$4.2 mil vs $536K - Sheep vs Cattle Profitability on Grass

Join me today as we talk sheep vs. cattle profitability! St Croix sheep and Red Devon cattle, grass-fed

Additional Notes:

- A herd of cattle and/or a flock of sheep are assets on the balance sheet and have a market value. I will admit our flock as an asset is not as liquid as stocks or cash but has absolutely outperformed any of our other assets over the past 5 years, trimming our grass and dropping fertilizer as a by-product!🤠

-Final meat carcass yields on both sheep and cattle were figured by taking 60% of live weight to get hanging weight, then 60% of hanging weight to arrive at final take home meat yield in pounds. This is an estimate.

-I’m talking direct to consumer breeding stock and meat sales here. No thank you to sale barn.

[williamwhite]

Amen on The Good Word !!! Good livestock information !

[JK-jfxq]

I appreciate you starting off with the WORD.

[tireddad]

I think you should speak to the combined of both, since sheep don't eat the same, and both can eat the others parasites. So sheep significantly improve the pasture. They will eat more Forbes, help clean up silvapasture.

[tommurphy]

I think you hit on all the big points and of course there will always be other costs to consider but they are generally a wash (sheep may need guard dogs and better fences, cattle need heavier duty working facilities, etc.). Most research that has considered the whole lifetime production system of sheep vs cattle has concluded that, worst case scenario, sheep are just as profitable on an animal unit basis (5-6 sheep per cow) but usually have the advantage. Thanks for the video!

[Ernes]

Hi Jason just my 2 cents for anyone reading the comments: I find cattle much less picky on hay, keep their condition better in cold environments (at least my furry belted Galloways) and less prone to diseases and parasites. They are also easier to feed, just drop a round bale in the feeder and use a single electric wire, and no need for a guard dog. Cattle rarely break to the “greener pastures” and you don’t have the guard dog escape artist either. But in theory I do agree sheep are more profitable, and the rams are not as dangerous as bulls! cheers!

[robertensign]

Do you run dogs? I’m way out west, and I counld NEVER run sheep due to heavy predator presence unless I had many many dogs. I stick with my large framed ole school horned Herefords. Plus, another thing to consider is fencing. I wish I could run sheep. Cool video and I really appreciate the info and your wisdom. Keep ranchin

[CoolBreeze]

Wondering how a comparative analysis of sheep vs rabbits would turn out. One buck and three does over five years. I enjoyed the video!

[Nicole-pgmr]

Thoughts on the video and food for thought. Clearly the limiting factor on growth is acreage. Also for those just starting don’t dismiss wool sheep (like I did). Now I have both wool & hair sheep. If one has the motivation to market products- from a wool sheep you could have 3 (or more) products in about the same time a hair sheep provides one. A fleece, a carcass and a pelt. Also all discard wool can be used as fertilizer or made into pellets for fertilizer. Further, I attended shearing school this spring and was able to shear mine own flock and now others flocks as well. I initially got hair sheep out of fear of shearing to be honest. There are pros & cons to all things, you just have to make the best decision you can given the situation you are in. Keep up the great work, I always enjoy your videos!

[TrentJ]

100 dollars a ton for hay is great, great video brother

[LC_Farm]

Great analysis and information as always. I'm a spreadsheet guy as well!

[pepperstinson]

FYI cattle have a gestation period of 9 months and can generally calve before 3 years of age, which would effect your analysis somewhat.
If everyone jumped on your bandwagon, profit margin would radically change. Around 60 years ago my Dad and step-Grandfather made a greenhouse (I still remember them building it while the snow was falling) and sales were great — but we lived on a gravel road. The following year 3 miles away on the state paved highway another guy opened a nursery, are sales plummeted. On year 3 no plants were even started on our farm.
A few years later we transformed the building into a sugar house and I liked Maple syrup better than green plants!! Lol

[Billy-jfrb]

Thanks for another awesome informative video!

[truthsserum]

excellent information, keep the videos coming!

[AshleyFosterMom]

Can you please share how you market and bring the sheep to your consumer? Is it direct sales through your website? Farmers market? We just came across your videos this week. Thank you so much for your clear and concise information, faith in the Lord to provide, and running your farm like a business. We are trying to slowly shift our careers and have been consuming as much of your information as possible.

[BettyBrennan]

Thanks for breaking this down. For me the big expense is fencing. If you incorporate that type of infrastructure which could include watering systems, shade systems, planting, medical stuff, buckets, etc. then the analysis is much different. You might be able to add some depreciation into the spreadsheet to account for that. Or there are spreadsheets that will calculate when you get an ROI on that investment. And when I crunched those numbers it was not good. And it doesn't count the cost of land and labor hours. Even so, I'm moving forward and building my flock.

[barryhughes]

Thanks for the informative analysis. I grew up on a cattle farm, so I definitely understand the cultural aspect of raising cattle. My wife and I started our sheep flock last year with just 4 ewes and a ram. We were blessed with 7 lambs last month. My question is, when you got started did you try using the same ram again to breed back to the female lambs that you kept? Most information says not to breed them, but other people have said they have no issue if only done once or twice. Thanks!

[justinkinsey]

Good Word, our concern with running sheep here in North Florida is find a market, do you have any contacts in this part of the country to find sheep and move sheep

[Silvermaples_Chad.Rhodes]

I'm glad to see sheep have become a realistic option for small scale farmers. That was certainly not the case in tbe 70s and 80s when my dad lost his keister with sheep.

[RyanReviewHowTo]

Where do you sell your sheep? Direct to consumer? If so, how do you market? Feel like that could get tricky at that much scale.

[benburns]

Hi Jason, interesting comparison about the profits of raising Sheep and Cattle. It is amazing that Sheep can breed after 7 months old and Cattle you have to wait 2 years before breeding. It is great that with your triplet births on the Sheep that the mother's can generally raise the 3 lambs on their own without Supplemental milk.
Good to see the Sheep feeding all of that lush Green Foliage. We have had to a lot of extra rain this Spring so it looks like you are benefiting with the extra moisture.
I was kinda shocked to see that one Sheep head butting that lamb that must have belonged to another mother. I thought Sheep would be a little more tolerant of lambs that don't belong to them.
You must have gotten tired of your beard as you are all clean shaven in this video.