Spring lamb prices

tabby aspreme

Ramadan begins on May 5th this year.

Mac Taylor

44kgs- €125. Only 2.5 rows of lambs, no shortage of hoggets though. Really keeping a ceiling on lamb prices

orm0nd

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Ramadan was end of May last year
Last year I Got more for spring lambs end of May than I did at Easter
Easter & Ramadan are earlier next year

giving up early lamb here, have to wait each year for the hoggets and imports to dry up to get any decent price.



drastic cut in ewe number this year as later lambing doesnt suit our system with the dairying.


if it wasn't for a local abbattoir we supply, we'd pack it in all to gether.

Green farmer

orm0nd wrote: »

giving up early lamb here, have to wait each year for the hoggets and imports to dry up to get any decent price.



drastic cut in ewe number this year as later lambing doesnt suit our system with the dairying.


if it wasn't for a local abbattoir we supply, we'd pack it in all to gether.

Not just the spring lamb price that’s disappointing. Often though you’d make more stacking shelves in lidl as what you do out of sheep. The way processors treat us would leave you very cynical.

early_riser

orm0nd wrote: »

giving up early lamb here, have to wait each year for the hoggets and imports to dry up to get any decent price.

Wont be any early lambs here next year either and be cutting ewe numbers and lambing in April. Cleaned out lambing shed at the weekend,20 calves going in during week, might not be much in beef but once calves reared and out to grass not much work with them

early_riser

Heard spring lamb cut to 6.30 for this week, didnt ring myself yet but was told this by a neighbor, is there more to be got?

Willfarman

Green farmer wrote: »

Not just the spring lamb price that’s disappointing. Often though you’d make more stacking shelves in lidl as what you do out of sheep. The way processors treat us would leave you very cynical.

Nail on the head. Total contempt for those that lamb ewes for 24 hour days in the weeks of spring. I promise I will be the last sheep farmer of my family line on this farm if I have any influence on my lads.

Mac Taylor

Willfarman wrote: »

Nail on the head. Total contempt for those that lamb ewes for 24 hour days in the weeks of spring. I promise I will be the last sheep farmer of my family line on this farm if I have any influence on my lads.

The only reason we are still at the sheep that we have is that the auld lad loves them, for me it's not worth the effort, no grass in the spring...too hard to manage sheep and cattle on a small farm.


At the moment between ewes and lambs we have 90 sheep...60 odd lambs worth if we are lucky by the time the last ones are sold ~ Gross €6k.


Just not worth all that effort even though this was a great year around here for lambing ewes.

kk.man

Mac Taylor wrote: »

The only reason we are still at the sheep that we have is that the auld lad loves them, for me it's not worth the effort, no grass in the spring...too hard to manage sheep and cattle on a small farm.


At the moment between ewes and lambs we have 90 sheep...60 odd lambs worth if we are lucky by the time the last ones are sold ~ Gross €6k.


Just not worth all that effort even though this was a great year around here for lambing ewes.

Yea me too. V hard with the full time job and small family.

I just sold my ewes and lambs and kept the dry hoggets. It was like a morgue around the place for last week and I was kinda sorry. However I'm after buying alot more cattle and I think I did well with my purchase.

Green farmer

I see icm have cut 30c off their quotes this week, despite next week being probably the peek demand week of the year. more evidence, if it was needed as to why lads are leaving the sector. Moy meats and Kildare holding quotes steady and will be getting my lambs instead. Any plans of expansion scrapped here. Going to cut back numbers 20-30% instead. No reward for pushing anything.

Willfarman

What’s the story with the welfare payment and a lad cutting back?

It is the only intelligent response to piss poor prices.. rather than the teagasc industry led advise “more efficiency, higher more ewes per acre , more lambs per ewe” and let the farmer work harder than ever burning hips and knees out while benefiting the fertilizer industry, the meal merchants and loading the processors guns to give as little as they like.

Dinzee Conlee

Green farmer wrote: »

I see icm have cut 30c off their quotes this week, despite next week being probably the peek demand week of the year. more evidence, if it was needed as to why lads are leaving the sector. Moy meats and Kildare holding quotes steady and will be getting my lambs instead. Any plans of expansion scrapped here. Going to cut back numbers 20-30% instead. No reward for pushing anything.

Do you have many hog left now Green?

Re cutting numbers - is this a bad year, to be basing a decision to cut numbers on? From what I understand, you only have hog due to the drought last year... Normally you would have all your lambs gone a good while back...

Not that I have large numbers... But I had a bad year last year, just with the snow, and then the drought... So I didn't buy as many store lambs last Autumn. And then this winter was the mildest we had in a long time, and I could have carried more lambs...

So its hard to know whats the best thing to do, but I would suggest looking at what's costing you money, and maybe try to change that? I wonder is it not keeping lambs into the winter might be something you need to consider, rather than ewes lambing?

ganmo

Willfarman wrote: »

What’s the story with the welfare payment and a lad cutting back?

