no one works harder than a farmer. During this pandemic I got hooked on watching farming videos, the sheep are my favorite, but all farmers work more than anyone else alive. If life was fair you'd all be billionaires.
The way you make money is much the same way we do on the cattle end of things. That is why we have to take pride in the stock we grow. Great video. Ron, Fayette, Maine.
I myself am in the same situation as you in new Zealand i lease land here there and everywhere i shear my own sheep and other people's everything i make goes back into bettering my flock and have the same goal.. keep up the good fight... great video
I paid $125 to have my 6 Jacob sheep feet trimmed and sheared. And I tipped another $25.. we also buy CD&T and the shearer does our vaccinations for us. We’ve gone through 5 shearers in 6 years. All our shearers keep retiring. We need more good shearers in Oregon!
These type of videos are some of my favourites! So interesting to see the finances! Making money from sheep is the only way we can carry on working with these animals
In Gregor's words " As if he doesn't have enough money he sells merchandise"... Would like to see a video of the market when you can, from how you organise going, dropping them off, selling and so forth.
I sit here in my office, out of the weather listening to music. I have days that I could pull out all my hair. Then I watch these videos and just think I'm a big wimp. Farmers don't get paid enough that's for sure! The hours they put in every day, and this is back breaking work. Seldom get time off and it incredible what they do. I'm a city girl, never been on a farm I would die the first 2-3hours lol Love the videos, you and your team are doing a great job!!!. I hope you find that pot of gold to help out with expenses and have some fun. Love the dog's
The Aussie and Kiwi lamb is dominant at the market/grocery store. It’s uncommon to find American lamb at the meat counter, not saying it isn’t. Lamb isn’t a popular item among Americans, I think all the mutton feed to the soldiers during WWII ruined it for many. So not eating lamb has trickled down in families since then. Lamb sales to middle easterners and Mediterranean families are the best sales. The Wool market to me has never been great, Dorset fleeces aren’t in high demand, the wool breeds hold that demand. I do sell my best fleeces to the hand spinners, they like a good Dorset fleece. The only profit I’ve made from wool is shearing other peoples sheep. My best income has been selling seed stock and rams. I started my sheep business when I was 12. Built my first flock from breeding and buying older brood ewes. My new flock I’m doing the same. (I took a little break from sheep)
That's great that the marts help you out with getting started, don't do much here in NI to help out young people trying to get started. Not in my experience anyway. Great videos keep them coming 👍
I'm from California. We say "guys" in a general way. Nobody is offended when we say "Hi guys" because it is understood to be gender-neutral. When I hear you say "boys" I never think it is just the males you are talking about! It just doesn't mean the same thing anymore... so lighten up on yourself Cammy. We all know what you mean! (And anyone who would be offended was probably looking for a fight and you would never be able to make them happy anyway!) BTW, another informative video! Thanks!
Yeah I mean it in a general way buy because I say 'boys' all the time the two link together and both seem like they refer to males. Just trying to be more neutral as i'm a big fan of women in ag. It's no doubt harder for them so u find the ones that get into it are very very good and often show the men up!
Everyone says > "guys" in a general way! It's only a few that are pushing this > "Gender-neutral" crap. and 'They' are 'funded' > Have their Agenda. > Ridiculous times we live in. > (99.9) percent of the world's population, could care less.
Love your videos. It’s kind of tough figuring out prices in US . Like how much it really cost in US per sheep to have and then Sheard. Good luck to you and your wife and your new baby. And your dogs are awesome.
Another good one Cammy. Fair play for sharing your prices. Sold my last lambs today. Texel out of mule ewes. £99 for 43kg. Hope the trade stays good for you. Might be able to afford to get myself a sheep game hoody now 😂
I don’t think the public have any idea how fine the margins are for sheep farmers. The single farm payment allowed our farm to break even. We took nothing out just financed machinery and equipment. Ironically now that we are too old to sensibly run our own stock, summer haylage bales for sale, heifer grazing and feeding, followed by winter tack sheep, we are in profit. I hope the system changes post Brexit because the subsidies should only be paid for food of the required standard, plus some environmental care. I thought you did a good job assessing the weight of the fit lambs.
One day I will Sam. That's the dream. But to increase my numbers I had to buy some. I have 120 home bred gimmers at the tup this year though so all new breeding stock is home bred and my ewe lambs i've bought in i plan to sell as gimmers.
Hi its difficult make money in any farming enterprises, food been so devalued the last few decades really annoys me when you hear general public giving out about farmers getting subsidies when in reality its them who get them really as otherwise they wouldn't be able to pay real cost of what they put in their mouths ..... I know a part time sheep farmer he's also an electrician,he told me recently that back in the 80,s a lamb was worth a weeks wages of a tradesman today wouldn't pay for one day...and sheep trade going well....farmers not being treated well working harder to stand still for over a generation... Like the look of your gear ,those hurls and races....
Very interesting to hear the economics of raising sheep over there, looks like you had a pile of traffic on the road next to your pasture, ever have trouble with sheep getting on the road?
@@TheSheepGame last time i made money on wool was in 1989..............was good up till then ....... back in the early 70s my neighbour purchased a universal tractor with power steering and safety cab new with the sale of 200 fleeces , traded in a wrecked grey ferguson also .......them werethe days ........in the mid 70s a fat lamb 55 kg in spring would pay a farm workers wages for a week ....and his wages were regulated by the state .........
