$4.2 mil vs $536K - Sheep vs Cattle Profitability on Grass

Join me today as we talk sheep vs. cattle profitability! St Croix sheep and Red Devon cattle, grass-fed
Additional Notes:
- A herd of cattle and/or a flock of sheep are assets on the balance sheet and have a market value. I will admit our flock as an asset is not as liquid as stocks or cash but has absolutely outperformed any of our other assets over the past 5 years, trimming our grass and dropping fertilizer as a by-product!🤠
-Final meat carcass yields on both sheep and cattle were figured by taking 60% of live weight to get hanging weight, then 60% of hanging weight to arrive at final take home meat yield in pounds. This is an estimate.
-I’m talking direct to consumer breeding stock and meat sales here. No thank you to sale barn.

[@tireddad6541]

I think you should speak to the combined of both, since sheep don't eat the same, and both can eat the others parasites. So sheep significantly improve the pasture. They will eat more Forbes, help clean up silvapasture.

[@birchfieldfarming]

Yeah, good point with running them together!👍

[@JK-jf7xq]

I appreciate you starting off with the WORD.

[@birchfieldfarming]

You got it, JK

[@matthewaamot2961]

Amen and Amen!!!

[@williamwhite1596]

Amen on The Good Word !!! Good livestock information !

[@birchfieldfarming]

Thanks William!

[@CrackerFL]

My dad was stationed in Australia during WW2, he told us about the mutton🤮Sandy Brock 9f You Tube "Sheepishly Me". Started with cattle, then went to sheep. Cows rarely have twins, sheep do. Math doesn't lie! Great video

[@truthsserum4261]

excellent information, keep the videos coming!

[@birchfieldfarming]

Thanks for watching, will do🤠

[@Billy-jf6rb]

Thanks for another awesome informative video!

[@birchfieldfarming]

Thanks for dropping by, Billy 🤠

[@StephenG222]

Great analysis and information as always. I'm a spreadsheet guy as well!

[@birchfieldfarming]

Thanks, Stephen…Hey, hopefully we can catch up this week! Let me know a good evening.👍

[@CoolBreeze640]

Wondering how a comparative analysis of sheep vs rabbits would turn out. One buck and three does over five years. I enjoyed the video!

[@birchfieldfarming]

…I’ve heard a single doe will yield more meat in a year than a cow. Gosh, don’t get me started 🤦🏻‍♂️🤣

[@pepperstinson3141]

FYI cattle have a gestation period of 9 months and can generally calve before 3 years of age, which would effect your analysis somewhat. If everyone jumped on your bandwagon, profit margin would radically change. Around 60 years ago my Dad and step-Grandfather made a greenhouse (I still remember them building it while the snow was falling) and sales were great - but we lived on a gravel road. The following year 3 miles away on the state paved highway another guy opened a nursery, are sales plummeted. On year 3 no plants were even started on our farm. A few years later we transformed the building into a sugar house and I liked Maple syrup better than green plants!! Lol

[@birchfieldfarming]

Maple syrup is def better than green plants!🤠

[@user-tt1yh5xm7d]

Bottle calves are the most profitable beef production system. Cow/calf operation is the least efficient beef production system.

[@wholemadefarm]

​@@user-tt1yh5xm7dbottle calves right now are $8-10 lb. $250 in replacer then high input grain for next 4 months. Bottle calves are good way to lose money and you can make more selling calves

[@tommurphy7499]

I think you hit on all the big points and of course there will always be other costs to consider but they are generally a wash (sheep may need guard dogs and better fences, cattle need heavier duty working facilities, etc.). Most research that has considered the whole lifetime production system of sheep vs cattle has concluded that, worst case scenario, sheep are just as profitable on an animal unit basis (5-6 sheep per cow) but usually have the advantage. Thanks for the video!

[@birchfieldfarming]

Thanks for the insight, Tom!

[@Nicole-pg3mr]

Thoughts on the video and food for thought. Clearly the limiting factor on growth is acreage. Also for those just starting don’t dismiss wool sheep (like I did). Now I have both wool & hair sheep. If one has the motivation to market products- from a wool sheep you could have 3 (or more) products in about the same time a hair sheep provides one. A fleece, a carcass and a pelt. Also all discard wool can be used as fertilizer or made into pellets for fertilizer. Further, I attended shearing school this spring and was able to shear mine own flock and now others flocks as well. I initially got hair sheep out of fear of shearing to be honest. There are pros & cons to all things, you just have to make the best decision you can given the situation you are in. Keep up the great work, I always enjoy your videos!

