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sheepwheat grass may be of interest kill sheet

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    sheepwheat grass may be of interest kill sheet

    This is from some old sheep sold this week, some 7 years old broken mouthed meaning missing teeth.

    Didnt think i could get another year out of them.

    Shorn in nov.

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    #2
    Interesting, don't think I've ever seen a kill sheet for cull ewes, ours were always sold liveweight. Interesting that you have no price differentiation other than for weight despite the fat class gradings. I'm struck by your wide variation of weights and that heavier ewes are the lowest priced/kg. In Scotland it's the other way - they want the big ewes and i'm sure on a kill sheet like this they'd show more weight and more $ per kg. There are basically 2 categories at auction in Scotland - light ewes and heavy ewes. Light averaging about AUS$42 and heavies $90 at the moment so you probably have a bigger spread on price too.
    So do you lamb ewe lambs or are they shearlings by the time they have their first lambs? We would never keep anything past 7 yo. Ewes were sold off the real hill farms at 5 years old having had 4 crops of lambs and we would keep them on lower land for another 2 years max. Ewes born on lower land places would be lambed at a year old so you got another crop off them.

    Comment


      #3
      Thanks, mallee. Always interesting comparing your well developed sheep industry, vs. our immature one in western Canada.

      Culls are sold here usually by the live lb. and our prices for culls are horrendous for the most part. The last several we have been butchering and selling as sausage and this turns out really good. We get much higher per lb prices and the customers lap up the sausage. I also use really poor culls for coyote bait. With coyote fur prices so high, I can make good money off my culls this way as well.

      Our sheep industry has huge potential. The sky is the limit as we import half our lamb consumption. Trouble is, so few take it seriously enough to enter, (even though basic math says lamb/sheep pays at least twice as good as cattle), so our industry as a whole stays as a backwater so to speak, with an immature and underdeveloped industry. So one must be proactive and make their own markets happen, at least for culls.

      Again, thanks for the info mallee.

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        #4
        Sheepwheat I dont want to be argumentive but I would like to see the math that makes 2X what cattle make. I dont have sheep but daughter has around 100 ewes,figuring 5to1 ratio i can make more from 20 cows,plus more handling of sheep much more labor intensive,fencing,predators,sheering,ect.
        Cull ewes have been around $1/lb live 100# lambs$1.85/2.00.
        Malle what kind of predator problems do you have, we have coyotes,ravens cougers, and of course suicide

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          #5
          Originally posted by Horse View Post
          Sheepwheat I dont want to be argumentive but I would like to see the math that makes 2X what cattle make. I dont have sheep but daughter has around 100 ewes,figuring 5to1 ratio i can make more from 20 cows,plus more handling of sheep much more labor intensive,fencing,predators,sheering,ect.
          Cull ewes have been around $1/lb live 100# lambs$1.85/2.00.
          Malle what kind of predator problems do you have, we have coyotes,ravens cougers, and of course suicide
          I use 6 to one for my math. 6 ewes produce ten lambs worth 1800 to 2000 bucks in the fall. Breed sheep at 6 months. Amount of labor in sheep is what you make it. It can be hardly any work, or lots, depending on expectations, lambing time of year, handling facilities, etc. Hair sheep, no shearing. Fencing is not as bad for cost as most think, imo. Predators are easily controlled with guard animals. We have not lost a single lamb to predation for three years since we have had our dogs, and since I started nailing coyotes all winter by snaring.

          Show me a calf worth 2000 bucks, or even 1800 bucks at four or five months old, in the fall. And if that calf dies, you are out a year. If a lamb dies, or even two or three, you still have inventory for sale.

          I know you are not trying to be argumentative! Neither am I. Lol.

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            #6
            I have absolutely no skin in this game and respectfully don't want any either.

            But to me, I would assume it would have to be a volume/numbers thing.

            With Canada's increasing cultural diversity that eats those things, I do think there is an opportunity in goats as well.

            I will have done livestock for at least half of my working life(more if you consider I carried, bales, chop and water pails as soon as we were able), I really don't want to go back, even if it means a lost opportunity. But I certainly wouldn't discourage or begrudge anyone who wants to.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by farmaholic View Post
              I have absolutely no skin in this game and respectfully don't want any either.

              But to me, I would assume it would have to be a volume/numbers thing.

              With Canada's increasing cultural diversity that eats those things, I do think there is an opportunity in goats as well.

