While I bought almost all my flock, I do have a few that I bred, but I'm pretty proud of all their fleeces. Was trying to take pictures of their fiber during chores today. Not easy to do single-handed, hold the sheep, take the photo, part the fleece. During summer shearing I'll get some really good pictures. But I'll just spend the next few months digging my hands into their wool. Their warm, soft, thick, yummy wool.
Let's pretend you're at a farmers market, and you see a sign for cuts of lamb for $6 a pound. And you think that's a crazy price to pay. Let's break some things down, these figures are just estimates and do not reflect any one farm.
A farmer has 50 ewes, each ewe might give him twins, that gives him 100 lambs to sell if they all twin and all survive to market (things happens despite your best efforts). focusing on just the 4 weeks before lambing and 4 weeks after. Let's say he feeds his ewes half a pound of grain and 3 lb of hay a day. In one week he will have fed 175 pounds of grain and 1,050 of hay. If hay is $0.25/100lb hay is $6/50pound square bale then he spends almost $44 on grain and $126 on grain, per week, to feed his sheep. At the end it adds up to almost $1,360 for the 8 weeks around lambing. (and that's if he isn't feeding rams or other livestock, this is just those 50 ewes)
So he has to sell each lamb, for $136 just to pay for those 8 weeks.
Yes, there are many variables depending on how each farm chooses to raise.
It takes 5 months from breeding to lambing, where a ewe has to be taken care of so she had good lambs and can care for them herself, then there is about 3 months from lambing to weaning where now you have tripled your flock needs. And then another 3 months from weaning to butcher (if you only do 6mo) that this flock of 150 sheep need to be fed.
While pasture is always a good way to feed, what if you have a dry year? Now you need to supplement or rent a field, what if you have a few that don't gain weight well? A vet farm call or need to treat a group yourself? And if that dry summer was bad enough, now it's affected your hay supply for fall and winter (prices up or need to travel to find enough) What if they hire a school kid for extra help and pay them $100 a week for a month or so? Not to mention the butchering fees, licenses to sell at Farmers market, the booth space at shows.
There are a lot of variables, that much is true . But what is also true is that $6 per pound for lamb is very much needed to keep his flock going. If he can't afford to feed the flock, he needs to sell some. And while selling some will cut down his cost and work, it also cuts down his income.
Just a food for thought post, I know everything is kind of crazy right now and money is tight, but your purchases from Farmers will make such a difference to them. Walmart or Meijer will not miss you, nor care if you don't buy food from them, you are a drop in a bucket. But that local or small farm needs you, you are a scoop into the heir bucket, and you would be missed and appreciated.
Promotion and day to day activity of a Jacob sheep owner, fiber artist and small business owner.
