The Shepherdess

Resources for Beginner Sheep Farmers, Dorper Sheep for Sale in Texas!

is sheep farming profitable?

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BUILDING 7 STREAMS OF INCOME ON MY SHEEP FARM | Sheep Farming for Profit (with PDF)

➡️ ➡️ DOWNLOAD THE TIME SAVING SUPPLIES LIST HERE!

Today I am going to walk you through seven sources of income that I generate on my sheep farm for profit. A lot of people talk about the concept of having multiple income streams, and it’s usually presented in a very abstract way. Today I’m going to take you through these seven sources of income and how I generate them without leaving the farm.

“Most successful family economies over history involved a mix of trades rather than just one. The village blacksmith also farmed his own land. Our first president was also a distinguished orchardist. Ben Franklin was a courier, author, publisher, statesman, and inventor. So it will be today successful enduring family economies will most likely need to be diversified and cross a range of durable trades.” (Durable Trades, Pg. 41)

Number one source of income is livestock. I run both sheep and a cow herd. The cow herd is a break-even enterprise. I sell the grass fed beef on a local level and it really allows me to satisfy my desire to produce a local food source for my community. The sheep are a profit center on my farm.

My sheep are purebred Dorper sheep. The demand for my sheep is such that all of my sheep are selling on the hoof. They are selling as breeding stock to other small farms. Managing the livestock end of my farm takes about two hours per day. I know a lot of you probably have a job that you need to keep as your primary income source and wonder if it’s possible to run a farm on the side. It is definitely possible.

Being able to finish my farm work in just 1-2 hours per day came down to having the right tools for both my grazing system and my watering system. Here is a free P D F download that lists all of those tools I use.

The second source of income for me is a result of the fact that I have more demand for my sheep than I’m able to supply with my own farm.

I launched a pasture-based breeder directory at shepherdess.com. Pasture-based sheep farmers can join this directory and I will do the marketing for them. You can check this out at shepherdess.com/breeders.

Income source number three is not tied to farming at all. It is a line of leather work and creative products that I produce myself.

This was the bulk of my income before my work in agriculture really got off the ground and started generating income. I have not completely phased the leather work business out. I understand that what I’m experiencing right now with the ability to generate enough income to support myself through agriculturally related means may not last forever.

So I have put the leatherwork/craft business on a side hustle basis. In the case that things slow down on the farm I can expand my capacity for taking orders.

The fourth source of income is Sheep Care supplies kits at Shepherdess.com. What has really made this popular is that I actually assemble kits for beginner sheep farmers.

What I found as a beginner shepherd was that there were just a few supplies that kept situations from becoming emergencies. I sell those products in kits at shepherdess.com. I run Shepherdess.com out of my garage. It is something that I’m able to do right from the farm.

Income source number five is podcasting and videos. Now, this is a very, very small income source. YouTube ad revenue is very small for me, surprisingly enough. I guess the farming niche that is a very low ad revenue generating niche, but the sheep farming videos I create for youtube generate a lot of traffic to shepherdess.com where I sell products for profit.

Income source number six really ties back to my time in the apparel industry. I really have a love for creating unique and beautiful things to wear, and so periodically I will update shepherdess.com with merch and apparel that has an agricultural theme. The neat thing about this apparel also is that my sister is an amazing artist and she’ll actually collaborate with me to create a lot of the designs that are applied to this merchandising: whether it’s shirts or note cards or stickers. This is a really fun project that we can mutually collaborate on here at the farm, and you guys have been so generous to support that.

Income source number seven is something I’m so excited to tell you guys about, and it is the launch of my very own book, the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture. As beginner sheep, farmers going into Sheep Farming with no previous experience in four-footed livestock. Our first few years was really rough.

But we adapted management principles, which I outline in this book, and death rate went from above industry average on our sheep farm to one third of industry average within just two seasons. Pre-order opens on August 15th, 2023, and I would so appreciate your support for the launch at Shepherdess.com.

