Smallholders Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: how much should i be charging  (Read 8210 times)

lachlanandmarcus

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: how much should i be charging
« Reply #15 on: July 04, 2011, 03:34:59 pm »

I have just sold 4 shetland hoggets butchered at £80 each. I am planning on changing to a faster growing breed as this lot cost a fortune due to having to feed lots of hay during the winter. I think I would rather get them away as lambs, the problem is I don't know what breed to go for.Any suggestions would be welcomed  ;D :sheep:

my vet crosses his shetland ladies with Lleyn. They grow faster (tho dont end up huge) but they lamb easily, are good mothers and they have more lambs per ewe so more ££. Pretty too! so maybe worth considering.

andywalt

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • kent
  • observe react administer enjoy !!
    • photos
Re: how much should i be charging
« Reply #16 on: July 04, 2011, 09:29:16 pm »
I sell mine for £125 that includes for delivery (local)killed,  butchered, packed and labelled, boxed, for example 4 lamb chops in a freezer bag with a label, all joints are labelled and in seperate freezer bags, ( butcher charges me £25 for the killing, butchering packing) so I make £100 per lamb which they averaged 22-24kg each.  I am in Kent
Suffolk x romneys and Texel X with Romney Tup, Shetlands and Southdown Tup

manian

  • Joined Sep 2010
Re: how much should i be charging
« Reply #17 on: July 05, 2011, 07:24:02 am »
thanks for all advice :-*
now ........what joints/cuts are the usual...... and what do yoou do with spare bits (eg sausages when i do my pigs)
I never knew how much i didn'tknow!!! :dunce: :dunce:
Mx

PDO_Lamb

  • Joined May 2011
    • Briggs' Shetland Lamb
Re: how much should i be charging
« Reply #18 on: July 05, 2011, 11:14:37 pm »

I have just sold 4 shetland hoggets butchered at £80 each. I am planning on changing to a faster growing breed as this lot cost a fortune due to having to feed lots of hay during the winter. I think I would rather get them away as lambs, the problem is I don't know what breed to go for.Any suggestions would be welcomed  ;D :sheep:

No reason to compromise on meat quality (partly due to the slower growth rate) of Shetlands by crossing them. Are you expecting to get a quart out of a pint pot? 30kg live wt is an achievable target if they don't go short of grazing through the summer. Their meat has be more expensive because the costs after the farm gate are per head for a lower yield, but its worth every penny.

I am charging £85.00 plus postage on whole lambs ordered for delivery this autumn from www.briggs-shetlandlamb.co.uk

Dougal

  • Joined Jul 2011
  • Port O' Menteith, Stirlingshire
Re: how much should i be charging
« Reply #19 on: July 06, 2011, 02:04:39 pm »
If you think at 40kg live weight the market average in about £2 a kilo just now that means the average lamb in the market is worth £80. If selling the lamb "In the box" to friends and family you need to make that £80 per carcass so you'll have to charge enough to cover the costs of slaughter, butchery and transport over and above that £80 to keep the same margins. I think you'll struggle to sell that lamb for less than £130 and keep your margins the same. In the supermarket the lamb is probably sold for an average of £10-12/kg so a 20 kilo carcass, allowing for 3kg of waste in bones and discarded fat, will be sold for £170 to £184 each. Just a rough guide but I hope it helps.
It's always worse for someone else, so get your moaning done before they start using up all the available symathy!

seldomseen

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Crimea
Re: how much should i be charging
« Reply #20 on: July 06, 2011, 02:19:08 pm »
Oh for a decent price over here, its 300 hvs,  :o thats about 30 pounds per goat, no buts ifs or cans, makes no odds whether its 80 kgs or 120 kgs or even a young kid, its all the same price if you sell them to the slaughter lorry, so we sell the dead animal and sell them to locals or family for a better price.  :goat:

lachlanandmarcus

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: how much should i be charging
« Reply #21 on: July 06, 2011, 03:34:45 pm »
If you think at 40kg live weight the market average in about £2 a kilo just now that means the average lamb in the market is worth £80. If selling the lamb "In the box" to friends and family you need to make that £80 per carcass so you'll have to charge enough to cover the costs of slaughter, butchery and transport over and above that £80 to keep the same margins. I think you'll struggle to sell that lamb for less than £130 and keep your margins the same. In the supermarket the lamb is probably sold for an average of £10-12/kg so a 20 kilo carcass, allowing for 3kg of waste in bones and discarded fat, will be sold for £170 to £184 each. Just a rough guide but I hope it helps.


The other thing to bear in mind is what the lambs cost you. eg shetland ewe (unreg) in lamb cost me only £35, or shearling £25. Whereas a more commercial ewe might cost £100, and probably need more hard feed, vet intervention at problem lambings etc. So for me, I can take the lower amount of work and cost and sell the meat at £80-90 per lamb. Since I am only selling 'spare ones' and am going to the slaughterhouse to take my home consumption ones anyway, then only the slaughter and butchery cost is extra, the transport is something I am already paying for. Basically I work on the basis that the half I sell will pay for the half we keep plus a bit. But thats a hobby approach, if it were a business it would be different.

 

Forum sponsors

FibreHut Energy Helpline Thomson & Morgan Time for Paws Scottish Smallholder & Grower Festival Ark Farm Livestock Movement Service

© The Accidental Smallholder Ltd 2003-2024. All rights reserved.

Design by Furness Internet

Site developed by Champion IS