High price rams bad publicity

[CharcoalWally]

Out of interest what did the Dalmally Cast ewes average ?

The Blackie cast ewes at Dalmally averaged roughly £46 .

What skews the average is that several of the Cheviot lots were younger ewes - there were several lots of 4yo ewes sold. Age for age they would have been about £10 below the BF ewes.

I would have said £15 + when I was watching the sale, but trade clearly dropped after I left.

 

[Hilly]

The Blackie cast ewes at Dalmally averaged roughly £46 .

What skews the average is that several of the Cheviot lots were younger ewes - there were several lots of 4yo ewes sold. Age for age they would have been about £10 below the BF ewes.

I would have said £15 + when I was watching the sale, but trade clearly dropped after I left.

Tough going for all at them prices.

 

[Davy McCracken]

@Davy McCracken should be able to tell you more about the practicalities.

There's a thread on DNA Parentage Testing in the Livestock forum:
https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?posts/5604578/

 

[Top Tip.]

Will any genetics do that on a hard hill that gets 2.5m of rain per annum

I believe there is a reason why a lot if these farms don't have higher performing genetics, the environment will struggle to sustain them.

They can do it,how do I know this,because we used to breed them 30 odd years ago using a mix of north and south genetics on a farm that could get up to 120 inches of rain a year.

 

[Top Tip.]

A quick look at a store report from the last week or two shows Blackie lambs averaging a fair bit more than £30.

So are these folk just stupid? Maybe not. Blackie cast ewes at Dalmally were averaging comfortably £15 - £20 over the Cheviot entry. That will be factored in.

The sales I have been too £30 would be being generous. The reason blackie ewes have been such a strong trade in some centres this backend is because so many of them died last spring you know as well as I do that it is very unusual for blackie ewes to be a stronger trade than cheviot ewes.

 

[CharcoalWally]

The sales I have been too £30 would be being generous. The reason blackie ewes have been such a strong trade in some centres this backend is because so many of them died last spring you know as well as I do that it is very unusual for blackie ewes to be a stronger trade than cheviot ewes.

I know very well that Blackie ewes are always a stronger trade in some centres than Cheviots, and the other way round in others , so keep your perspective.

Let me take you back to your own posting about wintering hoggs on roots, where you asked other people to respect differences of opinion on the matter.

Perhaps you're just going to have to remember this , and that you cant force other people to think the same as you.

 

[CharcoalWally]

Tough going for all at them prices.

You're not kidding. Kinda makes you feel we shouldn't be arguing amongst ourselves about silly breed arguments. .....

 

[Top Tip.]

I know very well that Blackie ewes are always a stronger trade in some centres than Cheviots, and the other way round in others , so keep your perspective.

Let me take you back to your own posting about wintering hoggs on roots, where you asked other people to respect differences of opinion on the matter.

Perhaps you're just going to have to remember this , and that you cant force other people to think the same as you.

I certainly hope you didn’t find my post disrespectful as in no way was that my intention. I know that there will always be differences of opinions about breeds but as someone who has bred both I suppose I am a bit like the ex smoker who can’t understand why people still smoke I am a bit like that with blackies I struggle to understand why people stick with them.That is why I enjoy the debate on here as I like to find out other people’s perspectives.

 

[Hilly]

You're not kidding. Kinda makes you feel we shouldn't be arguing amongst ourselves about silly breed arguments. .....

Im finding agriculture quite depressing at the moment, we need some good news as all summer just been one round of bad news after the other, first decent summer weather for decades and its caused nothing but trouble lol

 

[Farmer Keith]

I’ve been performance recording the blackfaced flock here and I’m finding it difficult when I go to the mart to buy rams, it’s hard to see the superior genetics without as the biggest rams are often the ones stuffed full of feed that never do once you get them back on the farm. Oh and feet, all of us need to actively breed for better feet.

Ultimately lamb is exceptionally expensive on the supermarket shelf so we as sheep farmers have to produce it cheaper, Rams grown on concentrate cannot be the answer, this certainly isn’t a problem unique to one breed though it’s more to do with the culture around tup breeding in the uk and our over reliance on the show ring to market our stock.

 

[Ysgythan]

but trade clearly dropped after I left.