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ARE SHEEP PROFITABLE? Why I Chose Sheep Over Cows for My Farm Business

Are sheep profitable? Are sheep more profitable than cows? Why did you choose sheep over cows? If I start a sheep farm, how long will it take to become profitable?

I receive these kinds of questions regularly. Unfortunately, the answers will be different for everyone and you have to find the answers for yourself, based on your own research. In farming there are so many variables: geographic location, natural resource, human resource, and most importantly, what your local market will support (aka, who is going to buy your farm goods). And even after all of this research, there is a fair amount of risk involved.

In my context, Lord-allowing, sheep present a projected gross revenue that is approximately 400% greater than beef.

I am going to walk you through the evaluation process that lead me to choose sheep instead of cows for my farm business. I am going to share some of the pros and cons of sheep vs. cows. I am going to highlight the profit-killers that sheep farmers wrestle against. Finally, I am going to walk you through a real-time example of how sheep offer a 400% greater revenue potential on my small acreage farm than cows do.

Sheep vs. Cows:

Sheep:Cows:
❌Need daily monitoring.✅Can be left alone for weeks on end.
❌Easily killed by predators (defenseless).✅Can largely defend themselves.
❌Frequently die of parasites.✅Rarely die of parasites.
❌Require more expensive fencing.✅Require less expensive fencing.
❌Lambing must be monitored closely to avoid significant mortality.✅Calving typically requires minimal monitoring (heifers being the exception).
❌Need regular hoof care (unless terrain is rocky).✅Do not need regular hoof care.
Sheep:Cows:
✅Wean their body weight equivalent in offspring every year.❌Wean 1/2 their body weight equivalent in offspring every year.
✅Begin reproduction as early as 9 mos.❌Begin reproduction at 14 months.
✅Raise twins and triplets.❌Raise singles (twins generally do not thrive).
✅My Dorper sheep cost $10 per head to overwinter.❌My beef steer cost $150-250 per head to overwinter (cost hinges on availability of stockpile forage).
✅Easy to grass-finish on low-moderate pasture quality.❌Require high quality pasture for a high quality grass finish.
✅ $3/lb 2021 USDA Market Average.❌$1.8/lb 2021 USDA Market Average.
✅Market prices not as easily manipulated.❌Market prices easily manipulated by systemic and political factors.
✅Thrive in drought (*at least my Dorpers do).❌Must be destocked in drought.

In short, sheep require significantly more time and human resource than cows. You have to be a shepherd in order to be successful with sheep. If you are willing and able to undertake the role of shepherd, sheep reproduce twice as fast as cows and bring almost twice as much at U.S. cattle auctions than cows. Sheep thrive on pastures that would starve a cow and are a drought-resistant cattle option.

How do I determine profitability? I make sure all costs are counted and revenues exceed costs. But here is where I have to be honest: I am not counting the cost of my time at this point. I am giving my sheep business my time for free… and I have farm hands who donate 4-8 hours per week to help me with heavy lifting. If I were to put a price tag the amount of time I am giving this farm, I would probably not be profitable for 72 years. Just being honest here. But I’m in good company… this seems to be the story of every good rancher’s life.

Two major profit-killers for sheep farmers are PREDATORS and DISEASE.

Predators can wipe out an entire small flock in one night. Disease (internal parasites, vitamin deficiencies, hoof infections, etc.) is part of a fallen world and will always be present on some scale or another. Regenerative Agriculture will never completely eradicate death and disease. The health and protection of my sheep are actually things that I include in my regular prayers. They are profit-killers that only the Lord can protect me from.

Why did I choose sheep over cows for my farm business?

The Lord opened doors to several different market streams:

About one week before I bought the flock I had a local grass-fed meat market contact me. They had seen my work with the flock on Instagram and called to discuss a recurring order for 40 lambs per year. This was the ultimate push for me: a serious meat buyer.

I had also begun to research the Dorper breed and found it was (and is) growing in popularity. I realized that this flock of 25 purebred Dorper sheep was a diamond in the rough. It held far more potential than lamb chops; live animals were (and are) in high demand. Thus, a second market emerged: breeding stock.

