[ThomasR]

I was at the lanark poultry sale today and somebody brought in a bunch of heb lambs, ewe and tup lambs and they went for £6 each  . They were not registered but to be fair I have seen allot worse quality in some registered flocks. I was disgusted when I heard that they went so low and couldn't help thinking that they were on a one way ride to the slaughter house. I would of had them but did not have a trailer as was there for pigs and chickens.

[harmony]

 It is hardly surprising when you look at commercial lamb prices.

[Coximus]

Their is about 20% more sheep around than the market wants at the moment, prices are hard, and anything out of specification the buyers don;t need, so wont pay anything for.
In this market Hebs, to pay for themselves, need to be either crossed to a terminal sire, or sold direct / deadweight or marketed hard and sold in meat packs.
Until the market recovers in future, they wont do well - yet less than a year ago they could get £1.40/kg as hoggets (about £55-60 a head) when the market was short of lambs.

All swings and roundabouts

[Fleecewife]

Do you know who was selling them?

[sabrina]

That is shocking. Lamb is still not cheap to buy in the supermarkets so who is making the money.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

That is shocking. Lamb is still not cheap to buy in the supermarkets so who is making the money.

The big boys and the supermarkets. They squeeze every last penny from the farmer and charge an arm and a leg to the public for lamb. Personally this practice should be made illegal. I think there should be a new law which says that the minimum price for a store lamb or cull ewe should be between £60 and £65. The minimum price for a shearling should be £100 and the minimum price for a ram should be £250, the minimum price for a fat lamb should be  £75-80. The minium price for a ewe lamb should be £80. That way it would stop greedy people cheating the system.

[Fleecewife]

That is shocking. Lamb is still not cheap to buy in the supermarkets so who is making the money.

The big boys and the supermarkets. They squeeze every last penny from the farmer and charge an arm and a leg to the public for lamb. Personally this practice should be made illegal. I think there should be a new law which says that the minimum price for a store lamb or cull ewe should be between £60 and £65. The minimum price for a shearling should be £100 and the minimum price for a ram should be £250, the minimum price for a fat lamb should be  £75-80. The minium price for a ewe lamb should be £80. That way it would stop greedy people cheating the system.

...and ensure the extinction of the primitive rare breeds 

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Thing is If that was made law people would have no option but to buy them at those prices. The prices now are pathetically small which we pay, it would teach people that animals are living things and not money. If people want rare breeds they should pay the right price. That's  the big thing wrong with this country is that everyone expects something for nothing. Back in the day you would pay a lot for an animal, because you knew how much it was worth to your flock and if you couldn't afford it sometimes people would club together and buy it, and then share it out, in the case of a tup or bull that is. What happened to the good old days? We live in a ver selfish society today, I notice that whenever I sell my sheep/buffalo, its almost like they expect them for free! its so irritating!!

[waterbuffalofarmer]

That is shocking. Lamb is still not cheap to buy in the supermarkets so who is making the money.

The big boys and the supermarkets. They squeeze every last penny from the farmer and charge an arm and a leg to the public for lamb. Personally this practice should be made illegal. I think there should be a new law which says that the minimum price for a store lamb or cull ewe should be between £60 and £65. The minimum price for a shearling should be £100 and the minimum price for a ram should be £250, the minimum price for a fat lamb should be  £75-80. The minium price for a ewe lamb should be £80. That way it would stop greedy people cheating the system.

...and ensure the extinction of the primitive rare breeds 

The thing is fleecewife if people really want the rare breeds they will pay a good price for them. I would pay £80-£100 for a breeding animal, especially a rare breed animal, it would up the value of them and make them a fashionable thing to have. It might do the breeds some good. If they were the same prices as say everyone elses, if the prices were upped, people would buy them, its only if the prices are all at different levels, really cheap and then really expensive. What does everyone think of my idea?

[ThomasR]

I'm with fleecewife If I had to pay £80 for a heb ewe lamb no matter what the quality was then I think the breed would be in a right state. I sold my zwartble registered lambs including tup lambs who were all healthy and had the right markings for £70 each!!!!  I sell my mature heb ewes for £35 each and i bought in a cracking tup for £200. By the looks of things hebs are in a good place right now, at the national sale at Lanark a while back People were paying top prices for good quality hebs (including me). It is just a few people who take advantage of the breeders who need there sheep to be gone and can't afford to bring them back home so the buyers know that they don't need to pay a fair price. That is what happened yesterday. It probably didn't help that hey had 4 horns but that shouldn't matter.  It's a good thing the ewes didn't show up!!

Walker, Netherurd Mains Pen 6-8
Lot 23
24 Hebridean Lamb
25 Hebridean Lamb
26 Hebridean Lamb
27 Hebridean Lamb
28 Hebridean Lamb
29 Hebridean Lamb
30 Hebridean Lamb
31 Hebridean Lamb
32 Hebridean Lamb
33 Hebridean Ewe
34 Hebridean Ewe
35 Hebridean Ewe
36 Hebridean Ewe
37 Hebridean Ewe
38 Hebridean Ewe
Hebridean Lamb

[harmony]

If there is plenty of interest and bidders then the price will rise. If there isn't then it's a buyers market. If you start putting minimum prices on you'll find that once your "hobby farmer" buyers dry up the meat man wont play the game and you'll be taking stock home. I don't think people are taking advantage as such there is a glut of lambs due to many reasons and actually sometimes it is a good job these people can mop up the extras.

[kelly58]

Would them having 4 horns not make them more rare ?? 

[Tim W]

That is shocking. Lamb is still not cheap to buy in the supermarkets so who is making the money.

Lamb is not cheap to buy but it's a rough world out there and the processors are having a hard time too

We (UK) primarily eat the choice cuts = leg roasts and chops.
A large proportion of the rest of the carcase gets exported , when the £ is weak that's fine but when the £ is strong no one wants to buy our lamb because it's too expensive
Hence the UK lamb market is very much at the mercy of currency exchange rates

I think that in the long term commercial fat lamb producers will have to do the job for £65/head
Direct marketing is a different game but on anything other than a small scale requires lots of time/investment
C'est la vie!

[Fleecewife]

Would them having 4 horns not make them more rare ?? 

Well yes, the four horn and multihorned Hebs are of course much rarer than the two horned version, but they don't fetch a premium.  Unreg Hebs definitely have a market, but just about always for meat, I would say. Many Heb owners don't like the extra care needed to raise multihorns.

 Don't forget that the primitives have to be kept to about 16 months before they go for slaughter, so all the costs, space and so on of an extra winter.

[fiestyredhead331]

rare breed sale in Dingwall on the 7th November and when I hear some of the prices for hebs, shetlands etc it makes me mad but zwartbles seem to hold their prices.
Hoping to take a trailer down so who knows what I'll come back with