Products and Marketing - Raising Sheep - page 344

■ Mulching a garden. Wool works like black plastic, reducing the number
of weeds while allowing water, air, and nutrients to pass through to the
ground.
■ Insulating buildings where fi re code restrictions aren't a big concern —
such as a remote barn or storage shed. Because wool is fl ammable, it is
prohibited from use in most construction, but researchers are trying to
fi nd a way to create a wool-based insulation that meets fi re codes.
Meat and Milk
There is generally more money in meat and milk from sheep than in wool.
You'll fi nd that if you're willing to make the extra effort of marketing directly
to the consumer, you'll get a much better return than you would get from
selling to the sale barn, a “lamb pool,” or other conventional market. You can
give your customers a better buy than they would get at the meat market and
pocket some of the money that currently goes to middlemen. Some shepherds
have begun milking sheep and making specialty cheeses. Although this is not
an option for the part-time, “hobby” shepherd, if your dream is to make a
full-time living from your sheep operation, cheese offers the possibility of a
reasonably high return.
Federal and state laws and regulations place defi nite restrictions on
slaughter-and-sell practices. Some are designed to deter rustling; most are
designed to enforce sanitation and ensure food safety.
There are two types of butchering facilities, a custom packer and an
inspected packer. Custom packers butcher, cut, and wrap, but each package
of frozen meat must be stamped NOT FOR SALE . This is because federal regula-
tions require that each and every carcass be checked by a federally designated
inspector if meat is going to be sold by the package. An inspected packer has
a federally designated inspector (either a federal or state employee) on the
premises to inspect each animal carcass. Each package of meat coming out of
an inspected packinghouse will have a USDA-approved label. However, this
restriction on custom packers need not stop you from legally selling locker
lambs (see page 346), which are sold to the customer as live animals, so it's
essentially the customer who is engaging the custom packer.
Many small-scale commercial shepherds have met all the regulatory
requirements to be able to sell meat directly to the consumer, either by the
pound or by the cut. Again, this isn't for someone with only a dozen sheep,
but if you're interested in making a living from a small commercial fl ock, this
can greatly increase your return.