|
Home | Breeding Stock | Products | Contact Us |
Marketing Your Sheep and Their Products on the Internet
Ten
years ago my son insisted that I get a website and a URL. He felt that my
Icelandic sheep and their products were an excellent candidate for this kind of
advertising. At that time I did not have a computer, didn’t want one, didn’t
know how to use one and didn’t want to learn. He badgered me until I agreed to
have a website produced and put on the web. I went kicking and screaming all of
the way. But right away I was getting 20% of my business from this website and
it grew fast from this beginning. It now it generates about 90% of my
business. In reading a survey recently in a sheep magazine, the number one
goal of shepherds was to make more money from their sheep. Since
commodity buyers will only give you a break-even price for your product, at
best, direct marketing is the only way to make a profit from your flock.
1)
First of all you need high quality animals and products to sell. Work on this
first. If your products are of poor quality or packaged poorly then they
will not be attractive to customers. Be sure that you would want to buy the
product that you are selling. Never sell a flawed product unless that flaw
is fully disclosed to the buyer. ie tender wool will not be a product that a
spinner would want but may be excellent for a customer that want to use it to
stuff dog beds. Observe
the methods and packaging of successful producers and copy these ideas. Nothing
sells wool better than clean, vegetative free, well-skirted
wool from a healthy sheep.
2) Then bite the bullet and pay a good website developer to create a website for you. Unless creating websites is your business, get help with this as there are a lot to know not only about the creation of a website but having the right key words that the search engines use to catalog and find your products. Submitting your website to the right search engines and getting it positioned so it comes up in the first 10 choices in a search is the most important thing and needs to be done by an expert. This will cost a lot but is worth every penny as the website will be your cheapest advertising and is working for you 24/7. Make sure that your website is easy to use. Look at the sites of others and copy the format of the one that you like. Start with a small site and expand as your business does. You may be able to barter for this work (ie lamb, yarn or knitted products)
3)
Make your website informative as well as a showcase for your products. Education
and support to your customers will help to sell your products. Many of your
customers questions can be answered in a “frequently asked questions”
section of your website.
4)
Get website software like “front page” and have the website developer teach
you how to update your site using this program.
5)
Keep your website updated. Up to date info will bring back customers, avoid
confusion and let customers know that you are on the ball with your business.
6)
Learn how to take good photos of your sheep and products. A good digital camera
with a telephoto lens is essential, as it doesn’t distort your sheep’s
image. Good Photos sell your products. A digital camera will allow you to take a
photo of a sheep or product quickly for a customer.
7)
Answer customers within 24 hours. Nothing is more frustrating to a customer than
to not receive an answer or return call. I have gotten more business from
frustrated customers that told me that they had called many different breeders
and no one ever answered or called them back.
8)
Put your guarantee online for your sheep and products. This is professional and
avoids confusion.
9)
Try and get a URL that suggests what you are selling ie www.icelandicsheep.com
10)
Offer not only your farm products but information on other businesses and
attractions in your region on your website. This will help your community and
bring more visitors to your area if they can have a wider variety of experiences
on their trip.
11)
Use excellent business practices and be professional in your dealings with your
customers. If you run into difficult situations ask for creative and fair
solutions from older more experienced breeders.
12)
Offer continuing help to your customers and be available for that support. This
is very important.
13)
Put small ads in sheep and fiber magazines that lead folks to your website. Your
website URL on your truck and trailer will lead folks to your site.
Icelandic
Sheep - The Marketers Dream:
The
Entrepreneurial and Business Aspects of Raising Icelandic Sheep in North America
© Susan Mongold
We make our entire living without "off-farm" income, a rarity
we are told. We do it with Icelandic sheep, a breed that has recently
become available in the United States for the farmer / entrepreneur who wants an
animal that fits management Intensive Grazing (MIG) and produces products that
fill high value niche markets. This
breed comes from Iceland where it has been raised in isolation for 1000 years
and has provided meat, milk and fiber for the Viking and Celtic peoples that
settled there.
Today's
Icelandic Sheep are not a remnant of years past but a viable commercial breed
numbering 450,000 and are the only breed of sheep in Iceland. The animals provide 1/4 of the agricultural output and 50% of Iceland's
meat needs. Products produced by
this breed are known and marketed worldwide and are highly esteemed. The meat is light flavored and fine textured, has no "muttony"
taste and is featured in 5 star restaurants. The pelts look like soft silky fox furs and top the world market, being
used by the garment industry and interior decorators. The naturally colored dual coated fleece is made into the world famous
warm and soft Icelandic sweaters and spun into Lopi yarn that has been Americas
favorite knitting yarn for many years. In
addition it is among the best fleeces for felting and is fast gaining popularity
with felters and fiber artists. Icelandic
sheep were also used as a dairy animal in Iceland up until 40 years ago as they
are excellent milk producers. A
farmstead cheese was made then call skyr.
