Cull ewes (buying & selling)

Man_in_black

Member
Livestock Farmer
Now then

Can someone give me a quick idea on the process of Cull trade. Basically at the minute I have more grass than sheep to eat it (sorry!) So am thinking of buying in some culls, get bit of fat on them and sell. Of course I want to make a bit but mainly so grass doesn't get away from me.

So.....culls at market, avg £70 head, are these for finished culls? Is there a diffeence/separate sale of finished culls to those who need some extra, or just a case of hands on bcs and deciding yourself? Once finished is it best to take them back to mart or sell dead?

Or has anyone got any better ideas of what to do with grass before I get more replacement in September?

Any suggestions & advice appreciated.

Edit to add that I'd dedicate one field just for the culls/stores but if did eventually want to put my flock on that grazing again, how long after taking culls out could I guarantee grass was clean? Top it first?
 
Last edited:

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Now then

Can someone give me a quick idea on the process of Cull trade. Basically at the minute I have more grass than sheep to eat it (sorry!) So am thinking of buying in some culls, get bit of fat on them and sell. Of course I want to make a bit but mainly so grass doesn't get away from me.

So.....culls at market, avg £70 head, are these for finished culls? Is there a diffeence/separate sale of finished culls to those who need some extra, or just a case of hands on bcs and deciding yourself? Once finished is it best to take them back to mart or sell dead?

Or has anyone got any better ideas of what to do with grass before I get more replacement in September?

Any suggestions & advice appreciated.

Edit to add that I'd dedicate one field just for the culls/stores but if did eventually want to put my flock on that grazing again, how long after taking culls out could I guarantee grass was clean? Top it first?

All are included in the average in the mart, from death's door ones to wobbly fat ones. Anything from a fiver to £130+. You'd have to go and handle them yourselves, trying to pick some that wouldn't die on you, that were healthy enough to put condition on from grazing, and then hope the other buyers didn't stitch you up.

Now is about the dearest time of year for culls, so you'd be buying at the top of the market and selling after it had dropped.

Live or dead? Most of the dedicated dw lamb sellers I know, still take their culls to the live mart, if that helps.;)

As to when the ground would be clear if those culls brought anything in (and there will be more than a few aborted ewes in the marts at the moment), probably never IMO. Whether you think any potential profit is worth it, or are willing to take the risk, is down to you.

Personally, I'd let someone take an early silage cut, or top it.
 

shearerlad

Member
Livestock Farmer
Ewe hoggs , either keep or sell a gims ? old ewes with lambs at foot

Agree with that for ewe hoggs. Depending on location but a lot of hoggs just came out of retention period for hill Hogg scheme in Scotland. £15 or so cheaper than I expected. May be worth a look.

Edit 5 artic loads went south of the border from dingwall sale last Thursday. So plenty of buyers and haulage to get sheep south
 

Jim75

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Easter ross
Agree with that for ewe hoggs. Depending on location but a lot of hoggs just came out of retention period for hill Hogg scheme in Scotland. £15 or so cheaper than I expected. May be worth a look.

Edit 5 artic loads went south of the border from dingwall sale last Thursday. So plenty of buyers and haulage to get sheep south

Did they actually go for breeding though. Was only really 2 or 3 big buyers that day. I was after some cheap hoggs but came away empty handed
 

Wooly

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Romney Marsh
It would be a brave.....or stupid......man to buy cull ewes now and hope to sell them in a month or twos time for a profit.

This time of the year is normally the peak of the cull price.

Can you not mow your surplus grass or get a neighbour to put some ewes or lambs on it?
 

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
wrong time of year for culls , weaning from june onwards could get you some younger culls bit better priced , as above younger ewe hoggs might give a margin , to sell end of breeding season . tight margins though .
 

JD-Kid

Member
ummm seeing guys lambing now there should not be many culls about or someone spent alot keeping them
sounds a bit harsh but someone will be haveing a crap start with a lack of feed so there maybe a few ewes with lambs at foot worth a punt BUT you could be buying in a whole world of pain ..
better to stuff it in to your own ewes or look at the odd paddock or silage or renew some etc etc
 
ummm seeing guys lambing now there should not be many culls about or someone spent alot keeping them

You have to remember a lot of sheep are lambed inside over here so any ewes that have lost their lambs between scanning and lambing show up now, so you either sell them or turn them out.

The genuine empties will have been sold after scanning. A lot of culls now are aborted ewes.
 

JD-Kid

Member
You have to remember a lot of sheep are lambed inside over here so any ewes that have lost their lambs between scanning and lambing show up now, so you either sell them or turn them out.

The genuine empties will have been sold after scanning. A lot of culls now are aborted ewes.
good point .. if thats the case are you buying in even more probs of abortion carry ewes or ones on long med withholding which may make it hard or tricky to sell on in a short space of time
as we all know a cold snap late spring could slow grass down and what was too much grass can turn around in a few weeks
 

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