This document provides tips on direct marketing lamb. It discusses questions farmers should ask themselves before starting, such as whether there is demand for grass-fed lamb and how it will be processed and sold. The document also outlines how the farm markets grass-fed lamb directly to consumers through a farm store, farmers markets, and home delivery. It discusses pricing lamb and advertising. The farm produces other products alongside lamb such as grass-fed beef, pastured pork and poultry, vegetables, and more. The document reviews the farm's history of lamb marketing and its plans to expand direct marketing in the future.

2. Gerald te Velde
Twin Creeks Farm
Direct Marketing Tips
January 2015

3. Direct Marketing Lamb
 questions to ask
 grass fed lamb
 direct marketing lamb
 past and future

4. Questions to ask
 Where do I start?
 Do I enjoy working with sheep?
 What about people?

5. Questions to ask
 Is there demand for lamb?
 Demand for grass fed lamb?
 Why grass fed?

6. Questions to ask
 What are the costs?
 Where/how can I sell lamb?
 Do we market only lamb?

7. Questions to ask
 What about processing?
 Do I/How do I advertise?
 How do I determine prices?

8. Grass fed/grass only lamb
 Jan-Feb lambing and May-
June lambing
 rotationally grazed (ie.
MiG, mob)
 lambs are finished on
pasture or hay

9. Marketing Lamb Direct to Consumers
 processing of lamb
 pricing, advertising, & promotion
 distributing lamb to consumers
 lamb along side other products

10.  inspected abattoir
 how many/how often?
 paper wrapped & frozen
 vac packed & fresh
 also ¼’s, ½’s and whole
Lamb Processing

11.  figure your costs
 production, processing
& distribution
 check the competition
 price by carcass weight
 pricing by the cut
Pricing

12.  word of mouth
 business/farm logo
 brochures, etc
 signs & banners
 internet -website, etc
 other advertising
Advertising & Promotion

13.  Farm Market Store
 Farmers’ Markets
 Delivery locations
 Home delivery
 Meat CSA
 Restaurants
Distribution to Consumers

14. Lamb and other farm products
 grass fed beef
 25 shorthorn/black angus cows

15. Lamb and other farm products
 pastured pork
 10 berkshire/tamworth sows

16. Lamb and other farm products
 Free range turkeys

17. Lamb and other farm products
 Pastured chickens

18. Lamb and other farm products
 ducks

19. Lamb and other farm products
 goats

20. Lamb and other farm products
 rabbits

21. Lamb and other farm products
 5 acres of vegetables

22. Looking Back
 started with milking sheep in 1998
 marketed lambs through sales barns
 began marketing direct in 2005
 farmers’ market and ‘farm gate’ sales

23. Currently
 direct marketing approx. 80 lambs
 4 farmers’ markets, farm store,
delivery locations in Toronto
 building new website

24.  focus on improving our lamb
 the possibility of hair sheep
 market 120+ lambs/year
Plans for the future

25.  increase farm store sales
 more farmers’ markets?
 expand meat csa/buyers club
 look closely restaurants/wholesale
Plans for the future