Changes To How Lambs, Mutton Are Marketed

Things are changing as producers raise their lambs and sheep for the market.  Peter Orwick, executive director of the American Sheep Industry Association, said changes are taking place on the consumer side and what they’re looking for when purchasing lamb.  It seems to be more profitable for sheep farmers to raise their animals for market

“Lamb on the meat side provides more of the revenue than any of the rest, obviously, and again, we're seeing changes in the last two decades," Orwick said.  "We're seeing a lot of lambs that are going to market and going to the processing at a much lighter weight. The dollar amount is the same. It's just a lighter-weight animal, so you're putting in less feed, less input, and less management overall to get the same return. I think a lot of that is just customer preference. We're seeing a lot of what we'd call the more nontraditional or ethnic market. They like a smaller carcass. They like a younger lamb and are very particular that it is lamb and not mutton, and I think that's been a boon for a lot of the producers because they can wean earlier. They can market earlier. Others are looking at it for more year-round production, trying to lamb three times a year instead of once or three times in two years. So, I think that is an opportunity for those that have plenty of ground to graze. If they can graze those sheep six or seven months out of the year, that's the preference that they'd rather have versus a dry lot and supplemental feeding.”

Consumers Demands Changing What Producers Need To Do On The Farm

The age of the sheep determines if it’s mutton or lamb. Anything over a year is defined as mutton, and anything less than a year old when it goes to market is lamb.  Orwick talks about the difference between feeding out lambs versus grazing them.

“What I notice more than anything from the management side is that a lot of times, the lambs, they're not going through docking or castrating tails, so they can avoid that, because these animals are younger and smaller when they go to the market, so that saves on labor," Orwick said.  "And at the end of the day, no matter what you're doing in agriculture, labor is one of your key issues. Everybody's dealing with the same situation, so if you can reduce your labor costs and input, all the better for you. Now, the flip side to that is, I think, the cheaper one of those ag commodities, if you have the time and have the labor, you're going to get more back from investing in labor. Getting two lambs for you is a great example, because if you put more labor into it, you can get a return.”

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