We held a meeting at our farm last weekend (March 14th) to see if there were enough sheep farmers in our area interested in forming a lamb marketing co-op. The guest speaker was Keith Salisbury who spoke of his experiences in marketing sheep in the Ottawa region. We had a lamb lunch and about 14 sheep farmers were in attendance.
Keith felt that most producers are not getting enough for their lamb if they sell them live at the auction barns (for example Hoard's Station or Cookstown). He suggested that we could do better by getting together and supplying local high end restaurants and small grocery stores. They would need consistant size and quality. The carcasses should weigh 45-50lbs. He went on to describe the cuts of meat that customers wanted- rolled bones shoulders, legs, shanks, chops and rack of lamb. The rest (not much left over except the belly and the neck) could be made into lamburger. Vaccum packing is best,as this enable the customer to see the product. Most lamb sellers at farmers markets do not have the lamb on display and so do not get as good a price for it. Lamb may not be sold ealiy in farmers markets, but it may lead to "farm gate" sales, through the contacts.
He left us to check into local markets and see what we could come up with.