@@TheSheepGame Enjoyed this vid Cammy. There are three main reasons we run fine wool merinos: 1. Our our light soils and variable rainfall doesn't suit a fat lamb enterprise (or a cattle only enterprise either) whereas merinos are well adapted to this environment. 2. Merinos give us two bites of the cherry, wool and meat. Wool provides the majority of our income from sheep but we can sell young wethers and culled ewes as lambs, and older wethers and ewes as cast for age mutton. Depending on demand those surplus sheep often go back to the paddock to restockers who run them for their wool too. 3. We are passionate about traditional superfine wool - simply a beautiful fibre made by nature. In performance terms no other fibre can match it!
Cammy Lamb is not a really big staple food here in Canada. I have had it only once. I don't know how to cook it or choose what cut is best. Can you make a video on that aspect of sheep farming?
Do you think ye boys will take a big hit in lamb prices if there is no Brexit deal done,like us Irish lads will do with the beef if they cant strike a deal
I’m confident although i have a video coming where i sell some store lambs because my bottle crashes. I’m running at such a tight margin i can’t afford for my lambs to be worth 25% less so can’t risk it. If i was a more established farmer i’d take the chance.
@@TheSheepGame the store trade is flying here in Ireland, they reckon the sheep trade is the only sector that wont be effected by a NO DEAL over here but the beef and dairy sector will take a big hit especially the beef ,hopefully it all works out in the end
Great video again👍 how do you find the rappa and which model is it? Hope to buy a mobile yard in the new year if I get grant approval. Was leaning towards a rappa and getting the race grip with it.
Hi TL. I ended up selling them both as I didn't have time to train one so didn't want it getting wasted with me. Some big changes coming next year I hope I can get another pup off her and see how it goes.
Cheers Calum she'll come round. When I started I managed to get the new entrant start up grant but I was losing so much money paying for ground that was too expensive.
You don't get any money HJ u just have to buy equipment then apply for half of your money back. So i'm actually spending money I probably don't need to spend
@@TheSheepGame ahh okay similar to the countryside productivity schemes in England. Is a weigh crate on the way? Or you going to stick to the trusty hand test 👍
May I ask what the ‘Here here’ command is for Meg. As an avid one man and his dog fan I am interested in this. But I have failed to hear that one on the annual episode of one man and his dog.
Hi Sean, lovely name btw, i have an Ex-mate called Sean Cursiter. ‘Here, here’ is one of those encouraging phrases we use to push sheep on. You may say something like “c’mon up there” “catch it” “Tess would you please just press up on them” I also like one man and his dog although the name is outdated imo. Would like to see next years episode be called One Shepherd and their dog.
As i say Jane i won’t be making money just now but i’m working on building a stock of ewes so that i’m ready to move into a farm when the chance arises 😊
Another good video... How many acres are you renting? I rent all my ground down here in the south west of England but its hard to get it. Do you struggle with getting land?
@@TheSheepGame They dont have wool, and they're as hardy and parasite resistant as sheep come. Could be worth trying to find a few if your wool is just costing you money. People have bred shedding into large flocks with just a few back crosses, and heavy culling.
@@colleenkopp56 lamb (meat from young sheep) is preferable in most markets to mutton (meat from older sheep) partly because the flavor of lamb isn't as strong as mutton.
The biggest pain in the arse job of the year is clipping those bloody sheep, the wool is totally worthless. To tell the truth if sheep farmers weren't get sfp they would be finished, the price of stuff is crazy,
Cammy you must be mad trying to make money from sheep when all your ground is rented🤪 your floggin a dead horse sir. I own 200 acres of upland ground and work full time as a construction worker, I run 300 ewes and I can barely take any money out of the farm for myself, it’s a hobbie not a profession
I’ve sunk a lot of money into this over last few years. Barely breaking even now but my rents are so high so that’s issue. My goal is to have a stock of ewes ready to go if i get chance of a tenancy somewhere.
Fair play to you👍 You have put in a lot of effort to accumulate that amount of sheep I’m 30 years old and wud like to become a full time farmer some day but it’s seems a long way of with the current system I have
First of all, you should thank god for Meg everyday. I am also a lucky man who married a lady who loves farming and quietly puts up with me. What does farm land cost in Scotland? Here in America good farm land is outrageously high. Were I was born and raised the soil is top-notch and it sells for $12-15,000/ acre. Our area in New York is heavy clay hill ground. Not the best by far, but good grazing and mixed hay ground. Prices per acre here are around $2,000/acre. I bought this 95 acre farm 20 years ago with a good dairy setup, poor house for $700/acre.
well done , screw a flat piece of rubber on your tail gates of your trucks cammy , those plastic liners are very slippy , the rubber gives dog more confidence to jump in a make the rubber big enough to cover the gap between the bed and tail gate .
Fair play to you for sharing lamb sales with us and for showing how tight farming margins are. It very hard to make money with all rented land.best of luck in the future hope all works out cos you put so much work into it building up your flock. Would you make more from merchandise and youtube?
Thanks James. I'd be embarrassed to say how much money i've lost in sheep. I love what i do though. No money in RUclips at the moment. probably need around 100k subscribers to start making something like a wage.
