I’m still here. The Farming Frontiers Studio still exists. I know there were not a lot of blog posts, things happened that got in the way. The 2022 tax season was insane, I’ve been working in public accounting since 2015 and it was the worst I’ve worked. The barn got derailed, so my focus moved from numbers to survival and animal health.
First, thank you to all my clients this year! I’m so excited about your projects and I hope they all become the success you planned. I learn something from each plan I do; every single one is unique. There will be limited spots in 2023 so if you would like to work with me, please reach out well in advance.
Cool Things Happened
It was an absolute honour to write for Sheep Canada magazine this year. If you are involved in sheep farming on any level, I highly recommend a subscription to this magazine. There’s always a farm profile and up-to-date industry news. The new editor, Randy Eros, actually came to see our farm this fall and it was wonderful to meet him. Of course, that would have never happened without Cathy, so thank you to Cathy Gallivan and I hope retirement is going well for you!
I also got a chance to run a business planning workshop as part of Ontario Sheep Farmers’ Master Shepherd course. This is another highly recommended item, if you want to expand in the sheep industry and grow your operation, definitely look at the Master Shepherd courses. Thanks to Anita O’Brien for making that happen and trusting me with her students. This whole program is a wealth of knowledge that you're missing out on if you haven’t considered it before.
A Series of Unfortunate Events
The sheep farm this year was essentially a series of highs and lows. We had the largest hay crop ever which was amazing. We had some issues with harvest timing so the quality was a bit lower than hoped for. We bred for fall lambing and had a great conception rate. Keeping the lambs alive was the real challenge. Lamb prices started the year off great and ended below the average which led to concerns as our feed costs went well above average. The icing on the cake is our hay shed collapsed yesterday.
Overall, lamb prices are not terrible if we consider the whole year. I’ve got a spreadsheet tracking Ontario lamb prices at live auctions going back to 2011 and 2022 is still within the top 5 years. The solid black line on the graphs below is 2022 and it is still higher than most other years. Our costs, unfortunately, did increase significantly during the year which is what caused real concerns. The creep feed went from $23.35/bag in January 2022 to $28.40/bag now. Fertilizer is up 35% from last winter.
Looking Ahead
2023 is mainly going to be spent focusing on flock health and solving some issues there that caused a lot of heartache and difficult choices. I may or may not take you on that journey with us, that hasn’t been determined yet. It’s also now going to involve rebuilding a hay shed that was intended to house lambs come spring.
The early part of 2023 will involve puppy chaos as we have a litter of livestock guardian puppies to raise along with the next crop of lambs. And for the rest of the year, we’ll do what we always do, follow the budget and deal with whatever cards Mother Nature decides to hand us. And with that, dear reader, see you in 2023!
May your 2023 have good weather, plentiful crops and fair prices!
2023 has a couple of upcoming posts planned so be sure to hit that subscribe button so you do not miss out on any of the following:
The revenue potential of your farm resources
2022 Cost of production with a comparison to 2021
The value of tax planning