              I will have done livestock for at least half of my working life(more if you consider I carried, bales, chop and water pails as soon as we were able), I really don't want to go back, even if it means a lost opportunity. But I certainly wouldn't discourage or begrudge anyone who wants to.
              North America imports way more goat than we produce. My daughter bought some boers this fall. I agree it has to be a labor of love, and you need to enjoy the animals, or what is the point? My only regret is not getting animals much sooner, seeing I would never be able to compete in grain. My whole family absolutely loves working sheep together.

              Yes, it is a numbers game, as it is with anything. You do need a critical mass to make good money. But with sheep, the land needed to make a living is far less than with cattle, and certainly grain. Up here a stocking rate would be minimum of four ewes and their lambs an acre, I have had up to ten. That helps too, to be able to grow monster amounts of cheap grass and hay. In theory, a half section or three quarters should be able to support a sheep flock that can support a family as their sole source of income. A quarter for grazing, a quarter for hay, and a quarter for feed grains and rotation in the whole package.

              Sheep have this perception that they do not make money, that you need a billion of them. These lies are the reason the industry struggles in some ways, and why new entrants balk. You can’t have farmers making a living on a few quarters of land! That is preposterous.LOL
              Last edited by Sheepwheat; Jan 20, 2019, 11:37.

              Comment


                #8
                predators not really a problem.

                Timeline of a ewe.

                Born shorn at 6months then as second fleece comes on could be culled for poor wool type or confirmation.
                Mated at 15 to 18 months some guys go 12.

                Kept until 4 or 5 yrs old usually but current state of industry people carrying them for longer as breeding ewes expensive.

                Some locally 5.5 yrs old preg tested in lamb guys wants $180 but have 5 months wool on them.

                cattle v sheep around 1 cow 10 ewes is deemed the normal stocking rate comparison i think its more 1 to 8.

                cattle run in australia in very wet areas hilly areas and station country were predators are a problem and tropic semi tropical areas

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                  #9
                  The above is a standard gross margin template for my area.

                  2018 figures.

                  Wool prices much higher but feed costs increased due to drought extra feeding and higher prices so will work out about the same.

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                    #10
                    Makes a difference when your wool cheque is an extra worth nearly as much as the sheep sales. In Canada it's worthless and in Scotland it doesn't usually cover the cost of shearing. Good luck to the folks running sheep in Canada there is an opportunity for sure. I've been there, bought the T-Shirt and carry the back trouble for life. My problem with it is this inherently isn't "sheep country" - too much winter and too many predators. I agree a few dogs will take care of the predators but nobody has a means to circumvent 6 months of winter/snow/feeding. The sheep's biggest advantage over other farm animals is it's ability to maintain itself on pasture year round - if you have the environment that allows this.
                    I think the biggest problem here in future isn't small producers and no infrastructure it's going to be corporate large scale sheep operations which are already getting built. It'll become a big number/low margin enterprise just like cattle and pigs.

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                      #11
                      Guess this is why livestock so strong in Austarlia and wool of course were number one

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by grassfarmer View Post
                        Interesting, don't think I've ever seen a kill sheet for cull ewes, ours were always sold liveweight. Interesting that you have no price differentiation other than for weight despite the fat class gradings. I'm struck by your wide variation of weights and that heavier ewes are the lowest priced/kg. In Scotland it's the other way - they want the big ewes and i'm sure on a kill sheet like this they'd show more weight and more $ per kg. There are basically 2 categories at auction in Scotland - light ewes and heavy ewes. Light averaging about AUS$42 and heavies $90 at the moment so you probably have a bigger spread on price too.
                        So do you lamb ewe lambs or are they shearlings by the time they have their first lambs? We would never keep anything past 7 yo. Ewes were sold off the real hill farms at 5 years old having had 4 crops of lambs and we would keep them on lower land for another 2 years max. Ewes born on lower land places would be lambed at a year old so you got another crop off them.
                        Some slaughter houses want heavier.

                        The above slaughter house at times pays top dollar for light lamb and they actually put them inside a beef carcase when shipped.

                        Often bigger sheep more fat.

                        All sorts of opinions but many say your better to run 1.5 70kg ewes to the acre than say 1 100kg ewe per acre. Big consumes more less lambs guess same argument in cattle.

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                          #13
                          That 936 cents a kilo greasy is around lets say $11.00/11.80

                          Think i may have mentioned a friend got $15 per kg for some wool 2 weeks ago

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                            #14
                            Last post on this topic sorry for boring you grain growers

                            A cross section of abbatior prices last week.

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                              #15
                              So you don't have any carcass conformation classes? only fat cover is used to classify even lambs?

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