@@TheSheepGame continue with youtube and you will get there cos you have great content in your videos and great humour. Would you not be better with your sheep to have less sheep and less outgoings and with your shearing and scanning wouldnt you make a living. Hope this makes sense cos sometimes less is more.
Too many different types cammy causes inconsistent prices, how many times at market do you see pens of lambs that shouldn’t be together to maximise price? Lambs should look like peas in a pod for best results same for ewes, so many farmers run so many different types and breeds that they end up wondering why they get a tremendous fluctuation of prices on their market slips, all of them will tell you how much their sheep made but can’t tell you how much profit they made , which is the most important figure you should know otherwise you’re just another busy fool.closed flock of Cheviots is our preference don’t buy anything just sell profits happen then automatically.🇬🇧👍
Cheers Dave. I know what ur saying. The mart splits them of course but most of these lambs are out of scotch mules to texels. Jacobs were out my pures. They probably needed a better finish to make a better ppk but grass is running out for me and it’s a lot of older grass i have (all rented) so it’s not ideal for finishing lambs. Closed flock is the dream in future!
Cracking video!! But whatever you do don’t tell my shearling lads that you charge £1.50p to clip a sheep 😂 but yes it is very hard to make money on sheep, I have sold over 2000 lambs this year and this is the first year I’ve averaged over £2 A kilo, The more people know how many hoops we have to jump through to try and make money the better keep up the good work! 👌🏻
@@TheSheepGame yeah I know! My clipping lads keep telling me it should be more🙈 and definitely won’t be doing that more like a new sheep tunnel and more sheep 😂
Asda sell lamb mince with lamb supplied from new zealand, Ireland and UK as available. 3 x 500g bags for £8/ bargain. Curries, Bolognaises, and mince/veg stir fry with chips and peas. mmmm
I rent a farm myself in NI problem is land rent here in co down is goin through the roof as much as £200 an acre which would be a non starter as far as farming beef and sheep is concerned
Another super one there Cammy. Listen when ya have the recipe for sheep farmers making money please let me know Cammy aye! Waiting Eagerly on the green isle across the pond. haha.....
Aww well meet your sister.... 😂😂👍 Yes I have been renting land for many years (I own none). Yea it’s tough yet if I didn’t love the stock I wouldn’t be struggling on hmm. Have fun aye lad. You’re a great tonic to listen to. Keep ‘em comin.’ 👍💪
Grate vid as always cammy really enjoyed this one. Long may the good trade continue its been long over due esspesially up here on the north west coast to many pepole giving up sheep around here if this carrys on we might see a referse in that trend
Some people think it's all profit, minus vet's bills, drench, dosing, foot wash, electric, it goes on. Hasn't the marts in scotland got the live stream yet ?
Stick with a mule ewe. She will give you plenty of lambs . When it's all about getting number of lambs. I started to buy smaller mule gimmers run for a year sell as shearlings again margins not great but less work than lambing em.
Going round sheep farmers scanning or clipping will give you great insight into what works locally. Round here some are bringing hill breeds down to lower grazing and can easily perform as well as continental but on less ground granted lamb isn't as smart but premium for the best doesent stack up. An old farmer told us pride costs money. Have pride in work but not at any cost.
Good to see you still have some traditional scotch halfbreds; would you say a scotch halfbred x Suffolk is the best prime meat lamb? Or do you think a texel x mule is a better prime lamb?
Hi Sam. When I was a lad my dad kept on a few and they leave a cracking fat lamb of course. My issue is I'm still using cheap tups so if I was going to do that i'd invest in something with better figures. I plan to move towards performance recording and maybe lleyns in the future.
Lleyns crossed on the black faced ewe were cracking good mothers too . It's not easy when your starting off from zero ewes fair play . I would have mule texel x ewes and cross them back to beltex rams . They leave you with a nice easy finished lamb with great shape. Great video again 👍👍
Hi cammy brilliant video Lambs are making €5.70 / €590 per kg at the moment here in Ireland am I right in saying your taking less for your lambs in Scotland , Even with the euro.I can’t understand.average butchers lamb 45kgs are making €130 . Can you please give me the link to buy your sheep game gear 👍🦙🦙🐏🐏🐑🐑🐖🐖🦌🦌🦌🦌
Hi Aidan! Thanks for that always interested to hear other sheep prices. The like is www.thesheepgame.co.uk but i don't have much left there should be a restock next week!
Hi Cammy, I'm a new follower and really enjoying the vids. Appreciate your honesty and openess about your business and the industry in general. Have a nano-flock of 6 Torddu (Badgerface) ourselves. Keen to hear more about any calcs you do for grass growth to determine stocking levels. I'd guess that assessing correct stocking densities is not important when land is rented compared to owned? Diolch, Chris
noswaith dda Chris! Thanks for your comment. It’s different when renting i suppose. If i owned land i would be looking to maximise it’s productivity and invest money into the pastures. As it is i’m mostly on old grass so difficult to do that and quite difficult to finish lambs on. I usually work on a 1 sheep / acre rule for winter. Summer is easy of course 😁
no one works harder than a farmer. During this pandemic I got hooked on watching farming videos, the sheep are my favorite, but all farmers work more than anyone else alive. If life was fair you'd all be billionaires.
