like this thats driven the cost of production up for so many. A fool and their money are easily parted!

Coupled with the raping of farmers by the supermarkets and its a pretty grim picture!

However. . . . . it still doesn't cost me £91 to raise a lamb. . . . . or even £71. And i'm pretty good with my COP.

 

[Six Dogs]

Very difficult to bench mark cop,what I was saying is that our only source of income was from our sheep business.This has to pay house insurance,kids clubs,food fuel etc,some mask over these as sheep are part time or partner works and pays a few bills

 

[Derrick Hughes]

No one forces anyone to pay a £ a head for tack anymore than they force anyone tp spend £90 producing a lamb, I would think the only way forward for lamb producers is fixed price contracts there on you can do your costings before you start, the other way about is financial madness surly

 

[Henarar]

Very difficult to bench mark cop,what I was saying is that our only source of income was from our sheep business.This has to pay house insurance,kids clubs,food fuel etc,some mask over these as sheep are part time or partner works and pays a few bills

the sheep may have to pay all that but its not a cop, after all its not the sheeps fault you couldn't keep your knickers on

 

[Henarar]

No one forces anyone to pay a £ a head for tack anymore than they force anyone tp spend £90 producing a lamb, I would think the only way forward for lamb producers is fixed price contacts there on you can do your costings before you start, the other way about is financial madness surly

its called farming

 

[Grassman]

Just looking on the Macro mail leaflet.

Whole British Lamb Pack
Minimum weight 13.5 km
£68.99
Have it prepared by your in store butcher.

 

[Grassman]

Kg not km!

 

[Bury the Trash]

Difficult to quantify - but does anyone ever try to put a monetary value on the way sheep maintain a healthy /fertile farm ie the old balance of wheat/sheep flock.

 

[polk_farmer]

No one forces anyone to pay a £ a head for tack anymore than they force anyone tp spend £90 producing a lamb, I would think the only way forward for lamb producers is fixed price contracts there on you can do your costings before you start, the other way about is financial madness surly

We had some words with a supermarket buyer back in the summer about rubbish lamb price and importing nz lamb, etc ,etc. And he said as we were forward looking young farmers we could have talks with them about a fixed price contract.......but in return they would want to see our COP in detail. Surely thats a slippery slope

 

[Henarar]

We had some words with a supermarket buyer back in the summer about rubbish lamb price and importing nz lamb, etc ,etc. And he said as we were forward looking young farmers we could have talks with them about a fixed price contract.......but in return they would want to see our COP in detail. Surely thats a slippery slope

Good luck with that

 

[Jackson4]

yep, unless they got more about them than to worry about what others have got.20 quid phone instead of i phone still gets the text out.Mind you ,could always sell mole skins to supplement

Well i've found a niche market along with the dozen black rabbits. easily pleased.

 

[polk_farmer]

Good luck with that

Ha yea, didn't bother with it