Mona Howard Posted June 12, 2006 Report Share Posted June 12, 2006 What is everyone getting for their lambs? I can sell my wethers and ram lambs for a dollar a pound on the hoof. The girls are sold for breeders and harder to move. Of course I have small numbers to sell. Only about a couple dozen at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted June 12, 2006 Report Share Posted June 12, 2006 Depending on the weight, a dollar a pound is either just okay or a losing proposition. For a 125-lb lamb, $1/lb is about market price. For anything lighter than that, you're underselling yourself. There were a couple of 60 to 70-lb lambs at last Thursday's New Holland auction that brought $2.45; the majority were $1.60 to $1.80. A 60-lb lamb at $1.80 grosses $108. Trucking takes $4 of that. Commission and yardage take another $7.75. Net to you is $96.19, or $1.60.03/lb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipedream Farm Posted June 12, 2006 Report Share Posted June 12, 2006 Bill, What are the lot size considerations on trucking? Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoofly Posted June 12, 2006 Report Share Posted June 12, 2006 Mona - You can check here for an idea of what prices are like. http://www.agr.state.nc.us/markets/mktnews/SA_LS850.TXT Someone can correct me if i'm wrong but i think the way to read this is "per 100 lbs". So if it says 40-50 lbs 120.00-125.00 that means $120 per 100 pounds or $1.20 per pound Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workindogs Posted June 12, 2006 Report Share Posted June 12, 2006 I'd love to know where I can get some of these prices. The local buyer quoted me 70-75 cents for 70-90 lb feeders (commercial whiteface x suffolk). I heard that another prominent buyer paid 78 cents for 100 lb feeders. I have 80-90 lb lambs on dryland pasture and am now dried out.....they need to move or they will start shrinking. At these prices I may cull hard and keep any good replacement. I didn't plan on keeping brockle face replacements and intended to buy more of my foundation type ewes....but prices stink. It's the pits here in PNW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Posted June 12, 2006 Report Share Posted June 12, 2006 Elizabeth try finding some nice yuppies to buy freezer lambs..I get 5$ a lbs hanging weight and word of mouth at work can sell quite a few. We have a Mexican guy who is the middle man for the area Hispanics who want lamb for their weddings and such. I dont have a scale on my place so i charge $100 to 125 a lamb. My katxdorper go about 60-75lbs and my wool lambs 75-100 when i sell them.Not making a killing but it is easy. The guy comes to my house and gets them and he will take cull ewes too. Lucked out having him stop by this year! Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaBluez Tess Posted June 12, 2006 Report Share Posted June 12, 2006 I get $3 per hanging weight for my yuppies. I have a middle eastern guy who buys 60-70 lbs lambs for $75.....he wants 35 lbs hanging weight. Diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 East Coast prices are high, but so are our costs of production. Small square bales of hay start at $4; pasture is available May to October if stockpiled, etc. Still, the Moses Lake market report shows 95 pound feeder lambs at $1.05. http://marketnews.usda.gov/gear/browseby/txt/ML_LS756.TXT Mark, the trucking price I used in my example was what I was charged for lambs picked up at the farm in lots of 50 or more. I have paid the same price for smaller lots delivered to the trucker's yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 Robin, The San Angelo market, which is the link you provided, should not be the market setter for North Carolina, I wouldn't think. New Holland is the benchmark for the East Coast (at least from Virginia north). http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/LN_LS320.txt If you set prices based on San Angelo, you'll probably lose money anyplace but Texas (and perhpas even there). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kajarrel Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 We only sell on the farm. We get $100/lamb weighing (live) under 70 lbs. Anything over 70 lbs. is $1.40/lb. Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mona Howard Posted June 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 Well, it seems I am selling myself short. There is a couple who live about 5 miles from me that supply lamb to alot of different ethnic groups. My lambs are raised on grass alone. Well, of course salt and mineral. Only my near-term ewes and lactating ewes get grain. The couple I take mine to like grass fed because the people who come out to buy do not like to see fat on the carcass, they tell me. Even just a little bit she says. It is convienient for me to take them over since she is close and I don't have to deal with people myself. I see that next year I will have a goodly number to sell and should try to direct market them myself......should I try the newspapers??? Thanks, Robin for the link!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mona Howard Posted June 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 Thanks to you too Bill! and everyone else who replied..........Mona Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 Mona, around here to avoid govern regs and such you are technically selling the lamb out of the field and helping folks arrange kill and cut. I would put an add up at natural food stores and feed stores. Say natural lamb,grass feed,no growth hormones or antibiotics ...list your price and dont forget what kill and cut may cost either figure into total and have one price or add that... also put up a comparison price..say my price to you is $4 a lb compare to natural lamb chops at x for x or leg of lamb at x for x. It makes folks see the value of buying a whole lamb..also maybe say approx total size for your freezer is...45-60 lbs of meat or whatever..most folks think whole lamb and have no idea what kind of room they need. Also dont forget family and word or mouth. It is some work but can be a nice profit and i like the idea i am helping feed a family. Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 Diane wrote: I get $3 per hanging weight for my yuppies. Hey Diane, Do you have a federally-inspected plant that will process Yuppies? At $3/lb hanging weight, I could get rich on them around here, but all the slaughterhouses seem to think they might get in trouble with the law ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deacon Dog Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 Mona, when word gets around you shouldn't have any problem direct selling. Last year my wife put up a flyer at a Latin grocery store in a small town nearby. We had 14 lambs to sell and got calls for 86. We get about the same prices as Kim: $100 for the small ones and apx $125-$150 for the 90-110 lbers (guestimating weight). We could probably get more but like to sell them all in a day or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mona Howard Posted June 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 If I were to direct sell would I need to fix up a place for people to slaughter on farm? I think in some places you need to have a livestock inspector come out for every kill. Is this a law in Virginia? Years ago when I was in Arizona I would only sell live lambs as there was a law about slaughtering meat on your place unless it was for your own consumption...something like that....we used to have to fill out transportation papers every time a sheep left the property. I think they have done away with this regulation now though.....what is done with the offal? Do you just bury it onsite? Mona Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaBluez Tess Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 I give my buyers two choices.....live weight at about $1.5-2 per lb or they can pay me $3 after it is killed .....they buy it live and the custom meat place kills it. They pay for kill/cut/wrap. I tell them if they buy it live it will cost more as they lambs have wool, full stomachs etc.....some people want live and some want hanging....as part of the hanging group, I deliever the lamb to the custom shop. If they want live, they pick up at the farm. It is a custom locally owned butcher shop. Diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kajarrel Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 Every state has its own regulations regarding what is needed for on-farm slaughter. Here in NY, I believe we're supposed to have a shed. I provide a hook in the barn, buckets for water (and water), a water scooper, and baling twine. I also provide paper towels, liquid soap and a knife sharpener (for their convenience). We also give them a trash can for the offal/towels. We bury and sometimes burn the offal (by bury I mean put it in the manure pile under manure). It breaks down almost completely and what isn't is spread on the fields with manure. I've found that onfarm slaughter is the most humane and convenient way of selling my lambs and I like meeting customers from all over the world . . . Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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