A Year-Round Income Stream From Heritage Breed and Cross-Bred Sheep - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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A Year-Round Income Stream From Heritage Breed and Cross-Bred Sheep - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

A Year-Round Income Stream From Heritage Breed and Cross-Bred Sheep Lynn Sue Mizner, Chengwatana Farm www.Chengwatanafarm.com Chengwatana Farm, Palisade MN Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Many Farm Expenses are Regular Feed Utilities


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From Heritage Breed and Cross-Bred Sheep

A Year-‘Round Income Stream

Lynn Sue Mizner, Chengwatana Farm www.Chengwatanafarm.com

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Chengwatana Farm, Palisade MN

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Black Welsh Mountain Sheep

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  • Feed
  • Utilities
  • Fuel
  • Insurance
  • Mortgage
  • Equipment payments
  • Wages for labor

Whereas a lot of farm income is seasonal

Many Farm Expenses are Regular

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  • Buy Supplies Retail
  • Buy Feed Retail
  • Sell lambs wholesale
  • Sell wool wholesale

In addition, farmers often buy retail and sell wholesale.

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  • Producing an income that is more evenly distributed

throughout the year; and

  • Adding value to my farm products so that they

command a price that makes it all worthwhile.

I’ve been working to address two issues:

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  • Add your labor to increase the value
  • Differentiate your product
  • Have product when others do not
  • Convince people they need your product
  • Reducing the cost of inputs to your farm

What Does Adding Value Mean?

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  • Raw wool $1-5/lb
  • Rare breed fleeces $15-18/lb
  • Spun yarn $50-$100/lb
  • Finished lambs at stockyard $2/lb
  • Finished lamb direct sale $9-$14/lb
  • Add knitting or crocheting and you are up to $140/lb

How Much Value Can We Add?

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  • Have a different process that people are willing to

pay for:

  • Organically or naturally produced
  • Rare or heritage breed/breeds in need of conservation
  • Locally grown
  • Humanely raised/slaughtered
  • Free from artificial dyes or scouring chemicals
  • Fair wages, and so on.

What does it mean to differentiate one’s product?

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  • Earlier or later availability of product
  • Plan to have a product during slow market weeks/

months to increase the time you have to contact potential customers

  • Have a different product available when others are not

thinking of selling

  • Vend at shows or conferences where no one is selling

similar product

  • This may involve storage or other costs, but will benefit

you by giving you increased exposure.

Having product when others do not

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  • This is marketing, but to be really successful it has to

go on ALL the time

  • Focus on the “WHY”
  • Why you do what you do
  • Why you produce what you do
  • Why your product is different
  • Help your customers feel like they are part of the

answer to the “WHY” questions; they will want to support you.

Helping people understand WHY they need your product

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  • Spring value-added wool sales
  • Spring composted manure sales
  • Summer managed intensive rotational grazing
  • Farmers market sale of tanned hides, yarn
  • Fall breeding stock sales
  • Fall Fiber sales – raw fleece, roving, spinning batts, quilt

batts, comforters

  • Fall and early winter lamb harvest
  • Fall and winter farm to institution lamb sales
  • Winter holiday craft fairs – hand knits and wool crafts

Spread Income

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  • By being intentional about making compost, I have

created a valuable product I can market early in the year.

  • Comparable products sell online for significant amounts
  • f money:
  • Vermont Compost is one example.
  • There is no comparable product available locally, and

shipping from afar can be cost prohibitive for urban or suburban gardeners.

  • Because I farm organically, I have that added marketing

advantage.

Composted Manure for Spring Gardens

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  • A key concept of managed intensive rotational

grazing is using livestock to do work that would

  • therwise require expensive inputs in the form of
  • Fertilizer
  • Fuel
  • Labor

Create Value by Saving Money on Inputs

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Registered Ewes and Lambs

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Registered Rams

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Cross-bred market lambs

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Value-added Wool Products

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Slightly Processed Wool Products

  • Roving
  • Spinning batts
  • Quilt batts
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Hand Knits

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  • Cross bred lambs

An example of creating income at different times of the year

Thank you! www.chengwatanafarm.com