Legend Barb.......... Need the price of lamb to go up a bit yet!!
The way you make money is much the same way we do on the cattle end of things. That is why we have to take pride in the stock we grow. Great video. Ron, Fayette, Maine.
Lol farmers don’t work hard
Thanks for the video, this is the sort of stuff no one seems to talk about
I myself am in the same situation as you in new Zealand i lease land here there and everywhere i shear my own sheep and other people's everything i make goes back into bettering my flock and have the same goal.. keep up the good fight... great video
Yeah that’s me mate! Just anything I have i try improve the sheep or buying more sheep. Good on u too! Thanks for watching my videos👍
I paid $125 to have my 6 Jacob sheep feet trimmed and sheared. And I tipped another $25.. we also buy CD&T and the shearer does our vaccinations for us. We’ve gone through 5 shearers in 6 years. All our shearers keep retiring. We need more good shearers in Oregon!
Keep your eye on the future. You’re a hard working person. Hope you’re enjoying life.
Aye plenty to be working towards and enjoy it along the way 👍
Very useful for someone hoping to get into the sheep game like myself in the future
Thanks Rhys. Wait till i do a video on my outgoings!!!!
These type of videos are some of my favourites! So interesting to see the finances! Making money from sheep is the only way we can carry on working with these animals
Cheers George. I’ll not make much money until i get something of my own but at least i’ll have the sheep standing ready to go.
Love your commitment to your work
You mean getting RUclips videos out twice a week? It's killing me slowly hahaha
@@TheSheepGame ha ha yes that too
Good for you Cammy , telling it like it is and showing your prices , it’s usually all the overheads that eats away your profit !!
Once I do my video on the outgoing you guys will feel that sorry for me you will be starting a just giving page haha
In Gregor's words " As if he doesn't have enough money he sells merchandise"...
Would like to see a video of the market when you can, from how you organise going, dropping them off, selling and so forth.
Haha wait till i do my outgoing video! Get the tissues ready!! 😂
Will do Tom!
It's fairly hard to make money from sheep but we keep trying......💰💰💰💰
Very hard when everything is rented!
I sit here in my office, out of the weather listening to music. I have days that I could pull out all my hair. Then I watch these videos and just think I'm a big wimp. Farmers don't get paid enough that's for sure!
The hours they put in every day, and this is back breaking work. Seldom get time off and it incredible what they do. I'm a city girl, never been on a farm I would die the first 2-3hours lol
Love the videos, you and your team are doing a great job!!!. I hope you find that pot of gold to help out with expenses and have some fun. Love the dog's
Thanks Tina!!
@@TheSheepGame
You are welcome you deserve it. Thank you for sharing your day with us.
From Colorado US
The Aussie and Kiwi lamb is dominant at the market/grocery store. It’s uncommon to find American lamb at the meat counter, not saying it isn’t. Lamb isn’t a popular item among Americans, I think all the mutton feed to the soldiers during WWII ruined it for many. So not eating lamb has trickled down in families since then. Lamb sales to middle easterners and Mediterranean families are the best sales. The Wool market to me has never been great, Dorset fleeces aren’t in high demand, the wool breeds hold that demand. I do sell my best fleeces to the hand spinners, they like a good Dorset fleece. The only profit I’ve made from wool is shearing other peoples sheep. My best income has been selling seed stock and rams. I started my sheep business when I was 12. Built my first flock from breeding and buying older brood ewes. My new flock I’m doing the same. (I took a little break from sheep)
Always informative DC. Lamb isn't massively popular here either and 30% is exported abroad.
That's a good days work,very interesting to hear the economics of the business.
Thanks Tom. If only it was a days work 😂
Well done clammy great job you do can't wait till next vlog 👍👍
Thanks Oliver!
Lanark! My goodness! I lived near there! Went to Biggar High School! Love those views! Those lambs and sheep are lovely!
When I seen the title I was just going to comment straight away and say they don’t 🤣
haha Oh i know..... That's why i shear all summer, scan all winter and work 36 hours a week in the city..
That's great that the marts help you out with getting started, don't do much here in NI to help out young people trying to get started. Not in my experience anyway. Great videos keep them coming 👍
Thanks Andrew! I was lucky i had someone vouch for me.
new camera angles creeping in. Proper youtuber now!
Would love to see a vid on that trailer you have with the portable race and pen.
Haha always trying to do new things! Aye the Rappa is popular!
I'm from California. We say "guys" in a general way. Nobody is offended when we say "Hi guys" because it is understood to be gender-neutral. When I hear you say "boys" I never think it is just the males you are talking about! It just doesn't mean the same thing anymore... so lighten up on yourself Cammy. We all know what you mean! (And anyone who would be offended was probably looking for a fight and you would never be able to make them happy anyway!) BTW, another informative video! Thanks!
Yeah I mean it in a general way buy because I say 'boys' all the time the two link together and both seem like they refer to males. Just trying to be more neutral as i'm a big fan of women in ag. It's no doubt harder for them so u find the ones that get into it are very very good and often show the men up!
@@TheSheepGame I like your perspective! Do you follow Anna Trues on RUclips? She is an awesome female in Ag!
Everyone says > "guys" in a general way!
