The End of a Love Affair

[Sheepshape]

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.

 

[Latestarter]

Awwww..... So sorry Sheepshape. Such a sad ending. Hope you'll still share (some of) your time with us here. I' sure this decision hurts you to the core. I'm glad you'll be able to remain on your farm and keep a few for personal pleasure.

 

[Baymule]

This is heart breaking news. I know how you love your sheep, at least you can keep some for pets. Is the lamb meat exported or consumed in country? Why is BREXIT making the prices fall so low?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

So sorry...

 

[Ridgetop]

That is so sad. Are you sure that prices won't go up again once everything has settled down? You can also check out other markets for your lambs - how about specialty restaurants where you will feed to order?

At least you will have some of your sheep to still look at and love. Hopefully, things will turn around for you and the lamb market will improve.

 

[promiseacres]

 

[Hens and Roos]

 

[Sheepshape]

Thank you for your kind words.

Is the lamb meat exported or consumed in country? Why is BREXIT making the prices fall so low?

Britain exports the majority of the lamb it produces, with the biggest market by far being the EU. At present there are some 'preferential treatment' rules for anything produced in any member state, including lamb. When we are no longer part of the EU we may be preferentially penalised, and this will include our lamb.
Our welfare standards are pretty high, so our meat prices aren't the lowest. Post BREXIT when export taxes to the EU may be raised on our lamb, then our meat will become much more expensive.Cheaper meat from countries (probably with lower welfare standards) will be sourced. Trade to the EU is being acrimoniously discussed by both the EU and Britain.....it's unlikely we'll come off favourably in these discussions.
BREXIT is likely to be disastrous for farmers. You can probably guess I voted to remain as part of the EU, always believing we are "Stronger Together'. A lot of folk who who voted for 'Out' did it on a gut response about immigration....the EU has free movement between countries. Many hundreds of thousands of folk from poorer EU countries came over to Britain.....not viewed favourably by many (though the figures actually show that they contributed to rather than drained the system). Many folk had no idea, and weren't told/didn't bother to find out just what the EU was doing for us, only what it was taking from us. Too much harping on about 'Great' Britain pre EU membership. Well, things have changed 'Great' Britain had become 'Little Britain' and isolated little places often don't do well without their 'Big Brother' (Did you see how I've managed to seamlessly inserted two TV programmes there? SORRY...I have a slightly warped sense of humour!).

I'm trying to keep my options open. I couldn't bear to part with some of my woolly pets, so, if things change, I will have a core to start with. OH doesn't even know my decision yet....but he's not the animal person.

These are difficult times for us.

 

[greybeard]

Britain exports the majority of the lamb it produces, with the biggest market by far being the EU. At present there are some 'preferential treatment' rules for anything produced in any member state, including lamb. When we are no longer part of the EU we may be preferentially penalised, and this will include our lamb.

It's called 'favored nation' trade status here.
What you are describing is precisely why the EU was thought up by the 2 main conspirators (Frawnce and Germany) to begin with. That squeezes out the US and soon, will squeeze the UK and of course it's commonwealth nations as well.
The thanks ya get, for saving Europe from the Nazis and later, from the Soviets, tho I still believe the world would have been far better off to let Stalin have the whole of Germany in 1945 and as far as I'm concerned, could have had Hitler's Vichy puppet France at a discount as well.

 

[Baymule]

When you say welfare standards, do you mean inspections on the meat?

Here, illegal immigration is a hot topic. One side screams for open borders with unlimited immigration and instantaneous citizenship, the other side screams for much more regulated immigration and closing loopholes. I fall somewhere in the middle. We must do a better job of controlling who comes in the country, but the farmers need the workers that will take the jobs nobody else wants, sometimes under pretty hard conditions. Young people used to take the bottom jobs, many have hay hauling and produce picking stories to tell. But many of today's young people bury themselves in devices, social media and video games under the cool/warm air of a temperature controlled system. The very idea of sweat and dirt is as foreign to them as taking a beach vacation in Antarctica.