The Undercutting

$50 Nigerian dwarf buckling. Free to a good home, NGD herd, $100 Icelandic ewe.

 

Great deals. Or… a destruction of a business. A life. We sell NGD does for $250. What does that $250 pay for? Almost nothing. The cost of keeping a doe and a buck year round to breed? Roughly $150 each per year ( hay, mineral, etc). That’s $300. Keeping a a young goat alive, healthy? Let’s say $100. At a minimum. So $400 in costs to the breeder (me). And I sell for $250.

 

I answered an ad on Facebook for “weed eaters”. The buyer was willing to take all 6 of our kids- that’s a miracle. But $200 a goat- he was not interested. After cutting prices to $100 a goat. $100. The buyer tells me that he is offered Nigerian Dwarfs “ daily for free”. Despite the fact we had discussed this all day. And while in know that is ultimate nonsense, I point out simply that businesses that give away product are not good at business.

 

Regardless of breeding, genetics, care, etc., I have no offers. No one wants a pure bred blue eyed doe when they can get a a goat for $50 on Facebook Marketplace. And that’s the problem.

 

Agriculture is an industry with very, very thin margins. Inputs go up. Diesel and gas prices raise hay prices. Raise grain prices. In a free market economy that equals livestock prices go up. But, that’s not how consumers see it. They see a $50 goat v a $250 goat. They don’t see the hay costs, the care, the superior genetics, the ethos of a farmer behind the animal.

 

Sheep. Sheep are almost as bad, not quite. We drop our prices as much as we can afford. Yet we have customers who counter offer, as if we are offering a car or a boat. Will you take $175? No. I need $250 to at least cover a minority of my costs. I have sold 5 sheep this summer. The “profit” of the sales pay for 2 weeks of hay. The lambs are 8 weeks old. An eighth grader can do that math. We are losing.

 

At this point, it seems the blog author should offer a grand solution. An easy formula. Spoiler alert- I don’t have that solution. Stop people from undercutting prices? Improbable. Force consumers to pay a market based price? Impossible. Lower gas and hay prices? Inconceivable ( with apologies to William Goldman).

 

Buy local. Do your research. Are the sellers more interested in a quick buck then raising quality animals. Check the pedigree. Sheep and goats do not need to be registered, but does the farmer have the sire and dam on site? Does their program end goal meet yours? We sell fiber sheep and milk lines of goats. If we don’t match your goals, find someone who does. Honestly, if someone offers you a free goat- feel free to look a gift goat in the mouth. When I listen to podcast on sheep production the same truth rings true. Buy animals that fit your system.

 

We raise our animals because we love them. It’s never about money. But it is. Can’t buy me love. But our animals need what they need - you know- food. Like many people in ag, we have “real” jobs. In fact several. We run a fiber business. Not to someone day be rich, but to simply keep it going.