It's only a few that are pushing this > "Gender-neutral" crap.
and 'They' are 'funded' > Have their Agenda. > Ridiculous times we live in.
> (99.9) percent of the world's population, could care less.
Love your videos. It’s kind of tough figuring out prices in US . Like how much it really cost in US per sheep to have and then Sheard. Good luck to you and your wife and your new baby. And your dogs are awesome.
Another good one Cammy. Fair play for sharing your prices. Sold my last lambs today. Texel out of mule ewes. £99 for 43kg. Hope the trade stays good for you.
Might be able to afford to get myself a sheep game hoody now 😂
haha i'd say u could get a hat with that too!! Thanks Oggie!
Good honest account of what goes on ,we need more from our wool government sort it out cheers
Thanks John.
Waitrose is so fancy! ☺
aye we have soda bread here in Ontario, Canada. I have sheep also, had my first ram lamb Jan.10.
I'm not sure this is the same as soda bread?
You winged it well clammy
Been winging it since i started 😂
Great to see the end result
Thanks PJ.
I don’t think the public have any idea how fine the margins are for sheep farmers. The single farm payment allowed our farm to break even. We took nothing out just financed machinery and equipment. Ironically now that we are too old to sensibly run our own stock, summer haylage bales for sale, heifer grazing and feeding, followed by winter tack sheep, we are in profit. I hope the system changes post Brexit because the subsidies should only be paid for food of the required standard, plus some environmental care. I thought you did a good job assessing the weight of the fit lambs.
Thanks Wendy! Appreciate that and ur right there needs to be some changes.
Binge watching all your videos learning a lot , being from Ayrshire myself I go on the premise IF ITS GOT A JACK PUT IT BACK ha!ha! Always buy local
That's great Tracy, hope you're enjoying the vlogs.
red paint on the poll always help sheep stand out in the sales ring
i've heard folk putting bright pink on with same idea haha
Would you ever consider having a closed flock and breeding all your own replacements? Great vid as always
One day I will Sam. That's the dream. But to increase my numbers I had to buy some. I have 120 home bred gimmers at the tup this year though so all new breeding stock is home bred and my ewe lambs i've bought in i plan to sell as gimmers.
@@TheSheepGame nice clean lambs. when will you sell the ewe lambs you mentioned above , will that be next Autumn, will they be about 18 months then
Hi its difficult make money in any farming enterprises, food been so devalued the last few decades really annoys me when you hear general public giving out about farmers getting subsidies when in reality its them who get them really as otherwise they wouldn't be able to pay real cost of what they put in their mouths ..... I know a part time sheep farmer he's also an electrician,he told me recently that back in the 80,s a lamb was worth a weeks wages of a tradesman today wouldn't pay for one day...and sheep trade going well....farmers not being treated well working harder to stand still for over a generation...
Like the look of your gear ,those hurls and races....
Thanks Oliver. that's actually an interesting take on it. Their food is subsidised not the farmer! Like it!
@@TheSheepGame like it or lump it it is the truth ...............
Another great video!
Now that we're in 2022 will it still pay around 1 pound per fleece? Or can you get more for them now?
Good vlog cammy!!
Thanks i'm glad u liked it!
Not sure if youve ever looked into easycare sheep but they shed their fleece meaning no shearing, no dagging and no bother with flies. Good video 👍
To be fair Allan the shearing thing doesn't apply to me as i shear all my own anyway.
@@TheSheepGame fair enough, we run easycares on the Isle of Arran and there a grand job hardly any work and good lambs
@@allanmcallister4750 Wow - i cant beleive where you chaps have sheep. Nice last name too 😉
Another great video👍🏼
Thanks Ifan!
Great information thank you.
Cheers Sam
Hi campy love ur videos very informative. How much are u paying for grass rent
Great vid keep up the good work 👍
Thanks Luke!
Very interesting to hear the economics of raising sheep over there, looks like you had a pile of traffic on the road next to your pasture, ever have trouble with sheep getting on the road?
Thanks Mark. I fenced this whole bit. Probably spent £3k on fencing for rented ground. Madness.
The day any farmer makes money from wool will be a miracle. Another good video cammy
Be alright for the merino boys but not for us up here!
@@TheSheepGame last time i made money on wool was in 1989..............was good up till then ....... back in the early 70s my neighbour purchased a universal tractor with power steering and safety cab new with the sale of 200 fleeces , traded in a wrecked grey ferguson also .......them werethe days ........in the mid 70s a fat lamb 55 kg in spring would pay a farm workers wages for a week ....and his wages were regulated by the state .........
@@TheSheepGame Enjoyed this vid Cammy. There are three main reasons we run fine wool merinos:
1. Our our light soils and variable rainfall doesn't suit a fat lamb enterprise (or a cattle only enterprise either) whereas merinos are well adapted to this environment.
2. Merinos give us two bites of the cherry, wool and meat. Wool provides the majority of our income from sheep but we can sell young wethers and culled ewes as lambs, and older wethers and ewes as cast for age mutton. Depending on demand those surplus sheep often go back to the paddock to restockers who run them for their wool too.
3. We are passionate about traditional superfine wool - simply a beautiful fibre made by nature. In performance terms no other fibre can match it!
Is cola the cloud which in the sky?