Because the
breed was developed over 1000 years in isolation and had to endure severe
subsistence living conditions, only the hardiest animals survived. The sheep were traditionally wintered over for 6 months on the equivalent
of 2 small square bales of hay, winter grazing and that managed to survive and
thrive were very healthy, hardy and disease resistant. Since the growing season is short in Iceland and hay scare, the sheep had
to lamb in sync with the seasons. Lambing
took place in May and a marketable lamb was produced by mid Sept./Oct. when the
grass growth stopped. Since there
was no extra feed to spare for lambs that needed more time to mature, the
Icelanders selected for animals that would make rapid early gains.
Since the breeding season doesn't start until mid November and the lambs
reach marketable finish weight by Sept./Oct., then the ram lambs need not be
castrated because they are butchered before the extra male breeding hormone
adversely affect the flavor of the meat. Not
only does this decrease the work load for the shepherd at lambing time by doing
away with the lambing chore, but the extra testosterone produced by the
"intact" ram lambs increase their daily weight gain naturally. Modern breeds of lambs , by contrast, are banded or castrated at birth
because they take 7 to 12 months to reach finish weight and in this time, they
cycle through a breeding season. If
left intact as rams during their natural early breeding season, the meat would
take on an unpleasant flavor.
What does all
this mean for the farmer/entrepreneur, and how does this fit into a MIG program? Livestock breeders are just rediscovering the value of having animals
that produce in sync with their natural rhythms and the normal growing season,
and what it all means to their bottom line thanks to the to decreased reliance
on stored feed and additives (Stockman Grass Farmer!) . The early spring grass flush is the perfect feed needed for ewes in late
gestation as it is high in protein and low in fiber. This means that it goes through the digestive system fast and so the ewe
can eat more of it and obtain the protein and nutrients she needs. Because the lambs take up a lot of space in her body cavity, it is
important that she has this fast, high turnover of high quality feed. The Icelandic ewe has a huge rumen and is able to utilize this high
quality but water filled spring growth. In
comparison, modern breeds that have been developed by feeding heavy amounts of
an expensive grain, lack the rumen capacity needed to thrive on grass alone and
are therefore grain dependent.
Icelandic sheep are aggressive foragers that graze longer and
forage widely, utilizing all of the available pasture. They do not generally lose body condition even during the hot
humid temperatures of summer. The
ewes and lambs will graze during the night to make up for shading up during the
hottest parts of the day. We get
temperatures of 100 to 104 degrees with up to 77% humidity, intermittently
during the summer here in Miles City, Montana.
There was no grain raised on the island nor was any imported for animal
feed, so the sheep had to be able to produce and thrive on grass and hay alone. From this harsh environment, there developed a 160 to 200 pound short
stocky, well muscled, medium sized sheep that would lamb in the spring on grass,
milk heavily so that lambs would grow fast, and them make rapid weight gains as
soon as the lambs were weaned in the fall. In order to achieve this, the breed developed very large rumens in order
to process increased amounts of forage to meet the needs of the ewe and her
lambs. They also developed
aggressive and tireless foraging habits. The
breeding season for these sheep starts in mid Nov. and is spaced nicely to give
the ewe 2 months between weaning time and breeding time, in order for the ewes
to regain their ideal body weight and be in a good condition to conceive.
Icelandic sheep also developed a long warm, fine, soft, dual
coated fleece to combat the cold windy, rainy, snowy climate. The long outer fiber is strong and wear resistant, not unlike mohair and
sheds rain and dirt well. It is not
subject to much damage from rain and sun. The
soft downy undercoat provides loft for the outer coat and keeps the animal warm
and dry. The fleece comes in a wide
range of natural colors and patterns including blue black, inky black, brown
black, snow white, cream, tan apricot, taffy, coffee, chocolate, dark chocolate,
silver gray, lilac gray, blue gray, champagne and oatmeal. In addition there are parti-colored or "pintos" as well as
those that have an undercoat of a different color than the outer coat, which
produces a true tweed yarn.
