The “Easter Lamb” business, often unprofitable! “C

The Easter holidays are fast approaching, and the people of Constanta are slowly getting into the shopping frenzy. Products based on lamb or boar meat are indispensable on the table, even if the prices have increased a lot compared to previous years. Explainable, however, because the work of farmers is truly titanic and often… unprofitable.

“Go to the market and get me everything I need for the Easter meal.” It is the classic line that wives say to their husbands during Holy Week. And the gentlemen comply, arm themselves with bags and pennies and go to the markets, looking for lamb or venison. This year, the prices are not low at all, so budgets must be well thought out.

In the markets of Constanta, lamb meat is sold at prices that vary between 35 and 50 lei, depending on several factors: if you buy the whole lamb, if you choose only the leg, the age of the lamb, etc.

For those who live at home or for those who wish to have a special concern of the season, there is the possibility to purchase the live lamb, in which case the price is lower, between 18 and 25 lei, depending on the weight, but and losses and work differ.

Although the people of Constanta try to make a face when they hear how much they have to take out of their pockets, it must be stated that the work that the farmers put in until they come to the fair with the respective lambs is titanic and often even unprofitable, which is why many of the animal breeders have given up this type of seasonal business.

A real adventure!

“Everyone says that we raised prices, that we sell expensively, but no one thinks about our work. Know that selling Easter lambs is not such a productive business, as one might think at first glance. And I’ll explain why right away.

First of all, keep in mind that we, in turn, have increasing production costs. Prices for energy, water, animal feed, transport have increased. Let me give you just one example: a bag of combined and concentrated fodder for lambs, specially designed for the growth and development stages, costs, on average, 100 lei.

I’m not talking about the physical work we put in, about the wear and tear of machines, tools and the necessary equipment”, declared Costel P., a livestock breeder from Constanta, for “Cuget Liber”.

The farmer also claims that, not only in this season, but in agriculture in general, the most profitable are… the intermediaries!

“Know that those who do mediation win the most. Many domestic producers, I mean animal breeders or those who take care of plantations, do not have a place in the markets. It’s a real adventure to get a stall and if you can’t handle it, you have no other option but to turn to intermediaries. You get rid of the costs of transport, of the stall, but you have to leave a lot of the price, because the intermediary adds his share. And then, you sit and think and calculate, and it is not excluded that, when you draw the line, you will come out in the red, not remove your expenses.

For this reason, many farmers are no longer focused on the sale of Easter lambs, they stop complicating themselves and give up the activity”, explains our interlocutor.

Sales strategies

Those who resist on the market also devise different kinds of sales strategies, from special offers when they sell certain parts of lamb (less the classic leg), to packages with entrails, to home delivery facilities.

“Think about home delivery: car, diesel, insurance, inspection, all expenses are included in the final price. We are up-to-date with the authorizations from the DSV, we are checked and checked again, I would be happy if all those who act as brokers or sell online are also checked”, says the farmer.