Making money with sheep and goats

Making money with sheep and goats
Susan SchoenianSheep & Goat SpecialistWestern Maryland Research & Education CenterUniversity of Maryland Extensionwww.sheepandgoat.com

Making money raising sheep and goats
Plan to be profitable.
Develop a production system based on your resources.
Start with (and keep) the right animals.

Making money raising sheep and goats
Maintain strict biosecurity.
Manage the key factors affecting profitability
Apply business and scientific principles to your enterprise.

1) Plan to be profitable: Have a business plan.
A “roadmap” for your business.
A written document that outlines how you plan to run your business.
Anecdotal evidence indicates than those who prepare a business plan are 10 to 20 times more profitable than those who don’t.(Virginia Tech)

Business planning
Allows you to create a business on paper and manipulate and evaluate different scenarios before risking any of your own resources.
Is usually required when you apply for a loan or grant.
Online business planning software: http://agplan.umn.edu

Components of a business plan
Mission statement.
Goals and objectives
Description of your business

Mission statement or visionGoals and objectives
Why do you (want to) raise sheep or goats?
Define success.
ProfitabilityReturn on investment
Tax write-off
Quality of life
Landscape management
4-H project

Components of a business plan
Resource inventory
Production plan
Marketing plan
Financial plan

Resource inventory
Land
Fencing
Buildings
Feed resources
LaborUnpaid family
Capitalhow will you finance your operation?

Marketing plan
What are you going to sell?
Who are you going to sell it to?
How are you going to sell it?
Will it be profitable?
Identify your target market.

Financial plan
Balance sheet
Income statement
Cash flow statement
Enterprise budget
http://www.sheepandgoat.com/spreadsheets.html

Production plan: predator control
22.7%
51.7%
Livestock guardians
Lethal control
Proper fencing
Management
Predators were responsible for 37% of sheep and lamb deaths in 2005.

Perimeter fencingA good fence is your first line of defense against predators.
Woven/net wire
Barbed wire at ground level
Electric offset wires
High-tensile, electric
5 to 7 wires
Close together near ground
Keep fence lines clean

Livestock guardians
Guardian dogs
Great Pyrenees
Akbash
Maremma
Anatolian Shepherd
Komondor
Tibetan Mastiff
Polish Tatra
Llamas
Female or neutered male
Donkeys
Gelding or jenny
45% of U.S. sheep farms use livestock guardians.

2) Develop a production system based on your resources.
Land and feed
Buildings
Labor and skills

3) Start (and keep) with the RIGHT animals for your production system.
Select healthy, sound animals from reputable breeders.
Select appropriate breeds for your enterprise.
Don’t buy good females and skimp on the males.
Start small and grow the size of your operation gradually.

Healthy, sound animals from reputable breeders
From disease-free herds
Abscesses (CL)
Foot rot
Soremouth
Pinkeye
Sound reproductive organs.
Teats and Udders
Testicles, epididymis, penis
Sound and solid mouths
Moderate body condition.

Healthy, sound animals from reputable breeders
Ideally from scrapie-certified or monitored flocks.
Ideally from CAE-free herds and OPP-free flocks.
Find out history of flock/herd
Disease history
Vaccination program
Deworming program

Favor performance-tested livestock
EPD’s (NSIP or DHIA)
Ram and buck tests
On-farm records
Adjusted weaning and litter weights
Post-weaning gain
Carcass or ultrasound data
Milk records
Fiber records
You can’t tell much by looking at an animal.

Select appropriate breeds: ewes and does
Purpose: meat, milk, dairy, wethers, show
Adaptability
Type of coat or wool
Reproductive ability
Maintenance level
It’s the females that make you money!

The “Holy grail”pounds of quality lamb/goat weaned
Early puberty
Prolificacy
Maternal ability
Lamb/kid survival
Milk production
Out-of-season breeding
It’s the females that make you money!

Select appropriate breeds: rams and bucks
What’s the ram of buck’s purpose?
Sire market lambsWhat weight, condition?
Sire replacement ewe lambs
Sire both

Select appropriate breeds: rams and bucks
Growth rate
Carcass merit
Survival
Fiber and dairy

Merits of crossbreeding
Hybrid vigor [heterosis]: the superiority of crossbred offspring to the average performance of their parents.
Breed complementarity: all breeds have strengths and weaknesses.

Crossbreeding principles
Mating rams and ewes of different breed compositions.
Does not denote indiscriminate mixing of breeds.
Utilizes breeds in their appropriate role.
Suffolk as a ram.
Polypay as a ewe.

Sizing sheep for the market
A lamb is ready for market when it weighs approximately 2/3 of its mature size.

4) Maintain strict biosecurity
Don’t buy animals at sale barns.
Isolate new livestock for at least 30 days.
Close flock (except males) as soon as you can
Don’t show.
Most diseases walk through the gate onto your farm.

4) Maintain strict biosecurity
Don’t spread diseases via shearing and sharing of equipment.
Control wildlife
Limit visitors.
Preventative health management.
Cull problem animals.
Most diseases walk through the gate onto your farm.

5) Manage the factors affecting profitability
Percent quality lamb/kid crop marketed
Feed costs
Market prices

Percent lamb/kid crop
Fertility
Litter size
Ovulation rate
Embryo survival
Survival

Maximize litter size for your production environment
Season
Highest fertility in fall (spring lambing/kidding)
Age
Most productive age: 3-6
Nutrition
Body condition
Flushing
Genetics
Within breed
Between breeds

Control feed costsFeed accounts for ~70% of total costs.
Feed balanced rationsSeparate animals into production groups.
Limit feed
Feed whole grain
Compare nutrient costs
Feed least-cost rations
Weigh feed
http://www.sheepandgoat.com/articles/copinghighfeedcosts.html

Control feed costsFeed accounts for ~70% of total costs.
Consider alternative feeds.
Store feed properly: invest in feed storage.
Minimize feed wastage: invest in good feeders.
Maximize your pasture resource.
Cull unproductive animals .

Marketing
Keep ethnic holidays in mind when placing animals into marketing channels.
Direct, niche, and value-added marketing have the potential to increase profits.
Highest price does not always equate to the highest net price.

6) Agriculture is . . .
The science, art, and business of cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock.

Farming is a business.
Select sheep and goats for economically important traits.
Feed least cost rations.
Use inputs to the point that they provide an economic return.
Base management decisions on economics.
Keep financial records.
File schedule F
Calculate cost of production.
Determine profitability per unit of production.

Science and technology
Use scientifically-proven methods of production to raise sheep and goats.
Disease treatment
Preventative health
Feeding
Breeding and selection

Not all science is practical or economical.
Not all research is properly designed or conducted.
Apply your own logic and reasoning to research data and conclusions.

Listen to, but don’t rely on testimonials.
Test your own hypotheses.
Conduct on-farm research.
Share research needs with the university.

The art of farming
Some things you can’t learn in a book.
Science can’t explain everything.
Some things you can control.
You need to balance book knowledge with the real world.
The livestock don’t read the books.

Thank you for your attention
www.sheepangoat.com

Making money with sheep and goats

by University of Maryland Extension Small Ruminant Program on Feb 12, 2010

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Making money with sheep and goats Presentation Transcript