New Zealand lamb - how do they do it?

[Kiwi Pete]

I was near tioro @Kiwi Pete the family were contractors aswell

Nice part of the world. I grew up in Clinton then toured Southland on the dairy locomotive.. then fell off and landed here. I think I am probably half the age of the average sheep farmer in NZ...

 

[FonterraFarmer]

Nice part of the world. I grew up in Clinton then toured Southland on the dairy locomotive.. then fell off and landed here. I think I am probably half the age of the average sheep farmer in NZ...

And that should be the only "Clinton" refered to on the internet!!!

 

[FonterraFarmer]

I just got takeaways from balclutha about 15 minutes ago!! (Hangover fix)
We live in Owaka

The easiest to prevent a hangover,...... is not to drink

 

[Kiwi Pete]

The easiest to prevent a hangover,...... is not to drink

Too much fruit punch, was good at the time!
Have heard it said, our NZ lamb has a smaller carbon footprint by the time it lands in Tesco, than the UK lamb beside it. That's unlikely to be a fact of course, but it could explain the difference in price/ COP?

 

[kiwi pom]

Local market in their market report for Last Monday's fat market claim that British lamb is now cheaper than NZ lamb?? ( no idea if that's correct or not I might add )

Ref the supermarkets importing it, they are using it as a loss leader ( ie putting money to it ) so they can keep UK prices artificially low.

Just curious, how do you know they're using it as a loss leader if you don't know what they pay for it?
You say supermarkets only buy NZ lamb to screw over UK farmers. Again how do you know that? Yes maybe its cheaper (I have no idea) but maybe there are other reasons.
Maybe quality is more consistent.
Maybe their research suggests the brand sells better, how do you know more British lamb will be sold if Kiwi lamb was banned?
Maybe its just easier to go to say silver fern farms and say we want x tonnes a month at this spec for this price and under their assurance scheme, (which they have)
Its easy to blame supermarkets greed all the time but is that the whole story?

Seems to me that farmers from all over the world are up against it.
Anyone that thinks Kiwi sheep farmers are rolling in money should probably come for a visit.

 

[Courier]

From what I have learned in my limited direct negotiations with a couple of supermarkets the description " Loss Leader " can only be applied directly to the supermarkets' suppliers - the supermarket will be making their margin either way and passing any reduction back to the supplier/producer with threats of alternative supply. [emoji36][emoji35]

 

[Irish NZ]

No, but don't criticise a country on bullshine that you've read on the Internet.

From my experience, the lambs were uniform, sold at 17kgs dead, finished on grass, swedes were grown for the ewes. I didn't see any difference in welfare over there, the parlour I milked in was the cleanest I've been in.

The whole attitude is different I worked with a chap who must have been 70, he had 1100 ewes sheared them with a mate, lived a very modest life like most people I met, and I think they were some of the happiest people I've known.

I was near balclutha @FonterraFarmer

but it must be true I read it on the internet.......

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Does anyone know How much is lamb £ / kg dw in spec in NZ and how much does it cost / kg to ship to the uk approx ?

Have no idea of shipping.. but FYI local lamb is being traded at $2.50/kg liveweight, about the same as the schedule which will be around $92 on the hooks [emoji53] by my rough calcutions at 140% lambing, a lamb probably cost my neighbour $74-76 to produce. Hard to say but that's a ballpark figure to consider.

 

[d williams]

Too much fruit punch, was good at the time!
Have heard it said, our NZ lamb has a smaller carbon footprint by the time it lands in Tesco, than the UK lamb beside it. That's unlikely to be a fact of course, but it could explain the difference in price/ COP?

I wouldn't be at all surprised if you have
Watched a program on TVs one evening on logistics of moving food around the world wine was coming out of Australia to the uk then being bottled and transport cost was more per lt form uk distribution centre to the store than the shipping cost

 

[GTB]

I was told by a local abattoir manager that he could pick up the phone and order any amount of nz legs of lamb he desired, be it 20 kilos or 20 tons. No need to balance the carcass as he calls it (find a market for the corresponding shoulders and the rest of the carcass).

