Why The Price Of Australian Lamb Is Increasing - And What You Can Do About It

At the start of September, many people’s minds wander to thoughts of blossoming flowers, warmer weather and spring lamb roasts.

The thing is, in 2018 the start of spring marks a continued period of hardship for many farmers across the country, particularly the plight of those in NSW with the whole state now zoned as ‘in drought’. The suffering of those experiencing the NSW drought has been widely communicated with concern for the stock, crops, and families that farm these vast areas. The toll of the drought is draining farmers financially, emotionally and psychologically, with a trickle-down effect to retailers and consumers who would usually access these products.

Moreover, the drought has been affecting areas across Victoria with the same devastating impact on farmers across the border.

These drought-affected areas of NSW and VIC are where we at the shop have typically sourced our organic lamb from.

Essentially what’s going on is; lambs typically graze in natural pastures across a property’s paddocks. The drought has resulted in a reduction of grazable pasture on most farms in these areas and as a result, farmers are having to bring in feed from as far over as WA to ensure their livestock don’t die. With the increased cost of feed and water and the reduction in the cost of the number of hooves on the ground (due to exposure and malnutrition), sheep farmers are up against it to stay afloat. 

To maintain our commitment to sourcing our products from ethical and organic producers, we will be raising the price of our lamb in the coming weeks. Rest assured, the extra cost incurred for each kilo of lamb purchased through our stores is finding its way back to the farming families who are in greater need of our support during this challenging period. 

One of the best ways to support our farmers at the moment is to utilise all parts of the animal. This ensures we can buy full carcasses to butcher and sell rather than only buying in popular cuts (like cutlets and back straps). We encourage you to purchase whole cuts including lamb shoulder, lamb legs and lamb neck so farmers get a fair and reasonable price for the entire animal. 

Below we have a couple of suggestions for recipes you can try that use shoulder, leg or lamb mince.

 Please don’t hesitate to speak with our team if you’d like further information about this or if we can assist in offering alternatives to your lamb staples.

 

Recipes: 

https://hagensorganics.com.au/blogs/news/slow-roasted-lamb-shoulder

https://hagensorganics.com.au/blogs/news/lamb-mince-shepherds-pie-recipe

https://hagensorganics.com.au/blogs/news/roast-leg-of-lamb-with-rosemary-and-kipfler-potatoes