The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: katie_thorpe on January 13, 2014, 02:54:12 pm
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I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how much I should pay for grazing for 2 pregnant sheep? There is currently a field behind our house in Somerset that is approx 1 acre with hedges (that need tending to) but would need fencing and gates putting in. It is also only accessible through another field or by a small kissing gate that you have to climb over a large rubble pile to get too. I have asked and they want £60 pcm for it which I think is a little steep but wanted to get some advice first before I reply to them. There is no water/electric or buildings.
Any advice welcome
Thanks
Kate
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That's way more than a little steep Kate. :o
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I glad you agree!
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Thats wayy too much!!!
I was quoted £30 per head per year for a block of land, although in the end I just fenced it and didnt pay anything ::)
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I guess it depends, if they have people with horses around who might want it then £60 a month is standard for that, but if it's only suitable for sheep and there isn't competition from horse owners then it might be too much.
It does sound more like a horsey price than a sheep one, given the sheep will improve the ground and horses if kept on a small patch generally the opposite unless managed carefully.
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Supply and demand!
I pay from nothing for poor unfenced land to £65/acre for excellent fenced, watered new red clover leys
Average for PP would be £30/acre /year but only if there was more than 20 acres in a block
Lots of place I pay by the head---so from 10p to 30p /week/head
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I have 50 'tack' (winter let grazing) sheep in at the moment on unfenced rough ground (farmer brings own fencing) and am being paid 35p per head per week.
Thing is, an acre is a bit small for horses since you need 2 horses for company and ideally need to rotate the ground. It could be done but only with a lot of hay. So maybe make a more agricultural counter offer price wise. Not on a pence per head rate like we are getting as the land could take more than 2 sheep but maybe offer them £100 a year or something? It has to be enough to make it worth them bothering but £60 a month for a couple of sheep is a bit strong.
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We have horses & sheep. The sheep go on rented ground during the winter for just this reason; horse rent is expensive. I understand why, they can poach the ground so easily. An acre of land though is of limited use to horse owners though especially in this weather. I agree I'd make a counter offer although saying that when we did rent grazing for the horses (opposite our house so very convenient) we still only paid £120 per acre per year
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I rented out an acre and a quarter for a hundred a month and it wasn't even used.
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I think the key thing is that its at the back of your house how much do you save on petrol time etc plus you don't have to go anywhere in the miserable weather other than to step out the door.so in reality what's it worth to you?
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I only pay £100 per year for almost an acre behind our house but I guess that it is worth what you are happy to pay, if it is more convenient paying over the odds to have your animals near to you then go for it?
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As above. Particularly if they are in lamb...peace of mind is priceless.
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People valur £60 differently but I would have thought £10 per month is fair
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I'm surprised they think it is worth any money at all. 1/2 a lamb as a gesture of goodwill?
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Are sheep gold plated?
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Mine are! :roflanim:
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We pay £200 per Acre a year for 6 acres next to the farm. Do we moan ? Yes ,Does It help ? No
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£720 per acre per year they should have a mask on before they rob you .if i could get that all my sheep would be gone and the grazing rented out. i would look else where . you would still have all the up keep costs for the sheep on top. way way way to much .
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£720 per acre per year they should have a mask on before they rob you .if i could get that all my sheep would be gone and the grazing rented out. i would look else where . you would still have all the up keep costs for the sheep on top. way way way to much .
I agree - it raises the price for the rest of us and you have to deal with the fact that whoever is charging you that is laughing at how easy it is to rob you blind overcharge you for sheep grazing.
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How accessible is the field from your house?
If it can be used as an extension of your garden then it is well worth £60 / month.
Look at it another way; if you were looking to buy an acre adjoining your house you could well be looking at £25,000. To borrow £20,000 over 20 years @ 5% would be £130 / month.
Doesn't seem so bad now does it?
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Look at it another way; if you were looking to buy an acre adjoining your house you could well be looking at £25,000. To borrow £20,000 over 20 years @ 5% would be £130 / month.
Doesn't seem so bad now does it?
Yes it does, you are only renting it so will have absolutely nothing to show for the money at the end of the term.
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Aside from an AHA tenancy where else can you rent property for 50% of what a mortgage would cost?
If the field was ten minutes away then yes, it would only be worth a nominal amount or even a "just keep it tidy" agreement, but the convenience and added benefits of having it on your doorstep are worth much more.
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How come land is so expensive to buy - but people want to rent it for peanuts?
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£20k an acre is insane, I would want to be paying less than half that. I think the whole land and property market needs a reality check.
Too many greedy ppl in the world unfort.
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£20k an acre is insane,
It is if you are buying several of them. But for one acre next to your house 20k is nothing. You can't even buy a nice family car for that now.
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Personally I think things are only worth what people are prepared to pay for them, and alas some people are prepared to pay over the odds, because they see something they "want" and they feel like they must have it whatever the cost.
And I could buy a nice family car for under a grand, it all depends on your definition of "nice" ;).
Anyway, we are digressing, sorry Kate :).
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We paid £30K for the two acres (that we've split into two paddocks) that we own. It's not adjoining our house but it is adjoining our neighbours and we can see most of the top paddock from our house. The sheep can hear us when we are outside and shout at us. :wave:
The land we bought was an option when we bought the house but there were a whole load of solicitors involved, due to the way it had been done, and so cost us another £5K on top of that. Very expensive, considering it was just arable land (and fairly poor land at that). We've had to fence all four sides, lay the water and seed it.
As we are still in the process of trying to improve the grazing, we are going to be asking the farmer whose fields back onto our house (and our paddocks) if we can pop our girls onto a fenced off corner of his dairy cow pasture. I'm hoping he won't want £60pcm for the privilege! I expect he'll let us have it for nothing, to be honest, as he often lets another local farmer graze his sheep on some of his other fields over winter (as he keeps the cattle indoors).
I have no idea on the local price for sheep grazing so I've been reading this thread with interest!
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How come land is so expensive to buy - but people want to rent it for peanuts?
Because people are looking at the value of the land itself - it isn't made any more etc. They are expecting it to increase in value and it is a good way to deposit money tax free etc. What they are not doing is buying it according to its cropping value.
For example - my landlord (3K acres arable) reckons that if he bought land to farm at the moment, maybe his sons (oldest 14) might see it starting to pay by the time they are his (45) age.
I'm afraid the value of sheep grazing is worth what the sheep farmer can pay and still make a profit, which is not a lot when you compare it to the value of the land itself (obviously there is also the matter of the sheep improving the pasture - 'golden hoof' and all that).