Wow! Are you like a barometer for industry confidence?

 

[CharcoalWally]

Wow! Are you like a barometer for industry confidence?

It's all the people who followed me out looking for a snappy quote on the future. ...

 

[Ysgythan]

Ultimately lamb is exceptionally expensive on the supermarket shelf so we as sheep farmers have to produce it cheaper

That’s one theory.

Another one is that lamb is exceptionally cheap on the supermarket shelf, especially Blackie wethers, as lamb is an entirely renewable resource, turning wild vegetation into protein and fibre, allowing the uplands to be populated, managed for water, wildlife and carbon sequestration and that Supermarkets and eco-warrior vegans are wrecking the value of a superb product.

Now, if we collaborate by focusing purely on costs, rather than in improving the product and it’s story then we play onto their hands.

In other words, your COP is fine tuning. In a post Brexit, post support world we better get better at getting our message across and producing excellent meat, not just any old lambs.

 

[Macsky]

I’ve been performance recording the blackfaced flock here and I’m finding it difficult when I go to the mart to buy rams, it’s hard to see the superior genetics without as the biggest rams are often the ones stuffed full of feed that never do once you get them back on the farm. Oh and feet, all of us need to actively breed for better feet.

Ultimately lamb is exceptionally expensive on the supermarket shelf so we as sheep farmers have to produce it cheaper, Rams grown on concentrate cannot be the answer, this certainly isn’t a problem unique to one breed though it’s more to do with the culture around tup breeding in the uk and our over reliance on the show ring to market our stock.

So you want to deflate the price of lamb? How far back should we go? 70’s? 60’s maybe?

 

[dogandstick]

That’s one theory.

Another one is that lamb is exceptionally cheap on the supermarket shelf, especially Blackie wethers, as lamb is an entirely renewable resource, turning wild vegetation into protein and fibre, allowing the uplands to be populated, managed for water, wildlife and carbon sequestration and that Supermarkets and eco-warrior vegans are wrecking the value of a superb product.

Now, if we collaborate by focusing purely on costs, rather than in improving the product and it’s story then we play onto their hands.

In other words, your COP is fine tuning. In a post Brexit, post support world we better get better at getting our message across and producing excellent meat, not just any old lambs.

Well said. I’m afraid these specialty schemes dreamt up by the supermarkets are only designed to divide and conquer, just as happened in the dairy industry. Don’t know who you are Ysgythan, but I reckon you should be a leader and negotiator for the farming industry.

 

[Farmer Keith]

It’s nice that you think it’s cheap but 9/10 shoppers buy on price do they not? Chicken and other proteins are difficult to compete with, we can certainly improve the way we market our product but that lamb sales as a whole are contracting at a rate of around 5% YOY. I just can’t see how the price can go up and we expect consumers to keep buying it.

 

[Farmer Keith]

So you want to deflate the price of lamb? How far back should we go? 70’s? 60’s maybe?

Sorry I wasn’t very clear I was meaning I can’t see them charging a higher price and still selling it, so if we want to improve our margin we have to reduce costs but maintain output.

 

[Macsky]

Sorry I wasn’t very clear I was meaning I can’t see them charging a higher price and still selling it, so if we want to improve our margin we have to reduce costs but maintain output.

Sorry, I was being a bit facetious there, but there has to be money in the job, especially if you’re wanting a younger generation encouraged into it, whether it be by subsidy or increased prices it doesn’t matter.

If more demand for the product could be generated nationwide then surely there would be ‘economy of scale’ efficiency savings to be made by those processing and selling it, perhaps leaving a bit more for the primary producers by way of an increased margin. Farmers are more or less in perfect competition already, but it would probably amaze us how much more competitive those further up the supply chain could be if demand was stronger.

 

[Hilly]

Plenty money in Blackies, you can get 160k for a Lamb where is the problem ? subsidy, pah you dont need that the farmers are all "Minted"

 

[Ysgythan]

Well said. I’m afraid these specialty schemes dreamt up by the supermarkets are only designed to divide and conquer, just as happened in the dairy industry. Don’t know who you are Ysgythan, but I reckon you should be a leader and negotiator for the farming industry.

Oh f**k me