 

[tepapa]

From what I've seen, NZ farmers farm land or pasture and utilise the best genetics that perform to get the most out of it.
UK farmers farm a chosen breed of sheep, mules, lleyns, texels etc, (the choice or preference varies from hills to lowland.) These are then bred irrispective of COP to produce either very pretty females or muscley carcasses that look pretty in a pen.
Until the focus moves from tradition to profit the UK won't be able to compete.
(Obviously there are a few uk farmers who have seen the light but the majority are still farming in the good old subsidy days)

 

[Woolless]

To answer the original question, my understanding is that they have made huge strides with breeding productive, functional, recorded genetics (same number of lambs from half number of ewes they had in the 80s?). Also good grassland management, rotational grazing etc.

You know, the kind of stuff that some 'real farmers' on here slate Signet/AHDB/QMS for promoting!

 

[digger64]

Have no idea of shipping.. but FYI local lamb is being traded at $2.50/kg liveweight, about the same as the schedule which will be around $92 on the hooks [emoji53] by my rough calcutions at 140% lambing, a lamb probably cost my neighbour $74-76 to produce. Hard to say but that's a ballpark figure to consider.

Thanks think thats about £1.42/kg lw then please correct me if wrong , much higher than I thought it would be looks like at a guess + shipping would be a similar price to uk on delivery then ? Iambs about £1.70 /kg here

 

[waterbuffalofarmer]

just told the Mrs off for buyer the above. She ordered it online at sainsburies and they never stipulated where it came from ( a thread in itself)

Begrudgingly I cooked it wanting to hate it but actually it was very nice.

How can they get it in my fridge for the same price / cheaper than my neighbours?

Guessing a blend of:

• Animal welfare
• Economies of scale
• Climate
• Regulations / red tape

There must be others, please can those in the know divulge?

They breed a lot more of it than we do. Also the reason why people want to buy it is because, and I don't mean to be harsh here, not only on price, but it's flavour is much better than some of the stuff you get over here. Reason being is because they have crosses of traditional breeds breeding very sweet meat, loads of grass (due to volcanic soil) and a lot of lambs. Grass growth is the main factor here, in NZ it grows all year round, so that means there is an almost never ending supply of lamb...

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Thanks think thats about £1.42/kg lw then please correct me if wrong , much higher than I thought it would be looks like at a guess + shipping would be a similar price to uk on delivery then ? Iambs about £1.70 /kg here

Yep much higher than I want to be paying for store lambs in my first year here....
but it is a mad grass year down this way at least, makes me wonder what the inevitable result will be. I'm looking to cash some in before the schedule drops... Lambs were going to the works a few years back for almost $125 but then of course people start getting interested and down she comes...
Most years I'd think $55 would be as far as I'd bid for a store lamb, so based on my $74 COP.... I will just save typing I think....pays to finish them very quick if possible.

 

[texel-tom]

I think a lot of farmers would benefit from actually visiting NZ it would certainly help clear up a few misconceptions

 

[digger64]

Yep much higher than I want to be paying for store lambs in my first year here....
but it is a mad grass year down this way at least, makes me wonder what the inevitable result will be. I'm looking to cash some in before the schedule drops... Lambs were going to the works a few years back for almost $125 but then of course people start getting interested and down she comes...
Most years I'd think $55 would be as far as I'd bid for a store lamb, so based on my $74 COP.... I will just save typing I think....pays to finish them very quick if possible.

Would that leave any margin for the store producer at $55 ?

 

[S J H]

They breed a lot more of it than we do. Also the reason why people want to buy it is because, and I don't mean to be harsh here, not only on price, but it's flavour is much better than some of the stuff you get over here. Reason being is because they have crosses of traditional breeds breeding very sweet meat, loads of grass (due to volcanic soil) and a lot of lambs. Grass growth is the main factor here, in NZ it grows all year round, so that means there is an almost never ending supply of lamb...

My kiwi vet reckons there's no reason why we can't grow grass like NZ.

 

[llamedos]

Worth a read.

Farm animal welfare - a voyage of discovery Huw Davies (Nuffield)

http://www.nuffieldinternational.org/rep_pdf/1293742223Huw_Davies_edited.pdf

 

[digger64]

My kiwi vet reckons there's no reason why we can't grow grass like NZ.

Hls and bps cross co,mpliance is the problem for me otherwise apart from drought I agee but rumour has they get dry times there too