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Is Sheep farming Dead and Gone????

  • 25-08-2009 11:25am
    #1
    JohnThomas09
    Closed Accounts Posts: 357 ✭✭


    just wondering does anyone have any ideas on what the future of sheep farming will be.With the REPS scheme being scrapped now,will there be anyway of making money from sheep farming??Im living in the North West and im keen to get into sheep farming.any advice on this?


Comments

  • #2
    reilig
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,401 ✭✭✭reilig


    JohnThomas09 wrote: »
    just wondering does anyone have any ideas on what the future of sheep farming will be.With the REPS scheme being scrapped now,will there be anyway of making money from sheep farming??Im living in the North West and im keen to get into sheep farming.any advice on this?

    I live in the North West too. Cut from 100 to 50 ewes in 2008. Sold the last 50 over the last 2 weeks. Just no money out of it anymore. Sheep are too hard on grass. Still have a load of silage to cut from meadows that sheep had to eat late. Meadows are under water at the moment so it looks like I may not get it at all. Its just not worth all the work for the return. Easier to keep a few extra cows. And more profitable.


  • #3
    JohnThomas09
    Closed Accounts Posts: 357 ✭✭JohnThomas09


    reilig wrote: »
    I live in the North West too. Cut from 100 to 50 ewes in 2008. Sold the last 50 over the last 2 weeks. Just no money out of it anymore. Sheep are too hard on grass. Still have a load of silage to cut from meadows that sheep had to eat late. Meadows are under water at the moment so it looks like I may not get it at all. Its just not worth all the work for the return. Easier to keep a few extra cows. And more profitable.
    ya the weather has been great for lifting grass this summer.i was wondering what advice you could give me,i just give you a little of my background,i live on a farm and we have nothing but sheep(land isn't ideal for cattle).Im the one of five sons and im the only one interseted in farming,our Dad isnt in the best of health at the moment and has no interset in continuing farming.I want to get into farming of my own,i don't know anything about cattle farming and im not set up for it,unfortunately we didnt avail of the Grant last year to build a Slatted Shed,our application was too late.Any ideas on where to start?


  • #4
    reilig
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,401 ✭✭✭reilig


    JohnThomas09 wrote: »
    ya the weather has been great for lifting grass this summer.i was wondering what advice you could give me,i just give you a little of my background,i live on a farm and we have nothing but sheep(land isn't ideal for cattle).Im the one of five sons and im the only one interseted in farming,our Dad isnt in the best of health at the moment and has no interset in continuing farming.I want to get into farming of my own,i don't know anything about cattle farming and im not set up for it,unfortunately we didnt avail of the Grant last year to build a Slatted Shed,our application was too late.Any ideas on where to start?

    To be honest, its not the best time to get into any type of farming at the moment, morale is very low, but that doesn't mean the end of farming. I would advise you to get yourself a job (part-time or full-time) and start farming on the side. At least then you can grow the farm without having to live on peanuts and in years to come when the predicted world food shortage comes and food multiplies 10 fold in value, you can quit your job and become a full time farmer.

    Other advice would be to talk to your local farm planner and get his advice about the best way to go.


  • #5
    JohnThomas09
    Closed Accounts Posts: 357 ✭✭JohnThomas09


    reilig wrote: »
    To be honest, its not the best time to get into any type of farming at the moment, morale is very low, but that doesn't mean the end of farming. I would advise you to get yourself a job (part-time or full-time) and start farming on the side. At least then you can grow the farm without having to live on peanuts and in years to come when the predicted world food shortage comes and food multiplies 10 fold in value, you can quit your job and become a full time farmer.

    Other advice would be to talk to your local farm planner and get his advice about the best way to go.
    thansk for your advice,i forgot to say i am working full time,i just want to get into farming part-time.My biggest obstacle is i have no land of my own and wouldn't be able to get a loan to buy any.Also there is no government money that i am aware of that you can avail of from renting land.


  • #6
    ArraMusha
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 589 ✭✭✭ArraMusha


    No way is sheep farming dead. Granted there is a lot of handling work with them, shearin, lambing and dosing but there is a profit to be taken if you have the right sheds and dipping tub. If you dont then you will have lost lambs.

    The thing that is good is there is no TB testing and they're easier to bring to factory/mart than cattle.


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  • #7
    JohnThomas09
    Closed Accounts Posts: 357 ✭✭JohnThomas09


    ArraMusha wrote: »
    No way is sheep farming dead. Granted there is a lot of handling work with them, shearin, lambing and dosing but there is a profit to be taken if you have the right sheds and dipping tub. If you dont then you will have lost lambs.

    The thing that is good is there is no TB testing and they're easier to bring to factory/mart than cattle.
    thanks for your advice,My biggest obstacle is i have no land of my own and wouldn't be able to get a loan to buy any.Also there is no government money that i am aware of that you can avail of from renting land.any ideas?


  • #8
    Rujib1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 369 ✭✭Rujib1


    In very many cases, the best time to get into an enterprise or asset class, is when everybody else is getting out.
    There will allways be a market for sheep meat. At the rate of current exit from sheep farming, the balance of supply versus demand is sure to tip in the producers favour in the next couple of years.

    R1


  • #9
    snowman707
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,279 ✭✭✭snowman707


    "is sheep farmng dead and and gone"

    hope not

    we have a 147 ewes running with rams since the 10th aug , flushing another 50 for the 15sep with 65 ewe lambs going to the ram on 20oct.

    we have about 300 lambs sold averaging approx €94 the price was hiked cos we moved the lambs during the price peak mid may

    we also took advantage of the high cull ewe price to do a severe cull on any ewe that was a little dodgy.

    we have about 90 lambs left these will be sold as they become fit off grass.

    I personally would not like full time sheep cos you lose a lot of the mixed grazing benefits but in the OP's situation I would most certainly give it a shot especially as you have a full time job.

    over the years we have built up an easy care flock to run side by side with our dairy herd, we made up a simple handling unit & have a good dog, an old cubicle shed was converted for lambing


  • #10
    galwayhillbilly
    Registered Users Posts: 120 ✭✭galwayhillbilly


    the turn around came a bit quicker than expected, is this a sustainable change or will there be an oversupply next year?


  • #11
    Username John
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,237 ✭✭✭Username John


    galwayhillbilly wrote: »
    the turn around came a bit quicker than expected, is this a sustainable change or will there be an oversupply next year?

    Yeah, sheep prices are good now all right.

    I know there is of ewe lambs being bought this year, and probably a good few of them put to the ram, but I dunno will it result in that much of an increase overall in the numbers of lambs next year... :confused:

    I would say maybe in 2013 you might see oversupply, if the prices stay good...

    But I wouldnt bet the farm on that now, have often been wrong before... :rolleyes: ;):D

    What did you do in the end JohnThomas09?


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