sheep

We are considering leasing paddocks  for horse grazing. It would be purely grazing as we haven't got facilities, e.g. arena or sheds.
Is there a rough rule of thumb for a weekly lease? For sheep and cattle it is quite common to use stock unit cost.
We just haven't got a clue...
Thanks

this from an 11 year old post on here so not sure how much to add?  "The average around the country is about $25 per wk/per horse. Take a bond if you can as horses are very good at breaking things & always get money in advance as horsey people have a rep for being bad payers (gross generalisation but true unfortunately). Don't let them put too many horses on & don't let them graze it too hard or it will cost you a fortune to get the place back up to scratch."

 

Thanks@tonybaker
Some valuable hints, so lets see how we can progress. The $25 seem a bit low and looking at Facebook it varies so greatly it is hard to get an idea. It also differs a lot what some people(lessor)are providing.

remember I said these figures were from a post 11 years ago! There must be some horsey clubs around you so give them a call. Are you sure there aren't any farmers nearby who would graze a few cattle, that would actually improve your paddock?

I see you have sheep. How are these sheep doing with dropping the wool? Are you happy with the wiltshire?

yes very happy, would not go any other way, all that hassle with shearing gone! They don't really drop the wool as they have more of a type of hair and it does not stick to fences. Mine are a mix of Dorper and Wiltshire and they are just starting to shed now. It's not a complete shed but but the important parts are clean. Never had any problems with flystrike. Mostly I get twins but for the first time this year I lost a set of triplets due to cold and the mum being overwhelmed. I have a beautiful young ram coming along, so fast growing and is mostly Dorper. If your land tends to wet I would go Wiltshire, if dry go Dorper.

Thanks@tonybaker
Sounds really good. We had romney in the past and it was a hassle with the shearing. Had to be super careful with fly strike and the wool hardly paid the shearer. One of the possitives has been that we had plenty wool bags around for other uses
We have been leasing out the grazing for 5 years though will have sheep again next year. Are the dorper/wiltshire easy enough with lambing. Easy to manage and not too pushy to finding holes in the fences?
We are looking to buy sheep in spring 24 as we come back from an overseas trip.

I have had WIltshires/Dorpers for 13 years or more and never had to call the vet or shearer. Always had twin lambs and never had to assist with any births, ok I lost triplets recently but that was due to a combo of frost and shock. No issues with fences, they only challenge them if feed is short which you should not let happen anyway. At the moment I have a beautiful Dorper ram lamb that is growing amazingly fast. Mine are basically tame as I hand feed them scraps from the kitchen daily, I have to keep an eye on the adult Dorper ram as he sometimes likes to have a go. You can expect to pay $150+ for decent lambs if you are lucky. In short it's a no brainer to go with these breeds if you can get them. I am in Blenheim so could supply lambs when you are ready?

Local to me - $50 / week seems to be standard with water - perhaps some storage. $60 / week with arena, yards, storage for equipment and feed.