[Tudful Tamworths]

I'm back into sheep after a break (an unlucky one - it was my spine!) of about four years, and I'm out of touch with prices to charge for a whole or half lamb. Can anyone give me a steer on what to ask, please?

[twizzel]

Our butcher sells for £2.50/lb. This year we are taking orders for £70/half.

[Foobar]

I do £60 half, £120 whole.  Boxed and delivered locally.  Not vac-pac'd though.

[VSS]

It depends a lot on your costs. You need to set a price that allows you a decent return over and above what you would get if you took the lambs to market (sfter you have costed in the killing, butchering and packaging) but probably allows the customer a better deal than if they bought it joint by joint.

If you have easy access to a good abbattoir nearby that will kill and cut for a reasonable price then it is worth doing.

We have also, in the past set the price per kilo by the current list price for shoulder of lamb in the current Farmer's Guardian. Sell per kilo, not per half/whole

[kja]

we set our prices on local mart prices + kill & cut that way its fair for the customer and you get the going rate. atm prices are not so good though.

[firemansam]

When you say £60 or 70 a half lamb, what weight of lamb are you talking about. My last 2 came back at 19kg a box

[Pedwardine]

Our lambs were between 14kg and 19.5kg and we still charged private customers £60 half and £110 whole butchered and bagged. People are happy to pay for something a little special in that they know exactly how it was reared and how much it was cared for. The butcher price however was very disappointing at £60 per whole lamb from which I obviously had to deduct my slaughter cost of £14 per lamb. Lamb prices were down last year but are apparently now on the up again. He paid me £70 each the previous year. I paid £8 per lamb butchered for my customers which I thought was very reasonable especially as he charged no extra for special request cuts and vac packing. We had to feed our lambs ALOT though last year due to the weather and crappy grass.

[Tudful Tamworths]

Thanks, everyone. That's really helpful. With pigs, I tend to sell per half or quarter, regardless of weight, because they don't vary that much, but with lambs, it will be different. Very grateful to you all.

[twizzel]

I think last year they were between 10.5 -13.5 kg per side. Its still cheaper than the butchers and people seem happy to pay. I've sold 7 out of 12 so far this year and the oldest are only 6 weeks old!