Sheepshape
Herd Master
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2012
- Messages
- 1,706
- Reaction score
- 3,095
- Points
- 373
So....I love sheep. BUT.....I have to throw in the towel.
With all the uncertainty about what will happen with farming after the infamous BREXIT.....sheep farming being top of the list for things which will become economically impossible.....I go to market with really nice ewe lambs. Last year I got £85 per animal on indifferent ewe lambs. Today offered £45.....declined and prepared to pack them all back. Some business-minded guy offers OH £50 for 20/30.....he accepted the offer. 10 come home.
At the rate things are going, the loss per animal will be over £20 each. Though I have sheep as a passion, not as an income, I cannot survive this way. Today I have conceded defeat.
My lovely ladies won't go to the tup. I'll sell off those who are 'at the end of the line' in the coming months. Some of my lovely ewe lambs (which I have never fattened for meat) may have to go down this road. I'm veggie, so don't see them as food.
My rams will have to go for meat.
About a dozen ewes/ ewe lambs I cannot bear to part with.....old friends, bottle lambs etc. I'll keep them until they are old.
I plan to turn my land over to wildlife/conservation whilst I am still able to manage it effectively.
I will sorely miss sheep.
With all the uncertainty about what will happen with farming after the infamous BREXIT.....sheep farming being top of the list for things which will become economically impossible.....I go to market with really nice ewe lambs. Last year I got £85 per animal on indifferent ewe lambs. Today offered £45.....declined and prepared to pack them all back. Some business-minded guy offers OH £50 for 20/30.....he accepted the offer. 10 come home.
At the rate things are going, the loss per animal will be over £20 each. Though I have sheep as a passion, not as an income, I cannot survive this way. Today I have conceded defeat.
My lovely ladies won't go to the tup. I'll sell off those who are 'at the end of the line' in the coming months. Some of my lovely ewe lambs (which I have never fattened for meat) may have to go down this road. I'm veggie, so don't see them as food.
My rams will have to go for meat.
About a dozen ewes/ ewe lambs I cannot bear to part with.....old friends, bottle lambs etc. I'll keep them until they are old.
I plan to turn my land over to wildlife/conservation whilst I am still able to manage it effectively.
I will sorely miss sheep.