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

From Heritage Breed and Cross-Bred Sheep

A Year-‘Round Income Stream

Lynn Sue Mizner, Chengwatana Farm www.Chengwatanafarm.com

Chengwatana Farm, Palisade MN

Black Welsh Mountain Sheep

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

Whereas a lot of farm income is seasonal

Many Farm Expenses are Regular

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

In addition, farmers often buy retail and sell wholesale.

• 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:

• 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?

• 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?

• 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?

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

Registered Ewes and Lambs

Registered Rams

Cross-bred market lambs

Value-added Wool Products

Slightly Processed Wool Products

• Roving
• Spinning batts
• Quilt batts

Hand Knits

• Cross bred lambs

An example of creating income at different times of the year

Thank you! www.chengwatanafarm.com