No other
natural wool fiber has as wide a color range and such versatility. The two different fibers can be spun together to produce a yarn that is
similar to a mohair/wool blend and can be used in sweaters/socks and outer
garments. The easily separated
outer coat called tot was used by the Vikings for weaving their sails,
tapestries, rugs, rope, saddle blankets, boot coverings and embroidery thread. The soft fine undercoat called thel, was used for soft
next-to-the skin wearables, baby clothes, underwear and fine fancy work. The wool was also made into a wide range of felted items, from hats to
mittens and boots. The combination
of long strong fibers and short fine ones as well as a fast felting time makes
this one of the worlds best felting fibers.
Icelandic lambs make fast early gains on their mothers excellent milk
supply. Since young lambs make the
most efficient gains at an early age, having an abundant rich milk supply from
their mothers allows them to gain weight very fast (3/4 to 1 pound/day). They are ready for market in 4 to 5 months at the exact time of year that
the grass growth slows to a halt in the fall. This allows the MIG farmer to sell the lambs at that time in order to
save valuable stockpiled or stored feed for wintering the ewe flock instead of
growing out the lambs on this feed. Gains
made on grain or stored feed (hay, silage) add to the cost of gain considerably. The lowest cost per pound of grain is for animals harvesting rapidly
growing pastures mixtures (clover, grasses, forbs). So an Icelandic market lamb that has made all of his gain on grass
harvested by his mother and by himself is the most profitable. Icelandic market lambs finish at 90 to 110 lbs. in 4 to 5 months on good
pasture and mothers milk alone. No
creep feed needed.
Rams are extremely fertile, have a high libido and easily settle their
ewes. We consistently lamb out 99%
of the flock in a 20 day period. Icelandic
ewes are early maturing and can be bred to lamb as yearlings. We get a 129% lambing rate on yearling ewes. These sheep are long lined and can produce into their 13th year. One farmer we met in Iceland told us of a 16 year old ewe in his flock
that had produced twins every year of her life. At age 16 she produced a single and he culled her! The ewes are reliable twinners, occasionally producing triplets. The national lambing average is 182%, our adult ewes produce 204%. Ewes don't need flushing to let down at least 2 eggs during the breeding
season but have a gene similar to the Boorula-multiple-birth-gene that
automatically causes multiple eggs to be produced and let down. While extremely prolific breeds that produce 3 or more lambs are
attractive from the standpoint of multiple lambs produced per ewe, the lambs
from these births are smaller and take a higher amount of management skills,
barns, labor and feed. In addition,
extra feed and time is also needed to get the lambs to market weight. These triplets, quads and quints take longer to reach a finish weight and
don't fit into the general growing season and therefore are unsuitable for
efficient least cost MIG. Icelandic
sheep by comparison, reliably produce 2 good strong lambs that are pasture
lambed with little or no assistance and reach finish weight during the normal
growing season and so are therefore suitable for large low input, low
maintenance flocks.
Icelandic ewes
have a 5 day shorter gestation period and therefore produce a smaller sized
lamb. The smaller 5# to 7# size
decreases lambing problems. The
lambs are also vigorous and jump right up and nurse minutes after birth. Their naturally short tails means no tail docking is needed. Pasture lambing is well suited for this breed. Simple shelters are all that are needed in case of bad weather. No lambing jugs nor all night vigils needed. The shepherd can get a good nights rest and be prepared for the next days
work. When left to themselves, most
of my Icelandic ewes lamb at first light. By
the time I arise in the morning, the lambs are newly born. I go and do a quick pasture check to make sure all is well. After breakfast, I return to the fields to eartag, clip the navels and
feel the lambs tummies to make sure that they have eaten. I don't strip teats and rarely have a problem with plugged teats. Ewes that are having problems will usually let you quietly approach and
help out. Rarely do I have to
assist. The ewes are excellent
mothers in every way. Rejected or
bum lambs are rare.
Ketosis and foot rot are unknown, prolapse is rare. hundreds of years of a harsh survival environment have eliminated the
weak ones. In addition, the North American flock is scrapie and Opp
free.
the sheep are
easily trained to electric fence and are easy to contain. They are not generally fence jumpers.
So what are the
drawbacks to this breed?
1) The high initial cost of $700 to $1,000 each is the main drawback for most folks. The
high price reflects the rarity of the breed right now in this country. While this is a hefty price, you can expect to sell the offspring at a
similar price. Since the ewe lambs
breed their 1st year, you can expect to have lambs to sell within a years time. Most producers have gotten their investment back within 1 to years. All Icelandic sheep
breeders were sold out last year! Eventually
however, the price for breeding stock will go down as the numbers come up. The sheep however will still be highly valued as they will be able to
out-compete modern grain dependent breeds. If you don't have enough money for a purebred flock, you can still breed Icelandic traits into your flocks by
buying and using Icelandic rams on your commercial flock. Those who have done so have had rave reviews and are realizing good
profits from breeding stock (crossbred ewes), colorful fleeces, and fast growing
vigorous crossbred lambs.
