Beef / Lamb & Pig Price Tracker

[mghley]

Good heavens that ages you to my era. Yes Les Wade was a great auctioneer and so was Doug Kitchin,
Babs and Steve were old school drovers and then of course there were the Goddens.

Les Wade was very generous with his knowledge and very highly respected auctioneer . Old school drovers that don’t seem to be around anymore.
Remember them selling up to 200 Cade lambs individually on a market day and folks coming down from London to buy them.
Was it Jimmy Godden who used to one of the buyers, always came across to me as a hard man.

 

[livestock 1]

Is it the deterioration in the land or that the people that did the work have gone, or both?

I can remember (Just) when there were sheep on Romney Marsh and there were some enormous flocks of up to 5,000 ewes looked after by a team of shepherds who all had there 600 plus ewes and did all the work.
There were four two day sales in Ashford market in the Autumn with over 20 thousand sheep in the two days on each of them. Then there were all the local Fairs, every village would have one with up to 3 or 4 thousand sheep.
Thousands of 2 year old Romney x Southdowns were kept and shorn for the wool and killed in the following May/June.

The hauliers hardly ever slept in the pre tachograph days and there were great stories of the open topped 3 deckers that before air suspension looked terrible things to drive and to load!!

Ah yes the good old days!!

The sheep just aren’t there. The grouse shooting fret eternity and natural England have altered things immensely. Most fell flocks of Swale ewes have seriously reduced or gone. I used to sell between 2 and 300 draft ewes and could still sustain my inbye flock to go to the Leicester.
Now I have to buy some as acceptable numbers of fell ewes to fit grazing ‘rules’ means massive reductions. Fell rights are in fact the right to graze but if overgrazing is claimed by the experts or peat exposure seemingly caused by sheep (not) then it’s a decision which is one with your arm twisted behind your back. Many moors have restrictions imposed on vehicular access and feeding so keeping sheep on these areas is unacceptable.
Inbye land isn’t as good as it used to be after the big push in the 80’s to improve then the scheme’s of the 00’s to low inputs.
What we are talking about is very relevant as selling ewes at £10 doesn’t add up but scheme money does hence the uptake at the time.
I don’t think many are in the mind to go back to numbers bar a few exceptions

 

[andybk]

Probably increasing in more arable areas and declining in the hills, same with suckler cows.

I think that will accelerate as time goes on , my landlord has been to meetings where arable under elms will get paid to plant catch crops for winter , will prob be easycare / exlana types though put to a good terminal if they farm it themselves , cant see really how the hills can compete with wintering cost etc , but maybe lamb and sell as store / ewe lambs like it used to be .

 

[Woolless]

I think that will accelerate as time goes on , my landlord has been to meetings where arable under elms will get paid to plant catch crops for winter , will prob be easycare / exlana types though put to a good terminal if they farm it themselves , cant see really how the hills can compete with wintering cost etc , but maybe lamb and sell as store / ewe lambs like it used to be .

That's how it should be really. Store lambs produced by poor, humble stockmen in the hills and sold on so the arable lads get the easy/lucrative part they can cope with over the winter

 

[livestock 1]

That's how it should be really. Store lambs produced by poor, humble stockmen in the hills and sold on so the arable lads get the easy/lucrative part they can cope with over the winter

I’ve often thought I rent ground that can grow crops to put sheep on while the fell they are meant to be living on stands empty
Makes little sense
My uncle reckons I should buy another farm to send stock down to

 

[Anymulewilldo]

I’ve often thought I rent ground that can grow crops to put sheep on while the fell they are meant to be living on stands empty
Makes little sense
My uncle reckons I should buy another farm to send stock down to

My dad has commented we ought too buy a fell farm so I don’t need too buy so many lambs. Breed up there and then send down here. I slapped him until the idea left his head…

 

[livestock 1]

My dad has commented we ought too buy a fell farm so I don’t need too buy so many lambs. Breed up there and then send down here. I slapped him until the idea left his head…

So you should!!
I was buying some small lambs one November and a billy big time buyer said‘you are paying less for them than what it’s cost to produce them’ well that’s the whole idea I said!

 

[andybk]

That's how it should be really. Store lambs produced by poor, humble stockmen in the hills and sold on so the arable lads get the easy/lucrative part they can cope with over the winter

AS it always was , till they got paid for set aside and oilseed revenue , didnt need the sheep for that extra income , though they lost the fertility

 

[hill shepherd]

Ok trade at Lazonby today I suppose but nowt to het excited about. I had 80 mules £69 all twins maybe 34/35 kg. Other bigger mule lambs £74-£77. We've kept some bigger singles at home for another day

 

[livestock 1]

Ok trade at Lazonby today I suppose but nowt to het excited about. I had 80 mules £69 all twins maybe 34/35 kg. Other bigger mule lambs £74-£77. We've kept some bigger singles at home for another day

What’s your general thoughts about the job?

 

[copse]

Any news on finished lamb prices today?

 

[neilo]

What’s your general thoughts about the job?

@hill shepherd thought you and @Anymulewilldo were coming along to drive the trade up as expected, so he was likely disappointed not to see you both there…

 

[Estate fencing.]

Store lambs down here a good trade today. We had 90 Suffolk cross mules and beltex cross Suffolk’s, they averaged £89, they where good lambs but not killable. But the real star of the show where the culls, had 12 fit mules that I thought might make £100 but made £120, the extra paid for the commission on the lambs and my breakfast.

 

[JSmith]

Store lambs down here a good trade today. We had 90 Suffolk cross mules and beltex cross Suffolk’s, they averaged £89, they where good lambs but not killable. But the real star of the show where the culls, had 12 fit mules that I thought might make £100 but made £120, the extra paid for the commission on the lambs and my breakfast.

Where was that at? Did you go to honeybourne how was that??

 

[lloyd]

I’ve often thought I rent ground that can grow crops to put sheep on while the fell they are meant to be living on stands empty
Makes little sense
My uncle reckons I should buy another farm to send stock down to

Why not must be a few million in the job at the moment.

 

[hill shepherd]

What’s your general thoughts about the job?

A fortnight since I'd of thought those lambs would of been £7/£8 more but after reading comments on here about trade this week its about what I was expecting, can't say I'm not a touch disappointed though. Alot of folk were saying they thought trade was £2 up on the same sale last year, we had lambs at £73 & £68 last year but we kept the stronger ones at home today so suppose we were £1 up

 

[Estate fencing.]

Where was that at? Did you go to honeybourne how was that??

It was at Cirencester. Yeah I went to honeybourne, the lambs where a good trade, someone had a big run 600/700 lambs that where nice bred but most a long way off, they averaged £94. Not may lambs at all under £75 and what where you wouldn’t want. But most lambs a credit to the venders and got the trade they deserved.

 

[livestock 1]

Why not must be a few million in the job at the moment.

Yes why not but where do you stop??

 

[livestock 1]

A fortnight since I'd of thought those lambs would of been £7/£8 more but after reading comments on here about trade this week its about what I was expecting, can't say I'm not a touch disappointed though. Alot of folk were saying they thought trade was £2 up on the same sale last year, we had lambs at £73 & £68 last year but we kept the stronger ones at home today so suppose we were £1 up

Just how it goes i suppose. Worst bit is there’s been so much speculation about the trade being well up and the job drops at the critical time.
£1 up makes it less than last year when you look at breeding sheep prices, feed and long winter no spring

 

[livestock 1]

@hill shepherd thought you and @Anymulewilldo were coming along to drive the trade up as expected, so he was likely disappointed not to see you both there…

If @hill shepherd seen us two roll up he would likely think they were going to be cheap!!!