To top it all off, I had begun making videos about my farm work. I initially began this as a video journal for myself, but people started watching and enjoying my videos as well. This presented a third marketing and income opportunity: sheep-based education and entertainment.

In my area, there is significant competition for grass-fed beef:

Selling grass-fed beef was my initial plan for profit. I did some market research (google and farmer’s markets) and found there were already some well-established grass-fed beef producers in my area. I also live in a rural area where everyone grows their own beef. I knew it would not be impossible to carve out my own space in the market, but I realized it would take a lot more time to do so. What’s more is that pasture raised lamb was retailing at about 30% above grass fed beef. After this market research, sheep appeared a faster track to profitability.

Sheep presented higher revenue potential for my small acreage:

The best way for me to explain this is to build out my real-time example with the 23 acres of pasture I have. I estimate that with my intensive rotational grazing my 23 acres can support 10 animal units, or 10,000 lb worth of animal (**please know that I am approaching this number incrementally to monitor how my land responds to the animal load). I am going to build this out based on current USDA market prices for conditioned beef steer of 550lb and feeder lambs of 65lb.

Sheep:Cows:
10,000lb = 80 Dorper Ewes10,000 lb = 9 Cows
80 ewes = 10,400 lbs worth of saleable offspring in every year.9 cows = 4,950 lb worth of saleable offspring in every year.
Current USDA Market price is $3/lbCurrent USDA Market Price is $1.80/lb
10,400 x $3 = $31,2004,950 x $1.80 = $8,910
✅Estimated Gross Revenue Potential: $31,200⭕Estimated Gross Revenue Potential: $8,910

My gross revenue potential is higher than what is listed above for a few reasons: I am running purebred and registered full-blood breeding stock, I am marketing my flock through value-adding consumer education (videos), I am running grass-based breed selection (cutting input costs and improving the value of my breeding stock), and I am selling any meat products direct to consumer.

USDA Market Price Evaluation:

I advocate for private sales, but pricing for private sales are often dictated by USDA market (auction) values. As I reviewed USDA market prices for beef and sheep, I realized that sheep were bringing almost double the price of beef cattle.

My lifestyle allows me to be a shepherdess:

I work from home, and have been doing so for 10+ years. I love being right here, at home on my farm. I have the ability to give my sheep the time they need. While I never would have imagined myself to be in this position, I love the farm work and farm life. I now understand why the aged farmers say “you have to love this life”. Some of the challenges you encounter will make you feel like you are cracking in half. No amount of money can make the stress worth it… but if you love something, you are willing to give it more than you’ll ever get back. And that is exactly the place I have come to as a farmer and shepherdess.

Sheep Offer Me a 200% Faster Return on Investment:

I will walk you through both a beef-to-market timeline and a sheep-to-market timeline. In order to generate sizeable revenue with a small beef herd, I believe that direct to consumer meat sales is the only way to go. That is what this evalutaion will reflect.

Journey to cash-flow with beef

(with a herd and not a stocker-steer operation)

  • 9 months gestation.
  • 22-24 months to harvest on a steer.

ROI (return on investment) for Beef = 33 months.

Journey to cash-flow with sheep

  • 5 months gestation.
  • 4 months to weaning and sale of breeding stock or 6 months to harvest of lamb.

ROI (return on investment) for Sheep = 9-11 months.

Two key elements that make sheep a better fit for my context are: I have time to be a shepherdess, and I am working on small acreage.

The bottom line of my journey is that I am farming sheep because the Lord has lead me to farm sheep. The Bible says that whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. That why I am giving this effort all I’ve got... it’s not about money (TBH: I could make more money waiting tables right now). While I am doing my best to be wise and make decisions that may lend to profitability, I realize that the Lord is in control of profitability.

Farming is a humbling thing because it makes you realize how little you know. Despite these plans and evaluations, at the end of the day I am praying the Lord blesses my efforts. And that is my primary hope for profitability.

So that’s it! This is an explanation of why I chose sheep over cows for my small farm business. I hope I presented my evaluation in such a way that will help you to make the right decision for your farm.

-the Shepherdess