[@birchfieldfarming]

Good info here, thanks! I have a local friend who tans hair sheep hides as well, most certainly an art! Had a call a few years back from someone in the piano business - I wish I could remember what exactly he was doing…hair sheep hides for the piano somehow. Also exciting to hear about someone tapping into the expanding market in wool.🤠

[@birchfieldfarming]

…Out of curiosity and for our viewers, a big draw to hair sheep, specifically St Croix, is their parasite resistance and ability to thrive on 100% grass with zero dewormer. Have you found a wool sheep breed that is similar in that regard? TIA

[@Nicole-pg3mr]

That is a fair point and I’m not aware of any wool breeds with as high of parasite resistance as St Croix. With rotational grazing and good flock management, you can reduce issues. There will be trade offs based on individual goals- just really think about individual goals and possibilities when making decisions. I just bring up the point for consideration because most folks in the regenerative community especially on KZbin don’t promote wool. It’s not that I don’t like my hair sheep, but I do appreciate the fiber as well.

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@Nicole-pg3mrAbsolutely, and thank you for sharing your experience and perspective.

[@inmybible6975]

​@@birchfieldfarming I have honestly only just started looking into the St Croix, so I can't say with absolute confidence which rates higher in parasite resistance, but I've been looking pretty seriously at Gulf Coast Sheep and one of the huge draws is how hardy and parasite resistant they are as well as how good they are at foraging for food. From a lot of what I have read, they sound somewhat similar to St Croix, but with wool and an optional splash of color. After watching a couple of your videos, I am curious to dig in a little more into how the meat production numbers and lambing rates compare to St Croix.

[@barryhughes8963]

Thanks for the informative analysis. I grew up on a cattle farm, so I definitely understand the cultural aspect of raising cattle. My wife and I started our sheep flock last year with just 4 ewes and a ram. We were blessed with 7 lambs last month. My question is, when you got started did you try using the same ram again to breed back to the female lambs that you kept? Most information says not to breed them, but other people have said they have no issue if only done once or twice. Thanks!

[@birchfieldfarming]

Yes, we have used our same ram back over ewes. Linebreeding will magnify traits both good and bad. After a few generations, we introduced a 2nd bloodline ram.

[@barryhughes8963]

@birchfieldfarming thanks for responding. Watching your channel is so similar to what my family is doing, but you all are a couple of years ahead. Thanks!

[@1ModernDayDad]

Where do you sell your sheep? Direct to consumer? If so, how do you market? Feel like that could get tricky at that much scale.

[@birchfieldfarming]

Direct to consumer - Yeah, def not putting a sign out front and expecting to move sheep. I get paid to market my sheep - you just watched it.

[@anceluda]

Thanks!

[@birchfieldfarming]

Thank you!

[@BettyBrennan]

Thanks for breaking this down. For me the big expense is fencing. If you incorporate that type of infrastructure which could include watering systems, shade systems, planting, medical stuff, buckets, etc. then the analysis is much different. You might be able to add some depreciation into the spreadsheet to account for that. Or there are spreadsheets that will calculate when you get an ROI on that investment. And when I crunched those numbers it was not good. And it doesn't count the cost of land and labor hours. Even so, I'm moving forward and building my flock.

[@birchfieldfarming]

Yes and the real tricky part about it in farming is everybody’s context is different! I covered many of the assumptions in that original sheep video, but indeed there is certainly more to it than in my 13 min video. I want to instigate and stir up the goodness of God in my own and others’ lives, and I can see it clearly with the multiplication on grass. Let’s at least attempt to put in place systems of blessing apart from the current, deleterious system, so that we may be life givers in the struggle just up ahead.

[@CoolBreeze640]

Would like to see your analysis. Fencing costs surprised me for the small area we’re looking at enclosing.

