U S A: SHEEP INDUSTRY. Revive it or just let it slowly die?

[greybeard]

Fact is, sheep numbers peaked in 1942 but by 1950 the numbers had decreased by almost half

Yes, but you're talking about a timeline of 68-78 years ago. It's also true, that there are fewer sheep in America today than there was 200 years ago...something happen in the War of 1812 that turned the whole country off of sheep products?
Every meat has tried to make inroads on beef. Pork, the other white meat. Lamb..the other red meat.Eat more Chiken. Even in Australia, the attempts have been less than successful and even devisive:
The meat that doesn't discriminate—lamb." The hashtag is #unitedwelamb or 'You never lamb alone".
This one really got bad reviews.

When you have to try that hard, go to that ridiculous extreme, you have bigger problems than an ad campaign can solve.
http://www.bandt.com.au/campaigns/latest-lamb-ad-labelled

Just a few of the nicer comments, which go a long way to pointing out the demographic they are trying to target:

I didn’t find it funny but I can appreciate what Meat and Livestock Australia were trying to do, run the add, time to stop this PC crap.”

“More a political message than an ad for lamb.”

“Lamb Advertising meeting: ‘Hey, how about this..? Let’s see if we can upset the all of the passionate political wonks, and watch everyone else point their fingers and laugh at them for being all upset.’”

“Hmm…..not much could top last year’s genius giving!! This is clever but I really don’t think it will appeal to many Aussies. I’m not a fan of this one.”

“Great, more time to run around and do errands during the commercials. It goes for long enough, I could probably duck down to the shops and back.”

“These ads used to be actually entertaining but over recent years MLA has just screwed them up. There advertising actually puts me off their product.”

“Crap … got bored and turned it off … forgot what it was advertising .. is this the best they could come up with .. really.”

“No one had the guts to tell them it was rubbish.”

And this one, ended up being banned by the regulating authority:

Meanwhile, in North America, this one simple little slogan has been extremely effective for 15+ years.
Beef. It's what's for Dinner

There is hope tho, as pointed out in the following article:
http://www.border-wars.com/2013/05/the-u-s-sheep-industry-is-belly-up.html
"While it’s pretty clear that sheep-as-industry in the U.S. is reeling and at risk of extinction, there’s some hope to be had with the growing backyard barnyard fad pushing growth in the sheep-as-hobby sector

Sheep are ideal for operations with a small acreage. Most operations in the United States raise fewer than 100 head. Growth of the industry will rely on these smaller operations growing and continuing to introduce more people to the industry while at the same time tapping into local niche markets for lamb and mutton, wool, and dairy products.

Hobby sheep seem to be at the nexus of several major trends which have made the backyard barnyard lifestyle much more popular in the last few years. Aging and increasingly childless yuppies are on board with the organic, sustainable, locavore, back to nature, farmers’ market culture which is a reaction against urbanization and globalization."

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

Hey there Old Ram... How are you doing? How is your wife? I hope you're finding some relief time. Always good to see you've posted up.

G'day LS,as you may have read things are pretty tough down here at the present with the drought and all?I had the chance recently to have a chat with jenny's GP without her being present to bring him up to date with how she is progressing.He was not only surprised but quite concerned about the swift progression of the condition.He has urged me to start to arrange a plan for when I will be unable to care for her at home myself and not try to do it in a rush when the day arrives.She is still very active,although she "tires" quite quickly now and all the problems are her mental capability and all the issues that brings,some days are certainly harder than others but at the end of the day a "few Whiskys" help....T.O.R.

 

[Latestarter]

Terribly sorry for the both of you. What a horrible disease for all who have to deal with it.

 

[Bruce]

Every person who comes in immediately gets that opportunity to try lamb.

I'm in! We are going to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia later this month, DD 1 is looking at colleges. We are staying in NB at a place where the restaurant serves lamb. It is no accident I chose that place.

 

[Mike CHS]

There is a fairly big push in the hair sheep industry to promote sheep in Tennessee. In the "Pick Tennessee" program there is a fairly big list of restaurants. The small farms are filling this niche and to be able to meet demand they are banding together but they have to do it with a broker. We get on average $1.80 a pound and they get whatever they get. It still isn't a bad return for an animal that has received no input except for grass. The last big sale that we went to had sent 1100 sheep to market and I didn't see a single trailer that had more than probably 30 animals. There was some bigger farms there also but I doubt that anyone had over 100 head. We have one contact that exports to Mexico but they handle a couple of thousand breeders.

 

[Bruce]

$1.80 a pound? Geez, nearly free after you take out the slaughter and processing fee.

 

[Mike CHS]

Cattle at the same time was going for $1.07 a pound. The $1.80 is what we got per animal on average there is no slaughter or processing fee. That is a completely different sale.

 

[greybeard]

Cattle at the same time was going for $1.07 a pound.

How much did the 'cows' weigh?

I occasionally see a few sheep/lambs go thru our local sale, but more goats by far than sheep and lambs.
They bring a pretty good price/lb but are light, but I have to assume you can bring them to market weight quicker than the 6-8 months a 4 wt calf would sell for. I try to wean steers and intact bull calves at 450-500 lbs at around 6 months but lately has been tough due to the heat and rainfall being so spotty..
(3-4 wt calves are what are bringing the highest per lb right now.)

My local auction market report is not available on line.
This one is pretty typical of East Texas last week, and is very close to where Baymule lives. There's a pretty good range in prices...these are averages.
STEERS
300 lbs-DOWN:.....$1.50-2.00 lb=$450-$600
300 lbs-400 lbs:....$1.35-1.90 lb=$405-$760
400 lbs-500 lbs:....$1.00-1.65 lb=$400-$825
500 lbs-UP:.........$.70-1.50 lb=$350 and up depending how much over 500lbs

Goats $ 35-200 per head
http://emorylivestockauction.com/emory/emory-market-reports/

 

[greybeard]

Another, somewhat closer to me.

Canners/cutters/boners usually mean older really thin broke mouth cows and over the hill bulls.......destined for the grinder most of the time.

 

[Baymule]

I now have 9 ewes and a ram. Yeah, a real small producer. So far, I have had no problem selling slaughtered lamb for $10 a pound. I did sell 3 live lambs at weaning this time for $350 for the 3 of them. The next lambing will be interesting because I will have more lambs to sell.