Great video 👏
Thanks Sarah. Spoils it that we can't see sale but it's another aspect of sheep farming I thought i'd share.
Great video cammy
Thanks for watching and commenting so fast!
Its fine
Good video cam 😃
Cheers Jake
Any farmer struggles with the financial side of it.
What are mules and hogs? I’ve caught on to glimmers. Must find a glossary…
A mule is a breed which is scottish Blackface x Blue faced Leicester. A hogg is a 1 year old sheep.
Once you’re on “this farming life” you’ll be making plenty money, then you can come to Stonehaven to scan my zwartbles just for the craic 😜
Haha I got an email about it once but there is no way a film crew could keep up with me. 😁
Must have been disappointing as hell not being able to see your animals being sold. At least you understand why you couldn't dad it.
Does anyone know the title of the video where he discusses the income breakdown?
I didn’t do one but i’ll try do one for this year. 👍
@@TheSheepGame thank you. Shall keep an eye out! :)
What date do they ask for belly clipped lambs? After Xmas where we are
1st November it started here. We are wet as hell though.
Cammy Lamb is not a really big staple food here in Canada. I have had it only once. I don't know how to cook it or choose what cut is best. Can you make a video on that aspect of sheep farming?
Haha Cooking with Cammy could be a new feature! It’s not massively popular here either. restaurants and keep the trade up for us.
Do you think ye boys will take a big hit in lamb prices if there is no Brexit deal done,like us Irish lads will do with the beef if they cant strike a deal
I’m confident although i have a video coming where i sell some store lambs because my bottle crashes. I’m running at such a tight margin i can’t afford for my lambs to be worth 25% less so can’t risk it. If i was a more established farmer i’d take the chance.
@@TheSheepGame the store trade is flying here in Ireland, they reckon the sheep trade is the only sector that wont be effected by a NO DEAL over here but the beef and dairy sector will take a big hit especially the beef ,hopefully it all works out in the end
@@joewalsh9208 they might work something out .....each side has too much to lose if they do not ........
If all the moneys in meat at the moment is there any movement toward hair sheep at all? In the US it's almost hard to find woolies at this point
With craft industries opening up again, have you offered your wool to private spinners, knitters ect. FB Marketplace is a good free selling place.
Not yet but could be something I look into!
Great video again👍 how do you find the rappa and which model is it?
Hope to buy a mobile yard in the new year if I get grant approval. Was leaning towards a rappa and getting the race grip with it.
Hi paul. It;s just a standard 20 gate setup. Was about £7k when i got it. Cammy
What's the total amount for all the sheep
I’m away from laptop now but think it was about £4k
The bit of ground they come off costs me £5k for the year to give it perspective.
@@TheSheepGame ok
Fair prices . But you'd like a bit more money for them
Always Robert. Always. =D
How are the pups doing?
Hi TL. I ended up selling them both as I didn't have time to train one so didn't want it getting wasted with me. Some big changes coming next year I hope I can get another pup off her and see how it goes.
Were you entitled to the new entrant grants when you started out? For example there was a grant where you could purchase livestock.
Very enjoyable videos. My girlfriend always laughs when she hears ‘Good Morning, Sheep Fans’...she isn’t a fan of sheep 🙈
Cheers Calum she'll come round. When I started I managed to get the new entrant start up grant but I was losing so much money paying for ground that was too expensive.
Have you got any big plans for the money from your sustainability grant?
You don't get any money HJ u just have to buy equipment then apply for half of your money back. So i'm actually spending money I probably don't need to spend
@@TheSheepGame ahh okay similar to the countryside productivity schemes in England. Is a weigh crate on the way? Or you going to stick to the trusty hand test 👍
May I ask what the ‘Here here’ command is for Meg. As an avid one man and his dog fan I am interested in this. But I have failed to hear that one on the annual episode of one man and his dog.
Hi Sean, lovely name btw, i have an Ex-mate called Sean Cursiter. ‘Here, here’ is one of those encouraging phrases we use to push sheep on. You may say something like “c’mon up there” “catch it” “Tess would you please just press up on them”
I also like one man and his dog although the name is outdated imo. Would like to see next years episode be called One Shepherd and their dog.
What is the clipping charge for at market
They clip bellies and the crutch. It's standard practice so it's clean for the skinning knife
Was that you that bought the Texel gimmer at the Carlisle Christmas sale for £20.000 gn
Ran her up but bottled it at £19k =D
All in all it’s not that great money for so many sheep 🐑 but as long as you make something that’s the main thing
As i say Jane i won’t be making money just now but i’m working on building a stock of ewes so that i’m ready to move into a farm when the chance arises 😊
@@TheSheepGame you will do it 👍😀
How much is that wool worth in the back ground in the field? 🙊
Some eye on ye! 😂 my utter shame!
Another good video... How many acres are you renting? I rent all my ground down here in the south west of England but its hard to get it. Do you struggle with getting land?
It was hard to get started Tom but it’s fair grown since then.
I’ll rent around 7-800 acres.
@@TheSheepGame Ever want some free labour in the new year I'd fly up to learn a few things from you 👍🏻
I’m still learning myself Tom! U bought a shearing handpiece yet?😁
@@TheSheepGame I've only got the one for dagging although I did shear a ewe lamb this year. I'm going to look into getting on a course
У нас в Україні ціна 1 фунт за кілограм
Anybody running hairsheep in the UK?
