How You See Your Sheep Is Important

3 May 2025

Two different client mindsets are emerging from the dust.

The past two years of sheep have been a nightmare for many sheep farmers. Many of you don’t need reminding, but here are the issues:

  • 2023 major market capitulation with prices crashing due to seasonal forecasts, live export bans and a lack of processing capacity
  • Eleven consecutive interest rate rises
  • Price increases on many farming inputs/services from insurance to machinery, the list goes on
  • 2024 significant Phalaris stagger events
  • 2024/2025 have many of the key areas in major moisture crisis and a number of areas in ‘driest on records’.

Any of these events would cause financial stress on any sheep business, however, to have many of these events back-to-back is something out of a horror movie.

As a full-time farmer for over 20 years, it’s a first for me for many of these factors, let alone the consecutive occurrence of a number of economic drivers of profitability.

We seem to have two mindsets in our client base at the moment.

The first are those when they look at their sheep look at how bad the past two years have been and the corresponding financial result. For those who benchmark the inclination is to look backwards (this is evident currently). This conversation usually flows to whether they should go all crop, more cattle, keep a core etc (ironically many cropping mates with rising input prices are having the same conversation in reverse).

The second is when they look at their sheep are those who are looking forward and see them as an opportunity over the next few years to make some good returns in an industry with less sheep and less people who are wanting to farm sheep.

I have said in the monthly updates managing mindset is key to not only surviving, but capturing opportunities in these harder times. If you are in sheep, look at the opportunities, start looking forward, otherwise mentally you will do your head in. I have said to more than one client, if you’re not excited about the future of lamb, get out of sheep, and do something you are passionate about. Passion is the number one profit driver for any enterprise.

I am across the world lamb market, and all I see is opportunities that are significantly better than mainstream enterprise options in farming. There are significant opportunities for cost reduction and productivity growth in lamb over other enterprises, and I see more opportunity now, than any other time since I started the stud in 1991.

It was in 2019 we were having similar conversations. However, it was with our northern clients. The years post the 2019 drought breaking were solid, sheep numbers down, plenty of grass, and plenty of money made by those who kept their sheep numbers up with ewe lambs hitting $400 in the two years post the seasonal break. Those who destocked were buying $3000 cows and $300 ewes and chasing their tails.

Don’t ever be afraid to reach out, and please mother nature, lets deliver this 29th of May change.

Head up, look forward, and look for the positives, it will rain!!!