Home
About Cotswold Sheep
Where To Get
Contact
Breed Standard
Cotswold Origins
How-To Articles
Site Map
Black Cotswold Breed
Official Documents
Bob Gillis: "Mr. Cotswold"
| | How Quickly Do ACRA Cotswolds Repay Your Investment?
It is quite possible to recoup
an investment in ACRA Cotswold sheep after the first year.
It's even more likely by the second
year, for any flockmaster who identifies local high-paying buyers and then
sells to them.
Scroll down this page to see the "Dollars & Sense" of
these statements.
|
Full Disclosure:
Purebred ACRA advantages consist mainly of their reliable
high-dollar products, which attract eager, repeat buyers in every city and town
where offered. These high-paying buyers rarely frequent sub-wholesale
outlets such as auctions, sale barns and wool "pools."
Flockmasters who insist on selling mainly at sub-wholesale
outlets cannot expect to reap appropriate returns on special products from any
pure breed or standardized crosses.
|
Observe these Cotswold traits that make quick money and
repeat buyers:
- Return #1: Your newly-acquired 2-year-old Cotswold sheep may yield 8
to 14 pounds of heavily-skirted
wool. If sold for a very reasonable
handspinner's price of $8 per pound, the return is at least $64 in raw
wool alone, not counting skirtings sales. If your
sheep is a ewe, then her lambs' wool will
yield about 3 to 5 lbs., at $10/lb. or more, or say about $45 from 1.5
lambs' wool.
- Return #2: A young Cotswold ewe will yield one to two lambs
in her first production year,
possibly each Growing To Be as valuable as Their Mother.
- Return #3: Cotswold "freezer-lambs" bring prices typically about
$250 per head and
up (plus the butcher fee) for 130-pound (liveweight) lambs.
For your consumer, this averages a very reasonable $7/lb. in the package.
- Return #4: Aside from the meat itself, the pelts (after being tanned
at a cost of $50 to $70) typically sell for $100 to $150---net Pelt
revenue of around $30-$75.
- Return #5: Each Cotswold ewe and her lamb(s) will produce 2400 lbs.
of manure (not counting bedding) worth over
$50 in
nutrients alone at 2008 fertilizer prices. Cotswold sheep thoroughly
chew and destroy weed seeds, and the manure is "dry," due in part
to its small size pellets (with little
odor)---"clean" manure sells quicker to suburban gardeners, and at
higher prices.
Cotswold expenses are similar to any other
hardy breed of sheep---considerably less than many conventional breeds of
sheep.
- Expense #1: As of 2007, the hay cost per ewe was about $42.
- Expense #2: As of 2007, grain cost per ewe with lambs was about $30.
- Expense #3: Properly cared-for Cotswold sheep's veterinary costs are typically very
low, perhaps $5 each per year.
- Expense #4: About 7 hours of labor per ewe per year if lambing is outdoors
in spring, higher if indoor winter lambing is practiced. At a little
above minimum wage, about $50.
- Expense #5: Shearing. Depending on where you live this
ranges from a low of around $2.75 per ewe, up to $20 per ewe, often 50%
more for rams. Cost is $5 per head or less in most sections
(flockmasters can also shear their own sheep).
"Low-Estimate" Cotswold Returns
|
|
| Net
receipts |
|
|
Net
Costs |
|
| Cotswold ewe fleece |
$64 |
|
Hay |
$42 |
|
| 1.5 Lamb fleeces |
$45 |
|
Grain |
$30 |
|
| 1.5 Lambs for meat |
$270 |
|
Vet Costs |
$5 |
|
| 1.5 Lamb pelts net |
$75 |
|
Labor |
$50 |
|
| Manure value |
$35 |
|
Shearing |
$5 |
|
|
$489 per ewe per year |
|
$132 per ewe per year |
|
|
MINIMUM return (receipts minus costs) = $357/year.
Some growers report organic, kosher, halal, etc. at nearly double these
prices. |
"High-Estimate" Usual Breeds Returns
|
| Net
receipts |
|
|
Net
Costs |
| Typical ewe fleece (max) |
$8 |
|
Hay & Grain |
$72 |
| 1.5 Lamb fleeces (max) |
$6 |
|
Vet Costs |
$5 |
| 1.5 Lambs at auction (av.) |
$195 |
|
Labor |
$50 |
| Manure value |
$35 |
|
Shearing |
$5 |
| Return per ewe per year |
$244 |
|
Per ewe per year |
$132 |
|
MAXIMUM return (receipts minus costs) = $109/year |
remember: just owning
Cotswolds does not mean buyers know you exist: Join ACRA!
Make sure you have ACRA Cotswold sheep, and promote accordingly. At least one
ACRA Cotswold grower reported reaping over $2000 per year
by leasing a few of her animals to a family of professional showmen. That
"show family" added the animals to their other breeds, multiplying overall winnings!
Bottom Line: It is quite possible to recoup
an investment in ACRA Cotswold sheep after the first year, even more likely in the second
year, by identifying high-paying buyers and then selling mainly to them.
Here are three more reasons to prefer genuine ACRA Cotswold sheep:
1. Cut Costs With Easy-Keeping Cotswold
Sheep
2. ACRA Cotswold Lamb & Mutton Have
High Consumer Acceptance
3. Cotswold Wool---"Poor Man's Mohair"--- Sells For
Excellent
Prices
|
