Lamb co-op

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.

Eco Farm Day 2009

Today we attended the Canadian Organic Growers Eco Farm Day "The Business of Farming from Field to Fork!" It was held at the Ramada Inn in Cornwall in Eastern Ontario. There were people from all over, including the Eastern U.S.

Topics ranged from "Controlling internal parasites in sheep" or "How to design and build log fences" to the advantages and disadvantages of being a co-op or a corporation. There was even a presentation about how to set up and use a farm website or even write a blog. Fancy that! The presenter said that he couldn't find our website when he Googled Eastern Ontario Organic Farms, but we are not listed as an organic farm as we do not fit all the criteria (and we are too cheap to pay the high fees to join!)If you Google Katahdin Sheep Ontario, we are easy to find.

The speakers were excellent- not a boring one amongst them- and so was the lunch.

The commercial displays were all interesting and informative. We helped with one booth which was involved with marketing "Natural Lamb" There was a lot of interest and we ran out of business cards and brochures (Mental note: bring more next time) There must have been at least 400 people in attendance. It was hard to find a parking spot.

Organic or eco-friendly farming is definitely the way of the future

Katahdin sheep co-op in Eastern Ontario

Keith Salisbury is trying to start up a co-op with some seed money to be used by March in Eastern Ontario.

He asked me to be the Western representative which includes Belleville.

Keith has asked to have a few minutes to talk about it on Feb. 09 at the Zone 8 meeting in Napanee. We both raise Katahdin sheep and Keith uses a Dorper as a terminal sire. Other interested producers have similar sheep. The main idea of the co-op is to facilitate producer direct sales to store by cutting out the middle man. The producer will only need to deal with the abattoir.

The ideal railgrade (dressed weight) would be 40 to 45 lbs. Live weight would need to be about 90- 100lbs.

For more information e-mail me.

District 8 Xmas dinner

The sheep roducers of District 8 - not just for Katahdin farms, but open to all types of sheep owners- had their annual Xmas dinner and party at the Wilderness Restaurant just outside Kingston. YOu can see it from HWY 401.

Its a little on the expensive side, but the meals are definitely worth it. I managed to win a "door prize" which was a box of Kleenex decorated with sheep pictures in a nice re-usable cloth shopping bag. Don't forget to take these with you when you go shopping to save from using plastic bags. Leave them in the car all the time and then you will always have them with you.javascript:void(0)

OSMA AGM in Guelph, Ontario

I just got back from the OSMA (Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency) AGM as I am a delegate from District 8.
As usual, there were some interesting speakers on subjects such as sheep predators. Apparently it is impossible to tell the difference between coyotes and wolves in certain parts of Ontario. Wolves are a protected species in some areas.

Other topics covered were the rising price of corn affecting profit margins of red meat, the state of the sheep industry in Ontario, scrapie, and a presentation from the Canadian Wool Growers' Association.
There were many questions about the finances and budget of OSMA, and most were answered to the members satisfaction. They are still without a general manager as they have been unable to find a suitable candidate.

The lamb at the dnner was a bit tough and not a good advertisement for the industry! It should have been cooked much slower. However the lunch on the following day was great. There were lamb skewers Greek style with Greek salad followed by a wonderful selection of cakes and deserts.

Some of our baby llamas

Canadian Katahdin Sheep Association

The CKSA AGM is to be held at the Canadian Western Agribition, Regina ,Sask in the small upper lounge in the Winter Fair Building on Friday NOv 28th at 5.30 pm 2008. Come if you are interested.
Also on NOv 27th at 4pm at the Agribition is the market Katahdin lmab show, followed at 6pm by the junior and costume show.
The next day Friday 28th Nov is the National Katahdin sheep show at 10 a.m.
Saturday NOv 29th at 2.30 p.m. is the Katahdin National Sale.

FOr info: Contact jmish@sasktel.net