2) Because thin is a breed that is unknown to the commercial buyers right
now, the Icelandic lambs sold at the sale barn for meat may bring a lower price. However, one woman has been selling her extra lambs this way for quite a
few years and found that at first she was docked in price for her lambs. Eventually she started to get a premium price from the buyers when they
realized the quality of the carcass. Because
Icelandic sheep have small round bones, they yield a higher meat to bone ratio. The lambs give a 49% yield.
3) Likewise
commercial wool buyers are not very interested in the Icelandic fleece and so
this is not a good market for the fleece. Instead,
direct marketing is the way to go with this elegant soft colorful fiber.
What opportunities are here for the entrepreneur? As always, the most lucrative way to market your products is to sell them
directly to the public. Meat can be
sold to consumers at farmer markets, restaurants, health food stores, food
booths at the county fair and mail order via the internet. You receive all of the middle mans profits for your efforts. Direct marketing takes new skills but is enriching, rewarding and gives
you quick feedback as to how your product is received. You also get ideas for new products from your customers. I now offer ram testicles, kidneys, tongues and smoked lamb as a result
of customer inquires. One Icelander
living in the U.S. wanted a single whole head, a product that is very popular in
Iceland.
Entrepreneurial skills are also needed to direct market your pelts and fiber. These skills are not hard to learn, it just takes doing it! The lovely soft lustrous pelts almost sell themselves. The wool can be sold mail order through spinning magazines,
by being a vendor at a Fiber Fest or via the internet. This lovely colorful versatile fiber is fast gaining
popularity with hand spinners, weavers, and felters. The raw fleece brings $5 to $8 per pound for adult fleece and $15/lb for
lamb fleece. Adults produce a total
of 6-8 lbs/year. Because of the low
amount of lanolin, this is equivalent to 8.5 to 11.3 lbs of raw fleece from a
commercial breed where 1/2 of the weight is in the lanolin. The sheep are sheared 2x/year with the clean fall clip sold to spinners
and the spring clip processed and sold to felters.
Icelandic sheep
give you so many ways to go in product marketing. First of all your ewe will usually have twins. I expect to get $100 profit from the meat and $55 profit from each fleece
or pelt. ($155/lamb x 2 lambs =
$310) You can pasture 5 to 7 ewes
and her lambs on the same amount of pasture/hay that it takes to support 1 cow
and her calf. that cow's calf may
sell for $400-$600. Compare
that to the potential from 5 ewes that would yield $1550. Now, I can value add that fleece by making felt hats that we can sell for
$100 to $125 each. The 4 pounds of lamb fleece will yield 2.68 lbs of cleaned carded fiber which will make 5
hats. (5 x $100 = $500 x 2 lambs = $1,000) for the fleece from 2 lambs and $200
profit from the meat = $1,200. Income form 1 ewe! In
addition, her fleece pays for part of her winter hay. It would not take very many sheep to support a farm family if you value
added the fleece. You can also
value add the meat by setting up a food booth at your county fair and use your
lamb in shish kabobs, lamb pitas or the like.
We got in the
hat business quite by accident and public demand. My husband is a hat person. he
has a collection of his 100 "essential" hats that he wears daily, some
of which he has designed and made himself. When he discovered how easily the Icelandic fiber felts, he was eager to
try and make a hat for himself. After
a few attempts, he finally made one that suited him using a 100 year old top hat
mold. He started wearing the
multi-colored hat to town and got so many folks wanting one that he made a few
for sale. He now makes hats in the
winter months and is usually sold out with little or no marketing. If you want to see what they look like you can visit out web
site www.icelandicsheep.com . The
Icelandic sheep wool felts quickly in 20 minutes or so unlike fiber from other
breeds that can take up to 2 hours to work up a finished product.
Some other products that we are exploring are spinning and felting
videos, semen sales, customer yarns, sheep note cards, wool socks, felted vests,
boots, mittens, rugs etc. , marketing the long outer coat and inner fibers
separately, horn buttons and knife handles.
I know of no other breed of livestock that is more well suited for
management intensive grazing and has more opportunity for income profits coupled
with low maintenance, low labor inputs and for making a living from the farm. We are grateful to be doing just that.
|
Home | Breeding Stock | Products | Contact Us |
|
|
All
photos, graphics, and text: © Copyright Tongue River Farm, 2002 |
