[freethyme]

I have got 5 , six months old lambs (my first ever time), and plan to send 3   off to slaughter in the next few weeks.  A number of people (well 3) have asked me if they could have a whole or half a lamb.  What I would like to know is, how much is a fair price to charge for a whole lamb which is ready for the freezer.  If any of you experience folks can advice I would be very happy.  Thank you for reading this message.

[jacquip]

A) Find out how much it is going to be to kill, hang, cut and pack
B) Ask the abattoir how much the price is 'on the day' i.e. the price they would pay you if they were buying it from you.

Add A + B = C

If you can get away with putting a little extra on top you will be lucky as most people won't want to pay more than that (C).

[MikeM]

I would also add in the costs you have incurred whilst rearing the animals.

It may be worth looking in a few butchers and see what sorts of prices per kilo they are charging. If you can undercut them by a few pennies people will feel they are getting a good deal (cos, well they are).

[jacquip]

I would also add in the costs you have incurred whilst rearing the animals.

It may be worth looking in a few butchers and see what sorts of prices per kilo they are charging. If you can undercut them by a few pennies people will feel they are getting a good deal (cos, well they are).

I can agree with MikeM about adding in costs incurred i.e a bit extra on top if you can get away it. As to the undercutting, someone much cleverer than me has worked this out. The person at the start of the chain makes nothing or a few pennies per animal as there is a price the consumer will pay and the others i.e abattoir/butcher want their cut (if you'll forgive the pun).  All you do is eat better yourself.  Eventually, when you get fed up of subsidising others to eat as well as you do, you will become as cynical as me and limit your production.

[Fowgill Farm]

We pay £100 for whole lamb jointed from a neighbour, it comes in a big poly bag and we have to pack/wrap it ourselves for the freezer. We're due one next week. This is in North Yorkshire by the way, the price of lamb is horrendous in the  butchers,only yesterday i paid £6.38 for two fat chops as a treat!  but they were scrummy and worth it! 
Don't sell yourself short but don't rip 'em off or they won't come back!
HTH
Mandy 

[SallyintNorth]

Maybe I'm a bit thick this morning but...

The advice, which looks good to me, is to charge the going rate per kilo deadweight plus slaughter and butchery costs.

Then some seem to think it sensible to 'add on the costs incurred in rearing'.

Hrmph.  Surely the idea is that the 'going rate per kilo deadweight' covers the normal costs of breeding, rearing and a little bit of profit?

I know that sometimes this equation does not work and farmers sell every animal at a loss.  But these are not such times.

Pet/orphan lambs are rarely very good quality carcases, so there's already a bit of uplift in charging the average deadweight.

I have no problem whatsoever in adding a bit of profit to A+B=C for being prepared to offer the service and the option of lovely home-reared meat to your friends.  I just bridled at the notion that somehow the farmer should not be recompensed for his/her rearing costs but that the hobbyist should!

[robert waddell]

i don't think you are thick this morning or any other morning        the hobbyist rearer is wanting paid twice for the same thing as their inference is that there stock is better than a proper farmer could ever produce      there was an angry few days postings on the pig section on this very subject with Dan getting embroiled in it            the big thing to remember with sheep/lambs this year is they are dearer than last year

[SallyintNorth]

FYI, Longtown Mart's average liveweight price yesterday was around 183 ppk.   So if your lamb weighs 45kg on his hooves at home, £80 would be a very good price for him/her in the ring.  Pet/orphan lambs usually get 10-15%, or even more, less than a good average commercially-reared lamb, so £65-£70 would probably be a more realistic expectation.  (Note, all lambs will lose a kilo or two between the scales at home and being weighed at the mart.)

Our butcher charges £20-£25 for slaughter and butchering.  All cuts are wrapped suitably for freezing right away and are labelled with cut and weight.

So your £100 per lamb is probably just about right, Mandy.
 
BTW, for pet/orphan lambs you would be pleased to get 45% deadweight, ie, 45kg at home returning just over 20kg meat.  At £100 per whole lamb, that'd be £5/kg overall.

[jacquip]

Birmingham Wholesale Market prices on 8th Aug was £6.20 kg for English lamb so then one has to pay for cutting it up I presume? 

[jacquip]

i don't think you are thick this morning or any other morning        the hobbyist rearer is wanting paid twice for the same thing as their inference is that there stock is better than a proper farmer could ever produce      there was an angry few days postings on the pig section on this very subject with Dan getting embroiled in it            the big thing to remember with sheep/lambs this year is they are dearer than last year

I don't think anyone was saying that but the price the abattoir pays does not (usually) cover the cost of rearing.  Large farms work on economies of scale and are subsidised through SFP.

[robert waddell]

jacquip  what you have said is exactly what i have said only not the same words         no farming commodity really covers the cost of rearing/production  eggs/milk /beef/pork and lamb    potatoes veg all are controlled by   the money men  with every one making more than the primary producer  

[jacquip]

 
Where's the post on the pig debate, I must have missed that one.

[robert waddell]

o that was ages ago will flick through it to get it up      page 15 on the pig board     title what do you charge for sausages

[jacquip]

Thanks.

[andywalt]

I charge £125.00

it costs me £25 for it to be killed and butchered, packed, labelled ect and boxed for the freezer, so I make £100 per lamb, ( well not sure if I can say that I make any money if you look at the bigger picture)