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@CoolBreeze640Yeah, feel free to screenshot any of the spreadsheets. We had perimeter fencing in place when we purchased our ground, and (for the purposes of this analysis) there wasn’t really much difference between our cattle and sheep interior fences to make paddocks (2 hots). The only real difference is during lambing I prefer to run hot electronets within the paddocks to contain lambs but that’s certainly not a necessity. Again, many costs I’m not including here, the take-away being hair sheep are many times more profitable than cattle on 100% grass and are a wonderful blessing on the small farm.

[@BettyBrennan]

I couldn't figure out how to attach the spreadsheets I used, but you can find them if you google it. One of them is from the University of Maryland and called a "Sheep Enterprise Budget" in that spreadsheet you can enter the cost of fencing and many other expenses.

[@BettyBrennan]

Yes, everyone's context is different. You did a great job. I enjoyed the video and it is informative. Thank you.

[@user-fy7vh2hz7i]

Can you please share how you market and bring the sheep to your consumer? Is it direct sales through your website? Farmers market? We just came across your videos this week. Thank you so much for your clear and concise information, faith in the Lord to provide, and running your farm like a business. We are trying to slowly shift our careers and have been consuming as much of your information as possible.

[@birchfieldfarming]

Yeah, I’m getting this question a lot - keep an eye out for a sheep marketing video soon👍

[@roberthakker5456]

Real numbers guy, I like him. Everyone knows no numbers are perfect but this is what I'm looking for. Not into hobby-like folks who by my estimates are pissing away Grand-parents money to make KZbin videos and a few chickens. I'll subscribe to Birchfield and thank you.

[@birchfieldfarming]

Thanks for your encouragement, Robert. Glad you’re finding value in the content.

[@benburns5995]

Hi Jason, interesting comparison about the profits of raising Sheep and Cattle. It is amazing that Sheep can breed after 7 months old and Cattle you have to wait 2 years before breeding. It is great that with your triplet births on the Sheep that the mother's can generally raise the 3 lambs on their own without Supplemental milk. Good to see the Sheep feeding all of that lush Green Foliage. We have had to a lot of extra rain this Spring so it looks like you are benefiting with the extra moisture. I was kinda shocked to see that one Sheep head butting that lamb that must have belonged to another mother. I thought Sheep would be a little more tolerant of lambs that don't belong to them. You must have gotten tired of your beard as you are all clean shaven in this video.

[@birchfieldfarming]

Hey Ben - It’s pretty amazing how the mamas are able to tell who is theirs in a crowd of lambs. Lots of sniffing, otherwise lambs will steal milk! Not tough enuff for a summer beard!🤠

[@silvermaples-rhodestomarke5318]

I'm glad to see sheep have become a realistic option for small scale farmers. That was certainly not the case in tbe 70s and 80s when my dad lost his keister with sheep.

[@birchfieldfarming]

Interesting…if I might ask, was it wool or meat he was pursuing?

[@silvermaples-rhodestomarke5318]

@birchfieldfarming Meat primarily, but they did have some wool herds. The market absolutely melted for both after 79 for a fair period, and many sheep farmers lost everything in the early 80s.

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@silvermaples-rhodestomarke5318 I was not aware of this. Thanks for sharing.

[@jvin248]

You mentioned WWII veterans hating mutton. We had mutton back on the farm when I was young and it was not popular either. How are you marketing and selling the sheep?

[@birchfieldfarming]

Selling straight off the farm. We get calls primarily thru our registry and word of mouth, but folks like Greg Judy have really put hair sheep on the map in the past few years. Interesting to hear about your mutton experience. I’ve heard there’s a right and wrong way to cook it - does that matter much?

[@matthewaamot2961]

Grampa came home and never ate spam or mutton again. 🙏

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@matthewaamot2961 🤠👍

[@user-ex4rx2kt2k]

I have 2 ewes 24 months old no lambs. Is that common?

[@birchfieldfarming]

Without knowing any details here, I would say no that’s not common. That first year can be rough but you should def see production that second time around. My email is in channel description if I can help.

[@user-ex4rx2kt2k]

@birchfieldfarming I didn't see the email. I'm new to this. My 3rd lambing season. Each 24 month old ewe comes from a different mother. Each of those mothers gave me twins each lambing season. Only grass and hay fed no worming. I did have a 12 month old that did lamb this season. I watched both ewes get bred but I had a buck goat that was trying to keep the rams off the ewes.

