The Mature Ewes ~ Boggs Farms ~ April 2007
May 6, 2007
From an email to the membership of the Southcentral Katahdin Association
Hi Folks -- This email is quite long, but the information could be useful if you're contemplating the retail sale of lamb meat -- plus there's a nice photo near the end.
At the Friday evening festivities of the 2007 SCKA Annual Gathering at Isle Navarre Farms in Scott, LA, Boggs Farms will set up their Farmer's Market Lamb Meat Sales Booth for peer review and for purchase of individual packages of fresh frozen lamb if desired. The booth will be operational from 6:00 - 7:30 PM. We can not be present the next day (Saturday, June 2nd) because of our regular commitment to the Red Stick Farmer's Market in Baton Rouge.
Members and guests who may be interested in purchasing our product should consider that the lamb we sell will likely taste different from the young grain fed wethers that you may produce at home. This probable difference in taste is due to economic necessity (explained below).
Long before starting this retail lamb marketing program, we determined that our farm was best suited for the production of low quality grasses and assorted weeds. We then tried to determine what meat animal could profitably serve as both the harvesting machinery and as the market vehicle for those forage assets. Complicating the assignment was the need for the animals to graze with low inputs of cash and labor while under the adverse conditions of very high humidity and extreme parasitic infestation.
This journey has led through beef cattle (100+ years and continuing), goats (now discontinued), and on to the production of 12 to 16 month old pasture raised intact Katahdin males with a live weight of about 110 pounds at the time of processing. If this description does not fit in with your definition of what "lamb" should be -- remember that most market shoppers are only vaguely familiar with lamb and are usually somewhat flexible in their taste expectations (except that it better be good!!). They do require that the lamb be wholesome, locally and humanely produced with minimal feed (which contains no animal byproducts), without using hormones or antibiotics, and that it be logically priced (yes, they understand that you have to make a profit).
The fact that our yearlings have lived somewhat longer than the average market lamb is comforting to many shoppers. As an additional enticement to purchase, our lambs have never been inoculated, vaccinated, or injected with any type of drug whatsoever.
The economically crucial point I'm trying to make is that you have to sell "The Lamb" which your pastures are best suited to produce, and that each farm's pasture environment is different. However, no matter what your farm produces best, it will not please everyone. Some new buyers will become loyal customers of your lamb and some will not return.
Note that this environment-controls-production philosophy, while not new, is the exact opposite of the more common adage of "Find a market and then produce for it." You can profitably produce only what your pastures dictate -- then you have to sell that product to potential customers one by one.
An additional reality that must be taken into consideration is the fact that only a small fraction of the general public will ever become regular lamb patrons. This requires utilizing a Market that serves a sizeable population and which is also within reasonable driving distance of the farm.
Twice per month we go to the Farmer's Market in Baton Rouge (Year 2004 City Pop. 222,000 and Met. Pop. 752,000 with a one-way driving distance of 145 miles); plus once per month we also go to the FM in Lake Charles (Year 2000 City Pop. 71,000 and Met. Pop. 184,000 with a one-way driving distance of 60 miles). I consider the long drive to Baton Rouge to be the practical maximum, and the smallish population of the Lake Charles area to be the practical minimum -- although there are undoubtedly exceptions.
A major, easily overlooked expense that also must be considered in any proposed market feasibility study is transportation (farm truck operational costs are 35 - 55 cents per mile). In addition to the distances mentioned above, I also drive 45 one-way miles to the nearest Inspected and Certified processing facility to which I take our live lambs, and then back again to pick up the retail-ready, wrapped, weighed, labeled, priced, and frozen meat packages.
Further information about our retail marketing program can be found by selecting the following three articles from the left side menu at www.louisianalamb.com. Farmer's Market, Newspaper Article, and Newspaper Article 2.
We hope to see you in south Louisiana on Friday evening, June 1st.
Frank Boggs, Jr.
The Mature Ewes ~ Boggs Farms ~ April 2007
We are at the Red Stick Farmer's Market in downtown Baton Rouge on Fifth Street between Main and North Streets from 8:00 AM - 12 Noon on the first and third Saturdays of the month, year-round, rain or shine.
We are at the Charlestown Farmer's Market in downtown Lake Charles on Bilbo Street between Kirby and Iris Streets from 7:30 AM - 12 Noon on the second Saturday of the month, year-round, rain or shine.
~ THE END ~