Never even heard of them Joe!
@@TheSheepGame They dont have wool, and they're as hardy and parasite resistant as sheep come. Could be worth trying to find a few if your wool is just costing you money. People have bred shedding into large flocks with just a few back crosses, and heavy culling.
Oh, how I wish I could understand you. Maybe a word here and there!! I will just keep trying!!
What is MUTTON?
🥰 Mutton is the meat from an aged sheep
Is that a better or lessor choice of meat? How old does a sheep have to be to be considered MUTTON?
@@colleenkopp56 lamb (meat from young sheep) is preferable in most markets to mutton (meat from older sheep) partly because the flavor of lamb isn't as strong as mutton.
shearing sheep costs 2.50 euro ........and you pull them out and gather the wool .................
Aye it’s a big expense! I hope the shearer has some chat at least!
Ul soon be fit to retire to the sheep game full time. 😂😂
If only! I need to do all the other jobs just to pay for my sheep habit! haha
Unfortunately that is the sad reality of most farm enterprises
The biggest pain in the arse job of the year is clipping those bloody sheep, the wool is totally worthless. To tell the truth if sheep farmers weren't get sfp they would be finished, the price of stuff is crazy,
Yeah Cara it's mad how the price of everything keeps rising but sheep prices stay around the same!
The answer is simple.... they don't 😂
Cammy you must be mad trying to make money from sheep when all your ground is rented🤪 your floggin a dead horse sir. I own 200 acres of upland ground and work full time as a construction worker, I run 300 ewes and I can barely take any money out of the farm for myself, it’s a hobbie not a profession
I’ve sunk a lot of money into this over last few years. Barely breaking even now but my rents are so high so that’s issue. My goal is to have a stock of ewes ready to go if i get chance of a tenancy somewhere.
Fair play to you👍 You have put in a lot of effort to accumulate that amount of sheep I’m 30 years old and wud like to become a full time farmer some day but it’s seems a long way of with the current system I have
First of all, you should thank god for Meg everyday. I am also a lucky man who married a lady who loves farming and quietly puts up with me. What does farm land cost in Scotland? Here in America good farm land is outrageously high. Were I was born and raised the soil is top-notch and it sells for $12-15,000/ acre. Our area in New York is heavy clay hill ground. Not the best by far, but good grazing and mixed hay ground. Prices per acre here are around $2,000/acre. I bought this 95 acre farm 20 years ago with a good dairy setup, poor house for $700/acre.
Great video, interesting to see that side of your sheep farming.
Thanks Tara
well done , screw a flat piece of rubber on your tail gates of your trucks cammy , those plastic liners are very slippy , the rubber gives dog more confidence to jump in a make the rubber big enough to cover the gap between the bed and tail gate .
Cheers Rod. My pickup has a rubber cow mat floor. This is Lizzy's truck so the dogs aren't usually in here
Really interesting, thanks for sharing the numbers and the process 👍
Great video again! If I got a hoodie I certainly wouldn’t wear it while I’m with the sheep. I would wear it to town🐑🐑🐑👍👍👍👍 Keep up the great work!
It's great for work though. That's why you're better with two =D
Fair play to you for sharing lamb sales with us and for showing how tight farming margins are. It very hard to make money with all rented land.best of luck in the future hope all works out cos you put so much work into it building up your flock. Would you make more from merchandise and youtube?
Thanks James. I'd be embarrassed to say how much money i've lost in sheep. I love what i do though. No money in RUclips at the moment. probably need around 100k subscribers to start making something like a wage.
@@TheSheepGame continue with youtube and you will get there cos you have great content in your videos and great humour. Would you not be better with your sheep to have less sheep and less outgoings and with your shearing and scanning wouldnt you make a living. Hope this makes sense cos sometimes less is more.
able to do 3 vids a week ? 😂 content is quality 👏👌
Haha it would break me! Too many late nights with 2 per week😁
Too many different types cammy causes inconsistent prices, how many times at market do you see pens of lambs that shouldn’t be together to maximise price? Lambs should look like peas in a pod for best results same for ewes, so many farmers run so many different types and breeds that they end up wondering why they get a tremendous fluctuation of prices on their market slips, all of them will tell you how much their sheep made but can’t tell you how much profit they made , which is the most important figure you should know otherwise you’re just another busy fool.closed flock of Cheviots is our preference don’t buy anything just sell profits happen then automatically.🇬🇧👍
Cheers Dave. I know what ur saying. The mart splits them of course but most of these lambs are out of scotch mules to texels. Jacobs were out my pures. They probably needed a better finish to make a better ppk but grass is running out for me and it’s a lot of older grass i have (all rented) so it’s not ideal for finishing lambs. Closed flock is the dream in future!
And I am definately a busy fool at the moment 😂
I was wondering, Cammy, if you were mainly raising the sheep for the meat market, and it looks like you are.
Thanks for the video. I've started a sheep farm in Tanzania. Your video is very encouraging.
I first started watching u when u were at 900 subs
that would have been around March! Thanks for sticking with it!!
