Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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Lamb carcasses can generally be cut and wrapped quickly after slaugh-
ter, but if you are butchering a yearling or mutton animal, it must hang
at least a week in a chilling room prior to cutting and wrapping to help
it tenderize.
Organic Lambs
Today the organic niche is probably the most important in terms of dollar
value, and my, how the times have changed. In the 1970s and 1980s, those
involved in organic production and distribution were considered fringe ele-
ments, Luddites, or just a bit strange, and the organic industry . . . well, it
couldn't really be called an industry at all. But today, according to the Organic
Trade Association, organic sales are continuing their two-decade trend of
double-digit growth: 20.9 percent for food products and 26 percent for non-
food products (cosmetics, pet foods, fl owers, fi ber, etc.) in 2006 (the most
recent year for statistics as I write this). And although organics' share of the
overall food market in 2006 was still less than 3 percent of the total U.S. food
budget, the growth shows no sign of stopping. In fact, nearly two-thirds of
consumers say they have purchased some organic products in the last year.
Price premiums for organic lamb vary widely, ranging anywhere from 20
to 200 percent over prices paid for commodity lamb. To market your lambs
as organic, you must comply with the USDA's organic rules, but there is an
exception for small farmers (those whose gross agricultural income from
organic products is $5,000 or less annually) that allows them to bypass the
full certifi cation process. In spite of that exemption, if you market your lamb
as organic, you must comply with all the other requirements of the organic
rule,
including all the record keeping
. Learn more about the rule and its require-
ments at the USDA's Web site (see Resources).
Lambs for Easter
Creep feed your lambs, and try to have some of them ready for sale by Easter.
The eating of lamb is part of the religious festivities in the Greek Orthodox
tradition, among others. If you have lambs born early (during the fi rst half
of January or before) and do not have them promised, you might tell the
nearest Greek Orthodox church of their availability or advertise if there is a
Greek newspaper in your area. The size preferred in the Northeast is 35 to 40
pounds (15.4 kg to 18.1 kg) live weight; in the West, the ideal size is a little
larger. Lambs sold at that size are called “milk fed.” The term “hot house lamb”
is sometimes applied to the early-January lambs that are sold at Easter and
