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Returns from sheep farming

  • 20-11-2024 9:02pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 145 ✭✭


    Am currently renting 100 acres and am considering stocking it with ewes. The farm is fully fenced for sheep and there are sheds if I want to put them indoors for a few weeks over the winter. My main query is where could I find some solid data on the viability of this size of holding as in what is the profit margin. Would Teagasc have reliable data? I emailed them but heard nothing back. It's average land, gets wet in the winter, would 3 ewes/acre be too high of a stocking rate? Just looking for some basic figures.



Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,342 ✭✭✭razor8


    what your soil indexes like, whats you handling facilities like?

    renting land at 250 an acre and stocking at 3 ewes/acre is a huge cost @€80 per ewe

    its costs anything from €110 to €130 a ewe to keep her for a year when including, fertilizer, meal, diesel, veterinary, vaccines, machinery, straw, scanning, contracting etc

    need near 2 lambs per ewe for system to work but most farms are selling around 1.5 lambs per ewe

    thats my basic figures, if you have to purchase equipment on top of that you'll be working for nowt



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,391 ✭✭✭DJ98


    Seems to be a mass shortage of heptavac p again. Was hoping to do ewe lambs this weekend with first dose before going to winter grazing.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,405 ✭✭✭✭wrangler


    I had my sheep accomadation rented to a local farmer, he kept 200 ewes probably on 45 adjusted acres, he was three years with me and consistently reared 1.7 + lambs/ewe, scanning 1 .9 . He did it for three years and has decided it wasn't worth his while. He has bought a digger now and claims he makes more money, only working it saturdays , than he was with the sheep. He works all week which means he has to commute 2.5 hrs every day



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 145 ✭✭Thegingerbear


    I own the farm and I was thinking instead of renting it out I would stock it with sheep. I dunno what the soil indexes are, never entered my mind. It's reasonably well set up with handling facilities, am trying to establish costs and get a rough idea as to whether it may even turn a profit before making any commitment. I was also considering keeping them indoors for a few weeks from mid December to mid February to let the land recover but that incurs extra costs with round bales and having to feed them every day when housed. Thanks for the figures above, will punch them into excel and see what I come up with.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 56 ✭✭manno


    The first question I would have is what's your background with sheep? If you have experience and like sheep you will make a few pound but starting out with 300 ewes if you are inexperienced (at sheep) would be madness. As far as money goes I'd say you would need to be in the top 10% of sheep farmers to make more money of the 300 ewes than you would renting it out when you take tax into account.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 145 ✭✭Thegingerbear


    That's a fair comment from previous poster. I have plenty of experience from my younger days, trying to figure out if it's worth the effort.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,446 ✭✭✭weatherbyfoxer


    If it's good lowland and we'll fenced I wouldn't bother keeping ewes to be honest..Unless your mad keen on lambing ewes.Alot more money to be made out of finishing hill store lambs then keeping ewes.You will buy a 25-30kg horn ram lamb for €65-€75 in late September/early October.Per head dose and labour will cost you €10,meal will cost you €20.You should end up with a 50kg finished horn hogget in February/March coming into €180-€200 per head.after costing roughly €100 per head to get there.on 100 acres you will run 500 over the winter no problem



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 145 ✭✭Thegingerbear


    I didn't consider the hill store lambs as an option and from a time management perspective that would suit me much better than having ewes and lambing in the Spring which is alot of work. The land is average, would need to be rested up if possible for a few weeks. Do lambs work well being housed in winter as they will probably lose condition for a few weeks after being housed and similar again when put out to grass which throw that plan out the window.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,446 ✭✭✭weatherbyfoxer


    The aim would be to house them in late December once they are already eating meal and feed for 6-8 weeks adlib indoors till they are 50kg and ready for slaughter



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,812 ✭✭✭White Clover


    Would they do 1kg/hd/wk from Oct 1st to Dec31st? Would you squeeze them or leave as Rams?



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,215 ✭✭✭Kevhog1988


    If I was you I'd throw them out onto grass up until they hit 38/40kg and then shear them and into the shed until fit. Take a few bales off it in summer.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,446 ✭✭✭weatherbyfoxer


    I'd be expecting 36-40kg by the 1st of January,depending on the quality of grazing naturally.Should do just over 250g per day went they are up to eating 1.5kg per day over the feeding period



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,051 ✭✭✭✭Danzy


    Sheep that break your heart are ewes and olds.

    Store lambs all the way.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 145 ✭✭Thegingerbear


    Some great advice there from everyone, store lambs it is. That means the land will be rested from say mid December. On that basis there would be land available to rent for a few weeks before closing off for meadow. Alternatively, I could just buy fodder instead of holding up any land for meadow. Just trying to figure out how many lambs I could fit into a slatted shed that previously housed 100 bullocks and the shed will need some changes to house the lambs, such as lamb slats, lower gates etc.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,047 ✭✭✭Dickie10


    Christ on a bike! he was working full time while having 200 ewes and yard rented? id say exhaustion over money put him out of that gig, that or the wife…



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,047 ✭✭✭Dickie10


    is the mountain cross lamb over the lowland store based on the money coming in they are at? store lambs are mad money this year alright hill lambs if they get fresh new grass in march and april pile on weight at that stage and usually hogget prices keep rising through january until mid june with so few spring lambs in may now.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,405 ✭✭✭✭wrangler


    He's one of these madmen that loves farming, but he's really well paid in Dublin.

    He couldn't have been better set up here for lambing sheep here, but he'd be here for 10 mins at5.30 in the morning and maybe 1 to 1.5 hrs in the evening in jan/ feb and then here 18 hrs a day in the lambing



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,215 ✭✭✭Kevhog1988




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,658 ✭✭✭memorystick


    Stores are the handiest. I’m trying to buy at 28-30kgs. Need to do some fencing. They’re starting to rogue now so I’ll get them in before I go back to school.

    If you’re working and farming and paying tax, it’s madness to lamb ewes or calve sucklers. A hard way of paying the taxman.



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