It is the only intelligent response to piss poor prices.. rather than the teagasc industry led advise “more efficiency, higher more ewes per acre , more lambs per ewe” and let the farmer work harder than ever burning hips and knees out while benefiting the fertilizer industry, the meal merchants and loading the processors guns to give as little as they like.

you get paid on what you have, up to the max of the reference year.
So you can cut back if you want

Green farmer

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

Do you have many hog left now Green?

Re cutting numbers - is this a bad year, to be basing a decision to cut numbers on? From what I understand, you only have hog due to the drought last year... Normally you would have all your lambs gone a good while back...

Not that I have large numbers... But I had a bad year last year, just with the snow, and then the drought... So I didn't buy as many store lambs last Autumn. And then this winter was the mildest we had in a long time, and I could have carried more lambs...

?

Ya, just disillusioning to watch poor prices over a number of years. All we hear is stories of poor demand, weak markets etc and lorries coming off the ferries to certain processors, to ensure the price never rises. No, I’ll cut back the numbers, to a Low stocked, low cost enterprise. Wills 100% right. Why push things only to make money for everyone else and none for yourself.

Siamsa Sessions

Was going to go up in numbers this year but think I’ll buy 8-10 calves instead.

It’ll make a change to lose money on cattle instead of sheep anyway!

razor8

Do you know your costs per ewe, I work off the basis that the first lamb covers cost of ewe for year and second is the profit but unfortunately all don’t end up with 2

kk.man

razor8 wrote: »

Do you know your costs per ewe, I work off the basis that the first lamb covers cost of ewe for year and second is the profit but unfortunately all don’t end up with 2

At a weaning rate of 1.5% and 90 euro for the finished mid season lamb that leave a margin of 45 per ewe. I don't think you be getting that margin ...now i might be wrong.

razor8

Aim to wean 1.7 and averaged €105 last year. It can be done but problem is most people haven’t a clue of their costs

Siamsa Sessions

Tracking costs properly this year so should have a good idea next Sept since I started when the rams went in last Sept.

I looked at the Teagasc eProfit report too. Think the top 1/3 of farmers were about 50 euro for variable costs and another 50 euro for fixed costs per ewe

Green farmer

razor8 wrote: »

Aim to wean 1.7 and averaged €105 last year. It can be done but problem is most people haven’t a clue of their costs

Your doing well getting that average. They must consistently kill out well for you. It’s all the hidden fixed costs that catch people all right. Every ewe has to carry abit of tractor depreciation, farm insurance, rent or mortgage interest, repaires &maintenance, the list goes on and on.

kk.man

I think I read on some teagasc manual about 7 years ago that the net was 40 per ewe.
However the costs have went up since then but I think the lamb price has increased. I stand corrected on the lamb price increase as I had no sheep 7 years ago.

razor8

Green farmer wrote: »

Your doing well getting that average. They must consistently kill out well for you. It’s all the hidden fixed costs that catch people all right. Every ewe has to carry abit of tractor depreciation, farm insurance, rent or mortgage interest, repaires &maintenance, the list goes on and on.

The list goes on & on

They killed well. Had 2 O grades & 1 E the rest were split 50 50 with R & U’s

Western Pomise

ganmo wrote: »

you get paid on what you have, up to the max of the reference year.
So you can cut back if you want

Do the Sheep Welfare Scheme people base your payment on what you sent in on Census in January 2019 I wonder?

I’ve gone up in ewe numbers compared to last year on Scheme but am still below my original reference number.

So I think I should be paid for the extra ewes this year?

farming93

I don't think so , I went up the year after the scheme started and I'm only getting paid for my original census number the last few years . They cut you if you go below it though.

ganmo

Western Pomise wrote: »

Do the Sheep Welfare Scheme people base your payment on what you sent in on Census in January 2019 I wonder?

I’ve gone up in ewe numbers compared to last year on Scheme but am still below my original reference number.

So I think I should be paid for the extra ewes this year?

yes

sheepfarmer92

ganmo wrote: »

yes

They will only pay on the lower number of ewes, so the original number you sent in, that's why we aren't bothered keeping any more than we need too

Western Pomise

farming93 wrote: »

I don't think so , I went up the year after the scheme started and I'm only getting paid for my original census number the last few years . They cut you if you go below it though.

Yeah but I never ‘went up’ after start of scheme....have kept a good few less ewes than my original max allowed and increased by around 15 ewes for lambing this Spring but am still well below my original max allowed so as Ganmo says I think I will be getting 150 euro more in payment this year.

Mac Taylor

7 lambs 42kgs -€122, not allot of lambs in it.

Green farmer

When’s the switch over to electronic tags ? Have a few slaughter tags I want to use on lambs going to factory ?

orm0nd

Green farmer wrote: »

When’s the switch over to electronic tags ? Have a few slaughter tags I want to use on lambs going to factory ?

1st June.. Afaik