store lambs the end is nigh

I was fairly young when it shut. Was it Wednesday Brian Pile stirks and calves in the ring by café, Smethurst store ring, Thursday the fat bulls, cows, prime cattle, 1000s of sheep outside. The variety, the café, the restaurant upstairs, the number of unloading bays, the place o park, albeit potholed. Think the site is still just flat:mad::mad::mad: Oh they had just started getting the pedigree sales of sheep in that newish smart pedigree ring, and a few pedigree cattle sales too. The Banbury Stockyard Pedigree Centre sign, which hung on the shed at top, furthest away from sheep loading bays, was bought by a farmer 3 miles away from me and on one of his old sheds. Wished I had been older and bought something like that
 
Location
Devon
just had the first couple of batches away and with the best will in the world am only seeing a margin between buying and selling price of £20 and this on the first lots that have finished on grass and arable cover crops so little attributable feed cost , am now giving some thought to the future and with the great possibility of increases in imported lamb in the next years/ loss of export and the supermarkets control cant at this stage see us rushing to buy store lambs next year at anything like last seasons average and we thought we had done well compared to some store prices,and this does not bode well for the uk sheep industry

£20 head is very acceptable, a tenner to cover costs and a tenner profit.

Most cattle fhinshers spending £900/1000 head on a beast reckon to make £20/30 head net profit, you can buy a hell of a lot of store lambs for £1000....

Key is to buy the smaller lambs and never pay anymore than £55 head.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
Wow and I thought our markets were hot. Your £ figures =$NZ, for both cattle and lambs
Store lambs $55-70 normal years, selling for $90.. this year it's more $70-/$90 and sell for $90
Cattle are similar just 5 times the money both ways
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
£20 head is very acceptable, a tenner to cover costs and a tenner profit.

Most cattle fhinshers spending £900/1000 head on a beast reckon to make £20/30 head net profit, you can buy a hell of a lot of store lambs for £1000....

Key is to buy the smaller lambs and never pay anymore than £55 head.

Where do you get a tenner to cover costs? That would be 10 weeks of tack on turnips round here. Then there's the transport to & fro, the wormer/vac/TE on arrival, the mart expenses/levy on sale and the odd loss along the way. That's allassuming you don't need to put hoppers out as well. Unless they're short keep lambs, a tenner doesn't go far.
 

4course

Member
Location
north yorks
Where do you get a tenner to cover costs? That would be 10 weeks of tack on turnips round here. Then there's the transport to & fro, the wormer/vac/TE on arrival, the mart expenses/levy on sale and the odd loss along the way. That's allassuming you don't need to put hoppers out as well. Unless they're short keep lambs, a tenner doesn't go far.
I agree with you on this just basic costs £1.50 transport from purchase plus cost of buying then £ 3.00 selling plus transport to market and resultant costs plus lets say 15 weeks looking after in labour wether home or paid then a contribution towards fencing and other machinery/fixed costs finance vet and med / losses etc and youve got to somewhere near a tenner a head before you feed the little feckers
 
Location
Devon
Where do you get a tenner to cover costs? That would be 10 weeks of tack on turnips round here. Then there's the transport to & fro, the wormer/vac/TE on arrival, the mart expenses/levy on sale and the odd loss along the way. That's allassuming you don't need to put hoppers out as well. Unless they're short keep lambs, a tenner doesn't go far.

£3.80 killing costs/ £1 haulage from market/ £1.20 misc ( drenches/ labour etc ) £1/ deadstock/ £3/ feeding ( on stubble turnips )

If you need to feed cake then yep it will cost another £5/ head.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
£3.80 killing costs/ £1 haulage from market/ £1.20 misc ( drenches/ labour etc ) £1/ deadstock/ £3/ feeding ( on stubble turnips )

If you need to feed cake then yep it will cost another £5/ head.

£3 won't keep lambs on turnips for long (about a month at 70p/hd/wk). I would have thought you'd be looking at way more for your 'misc' costs too, unless you don't account anything for labour, don't clear out any problem worms, don't worry about scab and know those lambs (& your farm) don't have any TE issues holding them back. Good luck with that.
 

4course

Member
Location
north yorks
we can split hairs on basic costs but we should/have to take into account time ,wether management or free or paid labour that could be more useful elswhere or not engaged. Then there are other costs as in finance insurance fencing and depreciation of equipment that should be taken into account which eats into the original posts of £20 before feed ,methinks
 
Location
Devon
£3 won't keep lambs on turnips for long (about a month at 70p/hd/wk). I would have thought you'd be looking at way more for your 'misc' costs too, unless you don't account anything for labour, don't clear out any problem worms, don't worry about scab and know those lambs (& your farm) don't have any TE issues holding them back. Good luck with that.

One fluke/worm drench, don't do them for scab, cost of turnips is growing costs and not what they are worth sold as a forage crop.
 
Location
Devon
we can split hairs on basic costs but we should/have to take into account time ,wether management or free or paid labour that could be more useful elswhere or not engaged. Then there are other costs as in finance insurance fencing and depreciation of equipment that should be taken into account which eats into the original posts of £20 before feed ,methinks

No finance/ insurance costs here.

And if you have finance costs then there will be very little if anything in buying lambs/ cattle to fhinsh.
 

4course

Member
Location
north yorks
so guth you dont take into account that you could invest your cash and get a return even minimal for no work, and you are prepared to take the risk of having no insurance for theft optional I agree or straying or business liability , in todays world I couldnt/wouldnt operate without some form of cover ,albeit its not onerous but is still a cost
 
Location
Devon
so guth you dont take into account that you could invest your cash and get a return even minimal for no work, and you are prepared to take the risk of having no insurance for theft optional I agree or straying or business liability , in todays world I couldnt/wouldnt operate without some form of cover ,albeit its not onerous but is still a cost

We have that cover for our own bred stock and it doesn't cost anymore to cover the value of bought in stock.

Very few places you can invest your cash for no risk and get a return, buying store lambs is a 5% net return min ( could be more if fat lambs go up ) where/ what can you invest cash in and get a 5% return currently for no risk?
 

4course

Member
Location
north yorks
being of different views and opinions is what makes the world and the money go round ,but think I will not be as keen to buy store lambs next year ,I reckon i need at least a notional/hoped for gap of £ 30 to strike bat/risk and that is not going to help the hillmen/lamb producers if im looking to buy lambs next year under £40. That is the point im trying to make cos i reckon most folks who have bought stores in the mid/ late £50s and above this year aint happy bunnies
 
Location
Devon
being of different views and opinions is what makes the world and the money go round ,but think I will not be as keen to buy store lambs next year ,I reckon i need at least a notional/hoped for gap of £ 30 to strike bat/risk and that is not going to help the hillmen/lamb producers if im looking to buy lambs next year under £40. That is the point im trying to make cos i reckon most folks who have bought stores in the mid/ late £50s and above this year aint happy bunnies

Reality is the fat price isn't good enough and prices for store lambs next year should be a lot less ( at least a tenner a head )

With such a poor end price all is happening that money is being taken out at all stages of production ( be that rearer or fhinsher ) and the reality is that a low end price isn't any good for EITHER the rearer OR fhinsher either in the short or long term.
 

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