[@BirdseyeVu]

Matthew 19:29…little dyslexia popping through.😁Really enjoy your channel.👍

[@birchfieldfarming]

Ah, thank you for the correction…and for the encouragement!😀

[@learningtogrowinChrist]

Starting with word, got my subscription. Maybe expound a wee bit on it 👍🏼

[@birchfieldfarming]

Thanks for the sub!

[@nevinkuser9892]

How many acres are you on?

[@birchfieldfarming]

Just under 60

[@nevinkuser9892]

@@birchfieldfarming Amazing. Very well done sir.

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@nevinkuser9892Thanks for watching🤠

[@lauraandrade7909]

Are you looking to sell a breeding stock ram this year?

[@birchfieldfarming]

We should have a few to sell, yes. Will be ready mid-July.

[@lauraandrade7909]

@birchfieldfarming we have katahdin and are thinking of mixing with st. Croix to see if we can make the genetics stronger. Or do you think it is best to stay breed specific?

[@birchfieldfarming]

⁠@@lauraandrade7909St Croix will bring more parasite resistance. I believe St Croix are part of your baseline Katahdin mix already. I think our rams would do good work over Katahdins. As of now, we have a few available, but ewes are sold out. Thanks!

[@lauraandrade7909]

@@birchfieldfarming how do we get on a list for when you are ready to sell.

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@lauraandrade7909I’ll add you now. An email at [e-mail] with contact info would be helpful, so I can circle back in July. Thanks again!

[@user-qb9rm4zq5g]

Do you sell lamb freezer meat from your farm?

[@birchfieldfarming]

We are a registered breeder of St Croix hair sheep and supply other small farms. We have not sold the meat.

[@user-qb9rm4zq5g]

@@birchfieldfarming Thank you. Do you happen to know anyone who does ?( in the area)

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@user-qb9rm4zq5gTry Bethany over at Aurora Blue Farm. I know she used to have lamb meat up at the Oxford Farmers Market each week. www.localharvest.org/aurora-blue-farm-M72321

[@user-qb9rm4zq5g]

@@birchfieldfarming Awesome! Thank you!

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@user-qb9rm4zq5gyou got it👍

[@shannonconnely8682]

What about Bison

[@birchfieldfarming]

Bison are going to be about spot on with cattle. Gestation is very similar

[@jmhamilton87]

You even gave cattle the advantage on starting off with only 1 ram and 3 ewes. Should have been 5 rams and 15 ewes as that’s the equivalent animal unit as 1 bull and 3 cows. Would have made sheep numbers rise at an earlier year. I find the limiting factor of lamb meat is the American palate. As more and more farmers discover the profitability of sheep it’s going to cause the supply to bump up against the less than stellar demand for lamb meat and profitability will drop. For now though, every cattle farmer should have some sheep. They make cattle pasture better and as long as you start with good genetics (don’t buy sheep that require anti-parasite treatments) and rotationally graze they are very easy keepers.

[@birchfieldfarming]

Is this the Josh Hamilton that was crushing homers in the MLB a few years back?…cause you just crushed another one here. Excellent points (and I’m seriously related to him btw)🤣

[@jmhamilton87]

@@birchfieldfarming Lol no, but I have gotten that question before. Thanks for the reply, just started with St. Croix and about to start with South Polls this October. I’ll have to evaluate the demand for good quality sheep for all these homesteaders/farms that are driving up the demand for sheep vs cattle.

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@jmhamilton87I’ve heard good things about the South Polls🤠

[@shawn7219]

I can't see these numbers working unless you held on to each unit until year 15 and selling them all.

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@shawn7219Not sure what you mean by “working.” The point of the video is sheep are loads more profitable than cattle when running a grass-fed operation.

[@practicalsheepman]

I think that your values on sheep are overly optimistic and based more on direct marketing at a premium than commodity values. $500 for large groups of commercial breeding ewes in not realistic. I do agree that sheep have a large biological advantage over cattle. The mud doesn't get anywhere near as deep with sheep as it does with cattle!😁 The future for lamb and sheep sales looks good as ethnic populations continue to grow in the US.

