Start up costs

[Derrick Hughes]

I know sod all about sheep but based my ramblings on what others do locally

Do the opposite you make a fortune [emoji23]

 

[Drillman]

Do the opposite you make a fortune [emoji23]

I have

well apart from the fortune bit

 

[Hilly]

Sheep don't need sheds.

The expensive ones do ... well they should t but they do .

 

[Derrick Hughes]

The expensive ones do [emoji23] ... well they should t but they do .

Blame the French [emoji23]

 

[Hilly]

Blame the French [emoji23]

What for ?

 

[Frodo]

I worked out that including the purchase price of the farm, our semi-commercial flock has worked out about £5000/ewe to establish. That doesn't include interest on the loan.

The benefit of course is that now I can legitimately engage in activities such as bashing banks, moaning about the general public and complaining about the weather. So every cloud.

It really is how long is a piece of string, but interesting to consider the variables:

You could have buy arable land @ £10000/acre stocked at 5 ewes/acre - £2000/ewe
Fencing say £50/hd
cost of reseeding £50/hd
breeding stock @ £200/hd
Tup £600/40 - £10/hd
Equipment including vehicles, but use contractors for silage/grass management say £40000 for 400 ewes - £100/hd
Which gives a mere £2410.

Since these figures actually look achievable I take it I have overlooked something major.

 

[unlacedgecko]

It really is how long is a piece of string, but interesting to consider the variables:

You could have buy arable land @ £10000/acre stocked at 5 ewes/acre - £2000/ewe
Fencing say £50/hd
cost of reseeding £50/hd
breeding stock @ £200/hd
Tup £600/40 - £10/hd
Equipment including vehicles, but use contractors for silage/grass management say £40000 for 400 ewes - £100/hd
Which gives a mere £2410.

Since these figures actually look achievable I take it I have overlooked something major.

Landowner ship is different from farming.

 

[unlacedgecko]

I started with a Rappa push along barrow, 3x 600m rappa systems, 2x energisers, 3x batteries, a battery charger and a Labrador.

"Other people's livestock on other people's land"

 

[toquark]

It really is how long is a piece of string, but interesting to consider the variables:

You could have buy arable land @ £10000/acre stocked at 5 ewes/acre - £2000/ewe
Fencing say £50/hd
cost of reseeding £50/hd
breeding stock @ £200/hd
Tup £600/40 - £10/hd
Equipment including vehicles, but use contractors for silage/grass management say £40000 for 400 ewes - £100/hd
Which gives a mere £2410.

Since these figures actually look achievable I take it I have overlooked something major.

A house & steading.

 

[PuG]

Local sheep farmer here who sadly died over Christmas had no more than 40 Ha's, flock of 50, two dogs and one stick. No need of fencing, his sheep were bomb proof on temperament because he was farming with his livestock (and still managed the cafe daily) rather than sitting in tractors or pouring hours over a computer.

 

[unlacedgecko]

Local sheep farmer here who sadly died over Christmas had no more than 40 Ha's, flock of 50, two dogs and one stick. No need of fencing, his sheep were bomb proof on temperament because he was farming with his livestock (and still managed the cafe daily) rather than sitting in tractors or pouring hours over a computer.

That's a very low stocking rate.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

What for ?

Charollais Sheep

 

[Agrivator]

Hi,

Obviously this can depend on a lot of things, but could someone give me a rough idea of the start up costs when starting up with sheep and also the start up costs of setting up with dairy and beef. And also what the maintenance costs per year are per sheep or cow.

Again, I appreciate it will be different for each person depending on location, breed, whether things like sheep trailer and handling system are new or second hand etc, but will still be interesting to see how its different.

To begin with, you can skimp and save, and if you can get access to cheap land, you can start at the bottom and work up. But budget to give up gracefully with minimum losses if things don't work out.

But a conventional applicant for the tenancy of very modest hill farm (including a farm house) with 310 ewes plus followers, and 32 Hill cows with 4-month old calves at foot, would need about £180,000 of capital and, on entry, at least £20,000 of working capital to keep going until lambs and calves become salable. And even then, at least one of the family would need a job off farm to make ends meet.

Buying a farm is a very different proposition.

 

[toquark]

To begin with, you can skimp and save, and if you can get access to cheap land, you can start at the bottom and work up. But budget to give up gracefully with minimum losses if things don't work out.

But a conventional applicant for the tenancy of very modest hill farm (including a farm house) with 310 ewes plus followers, and 32 Hill cows with 4-month old calves at foot, would need about £180,000 of capital and, on entry, at least £20,000 of working capital to keep going until lambs and calves become salable. And even then, at least one of the family would need a job off farm to make ends meet.

Buying a farm is a very different proposition.

£200k capital to turn over c.£65k and one of you still has to work, makes you wonder what would be the point?

 

[unlacedgecko]

Charollais Sheep

My Charollais sired lambs are lambing outside fine

 

[unlacedgecko]

£200k capital to turn over c.£65k and one of you still has to work, makes you wonder what would be the point?

That's utterly insane. No wonder British farming had trouble attracting new entrants.

 

[farmerm]

What ever you work out that it’s going too cost.... double it ...

I went from a 30 ewe hobby flock too a commercial setup a few years ago... think iv put 45k in the last 3 years I only intended too put 25k in but thinks escalate...

think you will ever be able to take anything out....

 

[farmerm]

That's utterly insane. No wonder British farming had trouble attracting new entrants.

but then you dont get anything close to £65K turnover on a £200,000 buy to let investment.... turn over figure is only vanity, the sanity (or not) lies in the profit figure.

 

[neilo]

My Charollais sired lambs are lambing outside fine

That's odd, mine have been too.

 

[CopperBeech]

That's utterly insane. No wonder British farming had trouble attracting new entrants.

Does it ? Everyone wants to be a farmer. It’s just lots are crap at it and lots of others blocked from making a go due to various limiting factors. One thing I don’t think we are short of is folk wanting to get into farming .....