Spring lamb prices

jt65

arctictree wrote: »

Bought some in lamb 2 and 3 y.o. ewes in February scanned with twins. All the lambs survived and will nearly cover the cost of the ewes.

I bought 27 ewes with 51 lambs at foot for €5150 in 1 job lot , lambs were 3 weeks + and straight to grass

8 of the ewes were second crop & the remainder were aged ,but all are going back to the ram this year and some will be good for a year or two more

IMO far better value than giving crazy money for breeding hoggets

Farrell

jt65 wrote: »

I bought 27 ewes with 51 lambs at foot for €5150 in 1 job lot , lambs were 3 weeks + and straight to grass

8 of the ewes were second crop & the remainder were aged ,but all are going back to the ram this year and some will be good for a year or two more

IMO far better value than giving crazy money for breeding hoggets

Agree, would you of kept any of the Ewe Lambs as replacements?

jt65

Farrell wrote: »

Agree, would you of kept any of the Ewe Lambs as replacements?

some of my own yes, but not the bought in

bought some mule ewe lambs last week, a few handy ones in them most likely keep as dry hoggets, rest should be ok for ram in time

culled hard this year tempted by the good trade , so still short a few

Green farmer

Do you have a ram for breeding replacements Jt ? , I'm off to buy a belclare over the next few weeks.

jt65

Green farmer wrote: »

Do you have a ram for breeding replacements Jt ? , I'm off to buy a belclare over the next few weeks.

keeping some lambs off a texel this year, & bought some mules

hitting to the sale in tullamore in august , considering a belclare as well,

also need 1 or 2 terminal rams , perhaps vendeen or hampshire down

sea12

jt65 wrote: »

keeping some lambs off a texel this year, & bought some mules

hitting to the sale in tullamore in august , considering a belclare as well,

also need 1 or 2 terminal rams , perhaps vendeen or hampshire down

Going to go to tullamore myself aswell. Going for the look and will probably pick one out when I'm there. Probably Charolais. Maybe vendeen.

Green farmer

Never been up to mart in that side of country, does the quality be good there ? I've to get a star rated ram for the stap scheme.

sea12

Green farmer wrote: »

Never been up to mart in that side of country, does the quality be good there ? I've to get a star rated ram for the stap scheme.

Yep it's one of the multi sheep stap events. Good mart. Good auctioneer too. Fair on both sides.

Farrell

sea12 wrote: »

Going to go to tullamore myself aswell. Going for the look and will probably pick one out when I'm there. Probably Charolais. Maybe vendeen.

Would a Charolais be suitable for early trade.
See lots of rams on DD, crazy money

sea12

Farrell wrote: »

Would a Charolais be suitable for early trade.
See lots of rams on DD, crazy money

I lamb Mia season so can't comment. They can be a bit soft when born. I bought a lovely one down in ballintglas multi sheep event for handy money compared to asking prices on dd.

Green farmer

I suspect a lot of guys throw ads up on dd seeking money they don't think they'll achieve. My response to these is " if you feel your stock is worth that much , then go to the mart and prove it"

Cran

Farrell wrote: »

Would a Charolais be suitable for early trade.
See lots of rams on DD, crazy money

Just Curious what would you consider a fair price for a STAP approved hogget or ram lamb?

jt65

Cran wrote: »

Just Curious what would you consider a fair price for a STAP approved hogget or ram lamb?

know your asking Farrell, but ...... :rolleyes:

shearling 500 to 650
lamb 400 to 600 .

Cran

jt65 wrote: »

know your asking Farrell, but ...... :rolleyes:

shearling 500 to 650
lamb 400 to 600 .

Thats fair, was curious as good few to sell and was thinking close to those figures. The few ram sales so far been a good trade, big interest in STAP rams from what I can gather.

AnFeirmeoir

jt65 wrote: »

shearling 500 to 650
lamb 400 to 600 .

thats a fair price to the seller but you can buy stap approved at some sales for much less than this... I've never paid more than €350.

sea12

AnFeirmeoir wrote: »

thats a fair price to the seller but you can buy stap approved at some sales for much less than this... I've never paid more than €350.

I agree. In a mart where there is plenty of selection you will get a. Wry good one for 300 plus.

Farrell

Was actually thinking around €300 + & STAP being a +. Some advertised for more & no word of STAP

rangler1

Farrell wrote: »

Was actually thinking around €300 + & STAP being a +. Some advertised for more & no word of STAP

Breeding pedigree ram lambs for less than €400 isn't really worth the bother, better to take €130 in may,

Farrell

rangler1 wrote: »

Breeding pedigree ram lambs for less than €400 isn't really worth the bother, better to take €130 in may,

Thanks for that, bought last ram (say 3/4yo) for €260 in Mart - which was a few years ago & was my first Ram, so still learning!
For me looking (DD), I see some good ones advertised about €300 & some I feel lesser for €5/600, which I thought was Crazy.
Maybe they've more stars & are best suited to Pedigree Breeders, & Pics aren't doing justice

Cran

rangler1 wrote: »

Breeding pedigree ram lambs for less than €400 isn't really worth the bother, better to take €130 in may,

Agree with this, no point keeping a lamb for 300 when can get 140 as we did this spring direct to the factory. We cull heavy to the factory only about 40% of ram lambs born make it to the sales and would think many breeders are the same.

