Ridgetop
Herd Master
Learning is always good. You never know everything and there is always something more to learn. While I knew that dress out is about 50% on everything except hogs, I certainly didn't know that the head and hide of a 1600 lb. steer could weigh as much as 400 lbs!
On the other hand, learning the yield in lbs. of meat before buying an animal on the hoof might be a necessary thing to do.
One year the neighbor who buys lambs from me said that my price of $200 for a finished 120 lb. lamb was too high and the butcher fee was too high. He wanted me t ask Kent t lower his price and me to lower mine.
I don't have any pasture on my 6 acres, and only forage when we have a wet winter here in southern California, so all my sheep are raised on alfalfa and some grain. At the time he complained, I was rising Dorsets and creep feeding on hay and grain.
I went back through my costs of feed and figured what it cost for the time the lamb was eating - not during pregnancy, just the 5 months it took to get the Dorset lamb to 120 lbs. I broke down y costs for him and he was getting the lamb for about $.05.10/lb. after cost of feeding. I told him that he didn't need to buy my lambs since we were happy to eat them all ourselves. He did not complain after that, and has bought one or 2 per year ever since.
Most people don't know what it costs to turn out a good meat animal, and don't believe you when you tell them. This is because they wouldn't do all that work for what you make on the animals. Most of them can't understand why you do it.
On the other hand, learning the yield in lbs. of meat before buying an animal on the hoof might be a necessary thing to do.
One year the neighbor who buys lambs from me said that my price of $200 for a finished 120 lb. lamb was too high and the butcher fee was too high. He wanted me t ask Kent t lower his price and me to lower mine.
I don't have any pasture on my 6 acres, and only forage when we have a wet winter here in southern California, so all my sheep are raised on alfalfa and some grain. At the time he complained, I was rising Dorsets and creep feeding on hay and grain.
I went back through my costs of feed and figured what it cost for the time the lamb was eating - not during pregnancy, just the 5 months it took to get the Dorset lamb to 120 lbs. I broke down y costs for him and he was getting the lamb for about $.05.10/lb. after cost of feeding. I told him that he didn't need to buy my lambs since we were happy to eat them all ourselves. He did not complain after that, and has bought one or 2 per year ever since.
Most people don't know what it costs to turn out a good meat animal, and don't believe you when you tell them. This is because they wouldn't do all that work for what you make on the animals. Most of them can't understand why you do it.
