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I believe that to be competitive in a global marketplace,
sheep producers must adapt to the modern production practices found in the
rest of US agriculture. Just as you can't make money growing 80
bushel/acre corn with an old 2-cylinder tractor, you can't expect to make a
profit from sheep or any other enterprise without embracing modern
production and business practices.
Located in Iowa, I am a high-cost producer in that I use a lot of harvested feeds and
house my sheep in the Winter/Spring. That is, I lamb in winter months
and finish my lambs on grain. The advantages of this system are:
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Larger lamb crops. Ewes bred in September and October have the
largest litter sizes.
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More control. Weather, predators and parasites have
very little impact on my flock's production. Also, I can just
about eliminate feed waste by limit feeding.
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Premium price. Most years, there is a premium for finished
lambs sold before mid-July and better prices in late summer than early
Winter.
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Minimal land utilization. Pastures begin to "wear out" when
lambs requirements are increasing. The amount of energy available
for growth during this time is very low and growth almost stops.
Ewes make better use of pasture than lambs after the Spring lush.
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Comfort/convenience. During lambing, trying to tend a flock
before heading to work is more manageable if they are confined. Chasing
after ewes and/or lambs at 5:30 in the morning in the middle of a
rainstorm doesn't appeal to me. Likewise, having to tend to a
flock in the middle of a blizzard is a lot better indoors than outdoors!
The downside is that these higher costs have to be paid for. That
means much higher production than an average farm flock. According to the
2010 Sheep Producer Survey the average flock in my region weans 1.55
lambs per ewe exposed. For the same year, the national average
slaughter weight was 137 lbs. So, a good estimate for the midwest
average lbs of finished lamb per ewe is 212 lbs. My goal is 300 lbs.
My average over the last 5 years has been 1.76
lambs weaned per ewe. Over the last 2 years the average was 1.95, with
an average finish weight of 133 lbs. This works out to 259 lbs of
finished lamb per ewe - over 20% more than the Midwest average.
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