Economics
- New York FarmNet
The mission of NY FarmNet is to provide New York farm families with free, confidential consulting services to develop skills to improve financial and production efficiency, and overcome business and family challenges. - US Small Business Administration
- Cornell Small Farms Program Check this site for information and courses about farm management.
- Cornell Small Farms Program funding page (Grants, Loans)
- Cornell Small Farms Program business planning page
- Northeast packing plant study 2019
Budgeting
Sheep and goat prices
- New Holland Monday prices (weighted average report of sales observed)
- Pennsylvania Weekly Livestock Sales Summary
- Historical New Holland Monday prices In item 1 (find results), enter LN_LS322)
- Lamb USDA dashboard prices
Feed prices
- Commodity prices
- By-product ingredient prices from the University of Missouri
- Change prices from bushels to tons
Statistics
- New York Agricultural Statistics
- New York Farm Land
- National Sheep Statistics
- USDA maps of location of small slaughter plants
Marketing
- Sheep & Goat Marketing web site
- Bulletin on cutting meat
- Lamb marketing check-off
- Lamb USDA dashboard prices
- Improved Meat Marketing for Small-Scale and Direct Marketing Farms in the Northeast (Matt LeRoux). Part I. Understand the customer and their needs: Developing marketing strategy
- Mobile slaughter videos
- USDA-Inspected Mobile Processor
- USDA maps of location of small slaughter plants
- Cornell Small Ruminant Marketing Listserve (Join by sending email to srmarketing-L-request@cornell.edu with a subject of “JOIN”. This listserv aims to assist in the marketing of sheep and goats and the discussion of marketing topics and events.) From http://sheepgoatmarketing.info/
Click on the toggles below to see summaries from sales of Cornell sheep at regional markets
New Holland example sale 1 December 2008
1 December 2008
Cornell Sheep Farm Finn x Dorset ewe lambs
- Birthdates in March and April 2008
- 85 to 123 pounds, SD = 8 pounds
- Price range of 5 groups purchased by 3 buyers: $1.48 to $1.56 per pound
This group of 60 lambs was pooled with lambs from two other farmers to reduce the cost of trucking. Prices happened to be higher on this particular auction day; probably due to upcoming ethnic holidays.
| Farm weight, pounds |
6125
|
| Number of lambs |
60
|
| Average farm weight, pounds |
102
|
| New Holland sale weight, pounds |
5545
|
| Shrink |
9.5%
|
| Gross sale |
$8,432
|
| Sale price per pound |
$1.52
|
| Feed for 1 day |
$30.00
|
| Lamb checkoff |
$27.74
|
| Commission |
$300.00
|
| Commission per lamb |
$5.00
|
| Check |
$8,074.26
|
| Trucking ($4/lamb) |
$240.00
|
| Net sale |
$7,834.26
|
| Net sale per lamb |
$130.57
|
| Net sale per farm pound |
$1.28
|
Hackettstown Livestock Auction example 17 November 2009
17 November 2009 Hackettstown Livestock Auction
Cornell Sheep Farm Finn x Dorset and Dorset ram lambs
Many were older rams which might have had off-flavors in the fall of the year. We sold them at this time and location for a possible premium for the Muslim Festival of Sacrifice 27 Novemer through 1 December 2009.