@@TheSheepGame u r welcome
Cracking video!! But whatever you do don’t tell my shearling lads that you charge £1.50p to clip a sheep 😂 but yes it is very hard to make money on sheep, I have sold over 2000 lambs this year and this is the first year I’ve averaged over £2 A kilo, The more people know how many hoops we have to jump through to try and make money the better keep up the good work! 👌🏻
Some man. haha that was me making farmers aware of how much is should cost! =D. 2000 lambs sold u will need to buy a new tractor now! =D
@@TheSheepGame yeah I know! My clipping lads keep telling me it should be more🙈 and definitely won’t be doing that more like a new sheep tunnel and more sheep 😂
Asda sell lamb mince with lamb supplied from new zealand, Ireland and UK as available. 3 x 500g bags for £8/ bargain. Curries, Bolognaises, and mince/veg stir fry with chips and peas. mmmm
Sounds good! I thought Asda is quite bad for not supporting British meat though.....
I rent a farm myself in NI problem is land rent here in co down is goin through the roof as much as £200 an acre which would be a non starter as far as farming beef and sheep is concerned
Wild. My dearest bit is £85 an acre and I claim sub on most of that.
@@TheSheepGame I need to move to Scotland lol
Another super one there Cammy.
Listen when ya have the recipe for sheep farmers making money please let me know Cammy aye!
Waiting Eagerly on the green isle across the pond. haha.....
Aw I ken!! Even worse when you are renting all ground!!
Aww well meet your sister.... 😂😂👍
Yes I have been renting land for many years (I own none). Yea it’s tough yet if I didn’t love the stock I wouldn’t be struggling on hmm.
Have fun aye lad. You’re a great tonic to listen to. Keep ‘em comin.’ 👍💪
Grate vid as always cammy really enjoyed this one. Long may the good trade continue its been long over due esspesially up here on the north west coast to many pepole giving up sheep around here if this carrys on we might see a referse in that trend
Yeah it's kept strong a while now!!
Some people think it's all profit, minus vet's bills, drench, dosing, foot wash, electric, it goes on.
Hasn't the marts in scotland got the live stream yet ?
Can't wait to do my outgoing video Paul i might have one of you starting a Just Giving account u will feel that sorry for me hahaha
@@TheSheepGame go around with the arse hanging out of your overalls and the soles flapping on your wellie's. That'll do it
Stick with a mule ewe. She will give you plenty of lambs . When it's all about getting number of lambs. I started to buy smaller mule gimmers run for a year sell as shearlings again margins not great but less work than lambing em.
They are great sheep but i think i want to move towards a smaller sheep producing same amount of lambs.
Going round sheep farmers scanning or clipping will give you great insight into what works locally. Round here some are bringing hill breeds down to lower grazing and can easily perform as well as continental but on less ground granted lamb isn't as smart but premium for the best doesent stack up. An old farmer told us pride costs money. Have pride in work but not at any cost.
Cammy are you ever going to buy land
Just wondering
Wondering the same thing myself Luke haha
Hahahaha
Good to see you still have some traditional scotch halfbreds; would you say a scotch halfbred x Suffolk is the best prime meat lamb? Or do you think a texel x mule is a better prime lamb?
If u had a Beltex over them all u would get £10 a head more 😄 at least
If I had some good grass for them i'd make £10 a head more hahah
You only have good grass if ur a dairy farmer 😄
@@TheFamilyFarm1 I dunno about that 🤣🤣🤣
Have you tried breeding off the texel mule x lambs they make a great ewes there prolific and good mothers too .
Hi Sam. When I was a lad my dad kept on a few and they leave a cracking fat lamb of course. My issue is I'm still using cheap tups so if I was going to do that i'd invest in something with better figures. I plan to move towards performance recording and maybe lleyns in the future.
Lleyns crossed on the black faced ewe were cracking good mothers too . It's not easy when your starting off from zero ewes fair play . I would have mule texel x ewes and cross them back to beltex rams . They leave you with a nice easy finished lamb with great shape. Great video again 👍👍
Hi cammy brilliant video
Lambs are making €5.70 / €590 per kg at the moment here in Ireland am I right in saying your taking less for your lambs in Scotland ,
Even with the euro.I can’t understand.average butchers lamb 45kgs are making €130 .
Can you please give me the link to buy your sheep game gear
👍🦙🦙🐏🐏🐑🐑🐖🐖🦌🦌🦌🦌
Hi Aidan! Thanks for that always interested to hear other sheep prices. The like is www.thesheepgame.co.uk but i don't have much left there should be a restock next week!
Good job 👏 again explaining how hard to make a living just off sheep farming.buy an electronic weigh crate instead of winging it🤣🤣.🏴👍🐑
Need to make money before I can buy these things John haha
Hi Cammy, I'm a new follower and really enjoying the vids. Appreciate your honesty and openess about your business and the industry in general. Have a nano-flock of 6 Torddu (Badgerface) ourselves.
Keen to hear more about any calcs you do for grass growth to determine stocking levels. I'd guess that assessing correct stocking densities is not important when land is rented compared to owned?
Diolch,
Chris
noswaith dda Chris!
Thanks for your comment. It’s different when renting i suppose. If i owned land i would be looking to maximise it’s productivity and invest money into the pastures. As it is i’m mostly on old grass so difficult to do that and quite difficult to finish lambs on.
I usually work on a 1 sheep / acre rule for winter. Summer is easy of course 😁