Newcomer

[countryguy]

I am moving to Canada in the spring, from England, I am buying a half section. In England I keep sheep and cattle and I propose to do the same in Canada, as I haven't got a lot of money, I propose to start off with a couple of hundred ewes, but what I am wondering is, are sheep profitable in Canada? Where are the markets? As the farm is situated in the Wynyard area and what other kind of pitfalls will I find sheep farming in Canada.

[Muttley]

Hi!
Have you found a place yet or still looking?

[jensco]

Hi and welcome!
Describe profitable? Wynard-which province? Main market is Toronto, Ontario but you can sell them anywhere. See you around!

[cakadu]

Welcome to you newcomer. I hope you find the site informative, thought provoking and even a little entertaining from time to time.

I would have to say that lamb is not consumed here in Canada to the extent that it is in your neck of the woods. Sheep numbers are around 1 million here in Canada, give or take a few.

The bigger markets are in Toronto and Vancouver to some extent and much of the meat goes to the ethnic market. Some of the lamb does go into the United States, but a lot of it is sold here. We do get quite a lot of competition from imported lamb coming in from Australia and New Zealand and it is imported for less than we can grow it for here, simply because we are forced to feed for about 200 days of the year.

One bright spot is that lamb consumption is holding it's own and may even be slightly on the rise. Here in Alberta beef is what's king.

There are a number of feedlots scattered throughout the prairies and most of the commercial breeders sell to the feedlots.

Some of us direct market out lamb to customers which of course cuts out the middleman, but adds significantly to the work that you have to do in terms of marketing, getting customers etc.

I guess what we need to know in order to say whether it's profitable or not would be how you plan on selling your animals for a start.

Lamb prices have been in a slump over here for the past several months, although I would hazard a guess nothing the likes of what you've seen over the past several months.

Please feel free to ask more questions and we'd be happy to try and answer them. In the interim, I will see if there is a sheep breeders association in Saskatchewan - I'm sure there is one - and if I find the information, I'll post it here.

Cheers!

[cakadu]

I just happen to have the Shepherd's Journal at my fingertips and the contact information for the Saskatchewan Sheep Breeders Association is:

c/o Pat Kichula
2213C Hanselman Court
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
S7L 6A8
Phone: (306) 933-5200
Fax: (306) 933-7286
E-mail: sheepdb@sk.sympatico.ca

[cakadu]

Thank you for your response, it amazes me how friendly and helpful the prairie province people are. That is one of the reasons I am moving there, the location is more east of Wynard, Sasks, but the deal is not cut and dried yet. Over here sheep are fairly profitable as they don't eat no where near as much as cattle and I would like to keep sheep in Canada if I thought I could sell the lambs when they are fat.