Why does lamb cost so much?

LizEstelle

I'd like an explanation as to why this country seems to be teeming with sheep and yet the price of lamb seems to be sky high. Market economics seem to be conspicuous by their absence.

albacore1854

Like Plumbers who think they are brain surgeons and charge stupid rate, Farmers feel they are entitled to a bit of the dolce vita too, hence you are paying for everylink in the food chain to drive their shiny Range Rover sports.

Don't feel sorry for farmers they are all minted, and sitting on a fortune of assets.

DrFluffy

Lambs are not adult sheep...

Lambs are born in spring. It is not spring. There are not so many about...

LizEstelle

albacore1854 wrote:

Like Plumbers who think they are brain surgeons and charge stupid rate, Farmers feel they are entitled to a bit of the dolce vita too, hence you are paying for everylink in the food chain to drive their shiny Range Rover sports.

Don't feel sorry for farmers they are all minted, and sitting on a fortune of assets.

Minted lamb, eh? Yum.

Nevertheless, wasn't there a scare a year or two ago precisely about all the sheep farmers in the hills who were getting a pittance for their product and topping themselves as a result?

Now, if they were getting a pittance, how come the consumer didn't see anything of that price reduction? I saw hardly the biggest leg of lamb in Tesco today and they wanted £19 for it. Compare that to even the finest beef steak prices...

Something very weird indeed is going on...

kathyd_2

DrFluffy wrote:

Lambs are not adult sheep...

Lambs are born in spring. It is not spring. There are not so many about...

I thought lambs were so called until they were about 3 yrs old or something? If that's right then they are available all year round, surely?

DrFluffy

Lamb is 1 month to one year old... As a lamb ages it toughens, so many are slaughtered at 3-6 months, hence they are cheaper around May/June time...

lil_me

DrFluffy is right, I buy direct from the farm shop and rarely take notice what the price is in all honesty at the minute, but we do tend to eat it more in the spring/summer time as it's cheaper. Not really a lamb fan personally, very occasionally we have lamb, never at this time of year really. He doesn't drive a Range Rover sport, in fact I live in an area surrounded by farms and the only people with RR sports are the 'posh mums' who don't even dream of getting the car dirty and closest they get to a farm is occasional horse riding.

LizEstelle

kathyd wrote:

I thought lambs were so called until they were about 3 yrs old or something? If that's right then they are available all year round, surely?

Indeed, that's what I'd heard. Certainly the haunches you see at the butchers look FAR too big to have come off those tiny things you see skipping around the fields in April.

LizEstelle

Anybody else here think lamb is the best meat going?

nearlyrich

I buy my meat from a butcher and I have never paid over the odds for lamb, we thought it was strange in NZ where we hardley saw lamb on any menus, apparantly they export it all.

lil_me

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_%28food%29