Sheep

[GarethM]

Not technically, they don't need to be tagged.

 

They're treated more like horses, so you don't even need a CPH

Edited February 21, 2023 by GarethM

[Conor Wright]

4 minutes ago, Zaman said:

I know it may sound strange but are alpacas agricultural animal? 

Can't speak for the UK but in Ireland, yes.

[Zaman]

Can I ask... if sheep are so much work and time consuming and headache to have... then why does everyone have them? 

[trigger_andy]

4 minutes ago, Zaman said:

Can I ask... if sheep are so much work and time consuming and headache to have... then why does everyone have them? 

If someone grows potatoes in a veg garden and sells them they'll make bugger all. If they do the same with 50 acres they'll make a few quid. 

[Will C]

To breed and grow lamb can be profitable, however you need a few hundred to be earn a basic living, at this point a few losses are excepted but if you have 10 it’s almost as much work as a 100 and you lose a higher percentage so not viable. The tipping point seems to be about 50 to make the effort vs reward viable on a commercial level but that is as part of a mixed set up

[scbk]

10 minutes ago, Zaman said:

Can I ask... if sheep are so much work and time consuming and headache to have... then why does everyone have them? 

Might be a can of worms mentioning this, but subsidies. Most of the meat must be going abroad, talking to people I know about this recently, they (me included) don't eat lamb or mutton on a regular basis. But the hills and fields are full of sheep.

Kinda seems like we are subsidising a supply of meat to Europe?

[trigger_andy]

6 minutes ago, scbk said:

Might be a can of worms mentioning this, but subsidies. Most of the meat must be going abroad, talking to people I know about this recently, they (me included) don't eat lamb or mutton on a regular basis. But the hills and fields are full of sheep.

Kinda seems like we are subsidising a supply of meat to Europe?

I eat lamb fairly regularly. I used to buy a box of hogget from a farmer up north but he stopped doing runs down my way as he was selling out locally. 

[topchippyles]

Anyone watched the new series of clarksons farm season 2 every morning they are up at the crack of dawn rounding the sheep up after escaping. 

[GarethM]

Subsidies, not really worth the paperwork or agro. In generalist terms you'd need to be a hill farmer owning Snowdonia or a big boy arable farmer.

 

Most of us fall in the middle and to be honest isn't worth having you're hands tied behind your back with yet more rules.

 

If I had 100acres it might be feasible, but the stewardship stuff gets in way, unless the newer schemes make it more about common sense environmental stuff we already try to achieve and does zero to reduce costs of production.

[Stere]

If you already have 50 acres & more whats going on with that atm?