The Rural Voice, 2003-08, Page 32WooLDrift Farm
East Friesian Dairy Sheep
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28 THE RURAL VOICE
there's not the dollars."
Until the border closure Lewis had
been shipping about 500 lambs a
month to a U.S. packer with a
difference of about $100 a Iamb
between what he received there and
what he got from the Ontario market.
The difference comes mostly from
higher American prices and also
from the larger size the American
buyer wants, preferring a 130 -pound
lamb but taking up to 180-200
compared to typical 100-105 pound
large lamb in Ontario. Since a
finishing operation makes its money
from putting on meat, the larger
carcass sought by the American
market offers more opportunity for
profit.
"Every lamb has its point where it
stops turning out meat and starts
turning out fat. There are a lot of
Iambs, when we stop them at 105 or
115 pounds (for the Ontario market),
there's room for another 40 or 50
pounds of frame. They get a little
more efficient as they get bigger. The
cost for that last 15-20 pounds of
weight is minimal."
Asked why the Americans
prefer a larger lamb he says
he doesn't know."The
Americans seem to like everything
big," he jokes.
Still, he notes larger Iambs are a
trend in Ontario too. It wasn't that
many years ago that an 80 -pound
lamb was a big Iamb in Ontario and
now that's just a mid-sized Iamb.
Maybe in 10 years Ontario will
consider a 130 -pound Iamb a big
lamb, he speculates.
In Ontario, ethnic consumers drive
the market and they like to buy the
20-30 pound whole carcass. "On our
big lambs that are 150-170 pounds
(live weight), a leg of lamb would be
10-12 pounds. People don't want to
buy 10 or 12 pound legs. That's a big
leg of lamb."
That ethnic market is important
for the farm's business. For one
Muslim holiday, for instance, they
sell an extra 2,000 lambs in one
week.
With the closure of the U.S.
border Lewis has had to change his
buying pattern, canceling an order for
some breeds of sheep that won't
finish by the 110 pound weight
required by the Ontario market. As of
now the aim for every lamb is 115