- Birthdates from January through June 2009
- 95 to 164 pounds, SD = 17 pounds
- Price range from $1.11 to $1.47 per pound
| Farm weight, pounds |
7316
|
| Number of lambs |
63
|
| Average farm weight, pounds |
116
|
| Hacketstown sale weight, pounds |
6592
|
| Shrink |
9.9%
|
| Gross sale |
$8,499
|
| Sale price per pound |
$1.29
|
| Hacketstown membership |
$25
|
| Yardage |
$15.00
|
| Lamb checkoff |
$32.96
|
| Commission (10% of gross) |
$849.94
|
| Commission per lamb |
$13.49
|
| Total sale expenses |
$922.90
|
| Net sale at Hacketstown |
$7,576.46
|
| Net sale per farm lb at Hacketstown |
$1.04
|
| Trucking ($4/lamb) |
$252.00
|
| Net sale |
$7,324.46
|
| Net sale per lamb |
$116.26
|
| Net sale per farm pound |
$1.00
|
New Holland example sale 1 December 4 January 2010
4 January 2010 New Holland Sales Stables
Cornell Sheep Farm Finn x Dorset lambs
- Birthdates from March to November 2009
- 48 ewes and 49 rams
- 69 (for November lambs) to 117 pounds (for March lambs)
- Price range of 6 groups purchased by 2 buyers: $1.35 to $1.48 per pound
| Farm weight, pounds |
7700
|
| Number of lambs |
77
|
| Average farm weight, pounds |
100
|
| New Holland sale weight, pounds |
6955
|
| Shrink |
9.7%
|
| Gross sale |
$9,522
|
| Sale price per pound |
$1.37
|
| Feed for 1 day |
$38.50
|
| Lamb checkoff |
$34.79
|
| Commission |
$385.00
|
| Commission per lamb |
$5.00
|
| Check |
$9,063.41
|
| Trucking ($4/lamb) |
$240.00
|
| Net sale |
$8,823.41
|
| Net sale per lamb |
$114.59
|
| Net sale per farm pound |
$1.15
|
New Holland example sale 14 March 2011
14 March 2011 New Holland Sales Stables
Cornell Sheep Farm Dorset and Finn x Dorset lambs
- Birthdates from May to November 2010
- 45 ewes and 73 rams
- 77 (for a ewe born on 21 November 2010) to 172 pounds (for a ram born on 12 August 2010)
- Average weight: 115 pounds (SD = 22.2 lb)
- Median weight: 110 pounds
- Price range of 12 groups purchased by 9 buyers: $2.22 to $2.74 per pound
| Farm weight, pounds |
13,612
|
| Number of lambs |
118
|
| Average farm weight, pounds |
115
|
| New Holland sale weight, pounds |
12,775
|
| Shrink |
6.1%
|
| Gross sale |
$30,527
|
| Sale price per pound |
$2.39
|
| Feed for 1 day |
$59.00
|
| Lamb checkoff |
$63.91
|
| Commission |
$590.00
|
| Commission per lamb |
$5.00
|
| Check |
$29,814.49
|
| Trucking (53% of $750 – shared with cattle) |
$400.13
|
| Trucking per lamb |
$3.39
|
| Net sale |
$29,414.36
|
| Net sale per lamb |
$249.27
|
| Net sale per farm pound |
$2.16
|
New Holland example sale 18 December 2011
18 December 2011 New Holland Sales Stables
Cornell Sheep Farm Dorset and Finn x Dorset lambs
- Note that this was a variable group of lambs with some poor doers.
- One lamb died on the truck on the way to market; it is included in the 108 sold so the average price is reduced accordingly.
- Birthdates from June to early September 2011
- 62 ewes and 46 rams
- 35 (for a ewe born on 7 September 2011) to 156 pounds (for a ram born on 8 June 2011)
- Average weight: 90 pounds (SD = 23.9 lb)
- Median weight: 94 pounds
- Price range of 13 groups purchased by 7 buyers: $1.52 to $2.95 per pound
| Farm weight, pounds | 9,753 |
| Number of lambs | 108 |
| Average farm weight, pounds | 90 |
| New Holland sale weight, pounds | 8,705 |
| Shrink | 10.7% |
| Gross sale | $15,815 |
| Sale price per pound | $1.82 |
| Feed for 1 day | $53.50 |
| Lamb checkoff | $43.57 |
| Commission | $535.00 |
| Commission per lamb | $4.95 |
| Check | $15,183.13 |
| Trucking | $750.00 |
| Trucking per lamb | $6.94 |
| Net sale | $14,433.13 |
| Net sale per lamb | $133.64 |
| Net sale per farm pound | $1.48 |
| Marketing cost per farm pound | $0.34 |
Navigation
Choose a management area
Cornell Small Ruminant Management List Server
Click here to join the Cornell University sheepgoatmanagement list server. The purpose of the list server is to ask about and exchange information about sheep and goat management.