[@birchfieldfarming]

That’s a fair critique on perhaps more of a niche market with the breeding side. Again, focus is on “general trends” here.

[@PANTTERA1959]

Hmmm start a processing company at $800 for a 3 hour job for cow,$180 Sheep.

[@birchfieldfarming]

They just opened one here. Red tape like you can’t even imagine.

[@PANTTERA1959]

​@@birchfieldfarming They don't make it easy to get rich...it takes work and pushing through the red tape paperwork.

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@PANTTERA1959was listening to an interview just today with Joel Salatin talking about circumventing - I guess there’s a whole movement down south that labels as “pet food” and another out west that set up an actual 503c and claims a religious exemption to sell her products saying it’s her religion to stay healthy, so folks “join her church” to purchase raw farm products. Hard work, sure…but maybe we just haven’t been creative enough.

[@PANTTERA1959]

@@birchfieldfarming That's Great. Love it.

[@dnawormcastings]

🇳🇿❤️🙏🏼

[@birchfieldfarming]

🤠🤠🍻

[@appalachianheartsong5487]

Just heard Ryan Hall Y’all talking about Oxford and the touchdown of a tornado just west of you, but apparently not on the ground over your area specifically. Looks like the storm has moved past you, praying that all is well. 23 lambs on the ground, 11 ewes and 12 rams so not great numbers. Can’t complain though, as all are healthy and as dumb as sheep were alleged to be…so apparently good genetics.

[@birchfieldfarming]

Yeah, prayed hard thru that one…we ended up in the basement and rode it out…barely missed us just South! About 2” rain, just went out and no damage, animals looked good. Those poor baby meat birds huddled up. The door to the chicken tractor was open but no damage. Praise God! Thanks for thinking of us! Congrats on lambing! That’s a great crop for first year!!🤠🍻

[@grasspunk]

If you have a farm that can hold 236 head of cattle, you're not running it with 3 cows and a bull, lol.

[@birchfieldfarming]

Always love the folks who don’t watch the whole video❤️

[@grasspunk]

@@birchfieldfarmingI watched it. The subject said "profitability", but it was about growth rates in a world where you start off with a handful of animals yet your land is huge, which is not realistic at all. Your sheep farm ended up four times as large as your cattle farm! You could make a video that would have way more real-world value just comparing a stocked sheep vs cattle farm of several sizes. I think sheep should have some good profitability gains (if you can market the product) but this video isn't helpful for figuring that out.

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@grasspunkIf you watch the video, those are OUR starting numbers. We have 60 acres and started with 4 cattle/4 sheep. The purpose of this video is to highlight general trends, which I emphasized. Be well out there.

[@grasspunk]

@@birchfieldfarming I was sucked in by the "$4.2 mil vs $536K - Sheep vs Cattle Profitability on Grass" title. I genuinely wanted to learn about sheep profitability. The spreadsheet you built to get these numbers has you running a 436ac sheep farm vs a 118ac cattle farm in a scenario that a farmer would not run. I'll stop here because this is your channel, I've made my point and I wish you the best.

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@grasspunkOne other thing to consider that can be overlooked is the possibility of other productive uses for the land while building a flock or herd. For instance, it does make sense for some landowners to own several hundred acres and not run a single cow or sheep. Plenty of landowners actually prefer ownership rights to land but not to actually work it, as in the case of cash renting. This is how we started and are even continuing. Cash flow upfront, build and reclaim workability as you scale up. Most of our ground was being row cropped. I still bought it without owning a single animal, as I could see the potential. Just something else to think about.

[@tomaswall6935]

Your calving down good cattle at two years old. That's dropping it's first calf at its second birthday. Gestation is 285 days, little over 9 months. Your profit potential is so off it's funny. If you could make that money everyone would do it 😂. If you are lambing down a few hundred sheep, you will see roughly 10/14% loss in the lambs, not the total flock. I think you should stay doing what you are doing because you don't really know what you are talking about to be honest. Fyi, your sheep should be in about 3/4 inches of grass on a rotation every 3rd day and coming back around to the original paddock in 21ish days. Sheep have 3/4 good years and then 3/4 really bad years.

[@birchfieldfarming]

Okay, thanks for stopping by👍