Green farmer

Maybe the rams for €500-€600 have go fast stripes on them :-)

Willfarman

Cran wrote: »

Agree with this, no point keeping a lamb for 300 when can get 140 as we did this spring direct to the factory. We cull heavy to the factory only about 40% of ram lambs born make it to the sales and would think many breeders are the same.

What expenses do you incur between April and August?

Green farmer

jt65 wrote: »

I bought 27 ewes with 51 lambs at foot for €5150 in 1 job lot , lambs were 3 weeks + and straight to grass

8 of the ewes were second crop & the remainder were aged ,but all are going back to the ram this year and some will be good for a year or two more

IMO far better value than giving crazy money for breeding hoggets

I did the same 2 years ago. Bought a batch of 10 aged ewes but very good quality. Long sheep. Worked out ok first year for me but not so good in second year. A lot of singles in the second year and some barron. Sneaks up on you as you forget about them when they blend into the main flock. Only 7 out of 10 alive after 2 years. The trick is to stay disciplined and not let them stay around too long, easier said then done

rangler1

Willfarman wrote: »

What expenses do you incur between April and August?

Ration is €500/ton, so you don't feel pumping in €100 into them , then there's Clik, vaccinations, footcare, lambplus fee, eye muscle scanning, cost€20/hd to enter premier sale, and you don't always sell them all, registering
Xbred sheep are much easier worked, often said here that the 450 ewes are easier looked after than the 50 purebreds, we spend more on stock rams, and the ewes need more ration to milk, The crossbred vendeen lambs would easily outperform the purebred lambs...all in all they are a lot more hassle.
If I was taking less than 400 for many of them...I wouldn't bother with them

Farrell

Thanks for that.
Buying a stock ram for x breed you wouldn't appreciate that.
For me looking from this side I see 1 guy looking €300 for good looking stock, & the next ad doesn't appear to be as good, but the price is €500 up

jt65

Farrell wrote: »

Thanks for that.
Buying a stock ram for x breed you wouldn't appreciate that.
For me looking from this side I see 1 guy looking €300 for good looking stock, & the next ad doesn't appear to be as good, but the price is €500 up

it the same with a lot of things, the seller needs €x to make a decent return & the buyer needs to source at €y

but x never equals y

have a friend who breeds ped suffolk only , no commercials , I know it's his love for sheep and maybe a few days outings at shows and sales are the only reasons he bothers

Willfarman

Ok but I neglect to understand how after breeding a pedigree sheep it is better to take a hundred and forty for them in March park than 300 in August sept? What the blazes is in a 500 euro ration? And would you feed a lamb 200 kgs of it on grass?

rangler1

Willfarman wrote: »

Ok but I neglect to understand how after breeding a pedigree sheep it is better to take a hundred and forty for them in March park than 300 in August sept? What the blazes is in a 500 euro ration? And would you feed a lamb 200 kgs of it on grass?

Just the whole hassle of pedigree breeding, the lambs that end up in the factory don't compensate for it, so if the breeding ones don't, then you're better off with commercials. We're after basing our breeding programme on mainly two 5star rams for the last 6 or 7 yrs, and have done well on them, Now one of them has been down graded to 2star by sheep Ireland in the last 6mths even though he's 2 yrs dead,....you can imagine what that has done to his progeny, both in our own flock and other breeders....who'd bother doing pedigree breeding.
You should try breeding pedigree ram lambs, its an education, sure there's guys out there selling purebred non registered cheap but even they need fools like us to put the work in to ensure their stock rams are bred right

Willfarman

rangler1 wrote: »

Just the whole hassle of pedigree breeding, the lambs that end up in the factory don't compensate for it, so if the breeding ones don't, then you're better off with commercials. We're after basing our breeding programme on mainly two 5star rams for the last 6 or 7 yrs, and have done well on them, Now one of them has been down graded to 2star by sheep Ireland in the last 6mths even though he's 2 yrs dead,....you can imagine what that has done to his progeny, both in our own flock and other breeders....who'd bother doing pedigree breeding.
You should try breeding pedigree ram lambs, its an education, sure there's guys out there selling purebred non registered cheap but even they need fools like us to put the work in to ensure their stock rams are bred right

I don't think I could hack the boloxology that goes with it!

Lano Lynn

have seen this from both sides have bought all shapes and sizes and prices and sold good rams for poor money.

100% agree with rangler the cost of breeding good pedigrees is unreal and it is hard to stomach fellow sheep farmers expecting to buy them for less than production cost.it is just insulting.good breeders need 5-600e to justify the hastle and costs
years and generations of breeding has to have a value.(not to be confused with pedigree)
on the other hand to many so called top breeders are just top feeders who don't send half enough to the factory in march.
just because some muppet north of hadrians wall 'sold' fizzle pizzle for 40,000quid don't make fizzle pizzle a good sheep and pedigree breeders expecting commercial farmers to carry the costs of fantacy priced ram semen is not on

20 years ago sold rams for £300 now guys think 300euro is a great price fer a rehm and would prefer to give 150 for a piece of sh1t (pedigree or not) same guys complain when their cull ewes don't make over 100euro

there are a lot of hidden cost in pedigree breeding e.g traveled half way accross the country for a mate with 4 ram lambs sold the worst one for 350 and glad to see him gone no sale on the other 3 good sheep......home again wouldn't even cover costs for the day fuel,food,entry fees,n a days work lost at home.Repeat exersise until all rams sold:(