Frequently used
- Sheep & Goat Marketing
- New Holland Monday prices
- Pennsylvania Weekly Livestock Sales Summary
- Historical New Holland Monday prices - In item 1 (find results), enter LN_LS322
- Commodity futures prices
- By-product ingredient prices from the University of Missouri
Solar grazing
From Cornell University
- 2023 Cornell Sheep and Goat Symposium Handouts
- Control of internal parasites (Cornell Small Ruminant Parasites site)
- Cornell Cooperative Extension
- Cornell Cooperative Extension Field Staff
- Cornell Beef Cattle Management
- Cornell Goat Management
- Cornell Small Farms Program
- Bulletin on cutting meat
- Department of Animal Science
- Low Input Lambing & Kidding
- New Concepts of Sheep Growth (Rex Butterfield)
- New Concepts of Cattle Growth (Roy Berg and Rex Butterfield)
- Sheep tipping video
- SOP Newborn Lamb
Dairy sheep
- Guide to Raising Dairy Sheep (Yves Berger, Claire Mikolayunas, David Thomas - University of Wisconsin)
- Proceedings of Dairy Sheep Symposia
- Searchable PDF of titles of Proceedings of Dairy Sheep Symposia
- Effect of growth rate on milk production (University of Wisconsin)
- Principles of Sheep Dairying in North America
- Solar Grazing
From other academic and Extension sources
- Interstate Animal Movement Requirements (state import requirements for livestock)
- Livestock Guardian Dogs (Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension)
- Maryland Small Ruminant Page (Susan Schoenian)
- Oklahoma State University breeds of livestock
- Sheep & Goat Research Journal
- USDA Soil Survey Maps
- USDA Meat, Poultry and Egg Product Inspection Directory
- Wisconsin Sheep and Goat Extension
From industry
- American Sheep Industry Association
- Best Practice Resources (from ASI)
- Dairy Sheep Association of North America
- Dairy One (feed analysis)
- Empire Alpaca Association
- Empire Sheep Producers Association
- Empire State Meat Goat Producers Association
- National Lamb Feeders Association
- New River Valley Sheep & Goat Club
- SheepBytes Ration Balancing
- Sheep Care Guide
- United States Border Collie Club
- United States Lamb Resource Center (marketing American lamb)
- Values of breeding sheep (from ASI)
- Working dog liability insurance
- Wool Journal
Books
- ASI Sheep Care Guide
- Sheep & Goat Research Journal
- Storey's Guide to Raising Sheep: Breeds, Care, Facilities (search for this on-line)
- The Sheep Book (by Ron Parker) (search for this on-line)
Wool
- 2020 Sheep Shearers in the Northeast
- NYS Wool Branding Report
- ASI Shearing Data Base Form (Word doc)
- ASI Shearer Directory
- Battenkill Fibers
- Black Sheep Handspinners Guild
- Black Mesa Weavers for Life and Land
- Carolina Specialy, Inc. (Wool processing equipment)
- Canadian Cooperative Wool Growers Ltd.
- Faribault Woolen Mill
- Fiber Crafts
- Fibershed
- Fingerlakes Woolen Mill
- Helen Trejo (Fiber designer and fibershed expert)
- Heritage Wool Blankets
- Horner Shearing (equipment that runs off 12-Volt battery)
- Howard Brush (cards for sheep and wool)
- Ithaca SheepSkin
- IWTO Wool Sheep Welfare
- MacAusland's Woollen Mill
- Midstates Wool Growers Cooperative Association
- New York Guilds
- New York State Regional Yarn Sourcebook by Helen Trejo, PhD
- Nistock Farms
- Shearers and other fiber information
- Shearing instructions (from Premier1)
- Stanley Bulbach (fiber artist)
- Yocom-McColl Wool Testing Lab
- 20160511 Cornell Sheep Sale
- Cornell STAR-managed sheep flock data summaries
- Vaccination against overeating disease (click on toggle on health page)
- Feeding ewes with triplet lambs
- Observations on the effect of adding water to feed on lamb pneumonia
More details about past, present, and future sheep research at Cornell University will be coming soon.
Jessica R. Waltemyer, Extension Associate
PRO-Livestock NYS Small Ruminant Specialist
118 Frank Morrison Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-4801
607-882-4772
jrk272@cornell.edu
tatiana L. Stanton, Extension Associate (Retired)
Goat Specialist
114 Morrison Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-4801
tls7@cornell.edu
607-254-6024
Niko Kochendoerfer, PhD Student and Graduate Assistant
110 Morrison Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-4801
nk584@cornell.edu
Major revision: October 2015
Please contact Niko Kochendoerfer at nk584@cornell.edu if you can't find something from the previous version.
Copyright © 2015 Michael L. Thonney
