STEINBACH, MAN. THE CARILLON n C5
www.thecarillon.com n
THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2024
SUPPLIED While Randy Eros is no longer modeling vests at St Norbert Farmers’ Market, a wide range of value added wool products are still available to be ordered on-line from the Seine River Shepherds website.
Domestic demand continues to grow Continued from page 4A
The price may be better in the eastern Ca- nadian market, especially at holiday times, but producers have to consider that the price has to be $30 to $40 a hundredweight better, just to cover shipping costs. When the father and son team is asked about their future plans for Seine River Shepherds, the answer is, “More of the same, only bigger.” For Mitch, that means more ewes, lambs and pasture land. For Randy that means more pages, more advertisers, and more subscribers for the next issue of Sheep Canada magazine.
is a much more practical way for them to direct market their products. Attending the farmers’ market every week meant someone had to stay at the farm to take care of things there. By providing value-added lamb and wool products direct to the customer, the Eros say they are better able to maintain their farm op- eration. At the same time, delivering small loads of lambs every week to the local auction marts is usually a more desirable marketing method than putting together semi-trailer loads with other producers to be shipped east.
the Grunthal or Winnipeg auctions. The ewes at Seine River are a good commer- cial cross of two breeds. There is the purebred Ile de France and the Canadian developed breed Rideau Arcott. The Ile de France is a terminal breed, with fast growing market lambs with good carcass- es and confirmation. The Rideau Arcott, on the other hand is a maternal breed, producing a lot of lambs. That makes Rideau Arcott espe- cially popular with shepherds, who often say the first lamb covers the cost of keeping the ewe. It’s the second lamb that puts money in the pocket of the shepherd. In addition to auction mart sales of lambs for both the meat and the finishers’ market Seine River Shepherds offers direct sales of cuts of lamb and whole lambs for the freezer. Their website has an order form and prices for whole lamb and all the favorite cuts like rack of lamb and leg of lamb. Lambs are ready from October to March, and Seine River will make arrangements to have whole lambs delivered to a butcher or have it cut and wrapped for customers While the Eros no longer market added-val- ue wool products at St Norbert Farmers’ Mar- ket during the summer months, Randy, Mitch and Solange still create a variety of items that are available to be ordered on-line from their website. Parkas, vests, mitts, hats, men’s and ladies’ slippers, and even infant booties, are displayed at seinerivershepherds.com. Randy says wholesale sales and on-line sales
Both Randy and Mitch say they haven’t had any predators in the last decade and so the dogs haven’t had much to do, beyond keeping watch. That’s probably a good thing, for most of the Eros’ dogs are young and still learning their role in guarding the sheep and warning of impending dangers. Randy says it takes three years before guard- ian dogs are mature enough to be worth any- thing. Before that, they don’t know what to bark at and just bark at everything. But the Eros suggest, just to be safe, photos should be taken from the other side of the fence. In addition to the guardian dogs, there are two border collies, one each for Randy and Mitch, to herd the sheep from pasture to pas- ture. Randy agrees it could be said the dogs are the other half of the farm’s cheap labor. Seine River lambs are mostly sold at the Grunthal Auction Mart or at a weekly auction in Winnipeg. Most are destined for an east- ern market, like Toronto, where lamb is most popular with restaurant goers and a favorite with newcomers to Canada. But even with an increase in production, Canadian producers cannot come close to meeting the domestic demand. Only 40 percent of lamb consumed in Can- ada is grown here, and that fact alone, augers well for the continued expansion of Seine Riv- er Shepherds and other Canadian sheep pro- ducers. In the past, close to 300 market lambs would go to a buyer in Western Manitoba. Now, that buyer still buys Seine River lambs, but from
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WES KEATING THE CARILLON Any predator that manages to get past the electric fence surrounding the pasture, will receive a rude welcome from these two.
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