Lamb: cost of production benchmarks

The following from the AHDB benchmarking programmes gives technical and financial results for various sheep production systems

The information shows top, average and bottom performing farms, with the farms in each percentile identified by ranking on full economic net margin. 

Financial KPIs are the most important as they are linked to all other KPIs. The cost of producing a kg of lamb is key to comparing any farm's ability to compete with another farm.

Techinical KPIs enable farms to look at the detail behind financial achievement.

Each farm must budget and plan for what is best for their own circumstances, resources and the market/s they are aiming for.

You can use AHDB's benchmarking tool - Farmbench.

This can be found under the Tools section of the AHDB website.

AHDB Farmbench https://ahdb.org.uk/farmbench

Download Cost of Production Benchmarks: Lamb (XLS)

Non-SDA breeding flocks (Stocktake 2016)

(£ per head output) (£ per lwt kg lamb output)
Financial Performance (£ per ewe to ram) Bottom Third Average Top Third Bottom Third Average Top Third
Number of flocks in sample 29 89 29 29 89 29
Average flock size 373 688 986 373 688 986
Lamb output 89.44 90.62 91.39 1.63 1.72 1.81
Other income 2.43 3.08 3.68 0.04 0.06 0.07
Gross Output 91.87 93.70 95.07 1.68 1.77 1.89
Replacement costs 7.81 9.18 9.53 0.14 0.17 0.19
Output less replacement costs 84.06 84.52 85.55 1.53 1.60 1.70
Variable Costs
Purchased feed including minerals 15.83 8.08 3.69 0.29 0.15 0.07
Home-grown feed 0.41 0.39 0.31 0.01 0.01 0.01
Purchased forage 0.93 0.35 0.11 0.02 0.01 0.00
Home-grown forage (excludes contract) 8.70 4.88 3.46 0.16 0.09 0.07
Total feed and forage 25.87 13.70 7.56 0.47 0.26 0.15
Vet and medicine 10.19 7.14 5.05 0.19 0.14 0.10
Bedding 1.69 0.75 0.38 0.03 0.01 0.01
Other livestock expenses 8.65 8.00 8.20 0.16 0.15 0.16
Total variable costs 46.40 29.59 21.20 0.85 0.56 0.42
Gross Margin 37.66 54.93 64.35 0.69 1.04 1.28
Fixed Costs
Labour - paid 18.29 10.62 8.35 0.33 0.20 0.17
Machinery repairs and spares 2.79 2.18 1.71 0.05 0.04 0.03
Contracting 4.14 2.66 2.12 0.08 0.05 0.04
Electricity 0.29 0.24 0.14 0.01 0.00 0.00
Fuel 3.77 2.73 2.31 0.07 0.05 0.05
Property maintenance and water 2.32 1.56 0.90 0.04 0.03 0.02
Land Rent (Actual) 10.86 7.37 6.08 0.20 0.14 0.12
Overheads 5.81 3.88 2.97 0.11 0.07 0.06
Cash Only fixed costs 48.27 31.24 24.56 0.88 0.59 0.49
Cash Only Cost of Production 102.47 70.01 55.29 1.87 1.33 1.10
Cash Only Net Margin -10.60 23.69 39.79 -0.19 0.45 0.79
Depreciation 9.47 6.11 4.77 0.17 0.12 0.09
Finance costs (Imputed) 1.78 1.38 1.14 0.03 0.03 0.02
Labour - unpaid (Imputed) 17.03 12.78 9.08 0.31 0.24 0.18
Land Rent (Imputed) 13.82 9.77 7.43 0.25 0.19 0.15
Non-Cash fixed costs 42.11 30.04 22.42 0.77 0.57 0.44
Full Investment fixed costs 90.38 61.27 46.99 1.65 1.16 0.93
Full Investment Cost of Production 144.58 100.04 77.71 2.64 1.90 1.54
Full Investment Net Margin -52.71 -6.34 17.36 -0.96 -0.12 0.34
Physical Performance
Ewe to ram ratio 41 46 51
Scanning percentage per ewe scanned (%) 167 170 167
Lambs born alive per 100 ewes to ram 154 151 148
Lambs born dead per 100 ewes to ram 7 9 9
Lambs died in first 48 hours per 100 ewes to ram 9 8 7
Lambs died after 48 hours per 100 ewes to ram 6 5 5
Lambs weaned per 100 ewes to ram 141 139 136
Lambs reared per 100 ewes to ram 141 139 136
Lamb losses from birth to rearing (% of born alive) 9 8 8
Empty ewes (%) 5.4 6.0 7.2
Ewe mortality (%) 4.0 3.3 3.3
Flock replacement rate (%) 23.1 22.9 23.9
Average age at weaning (days) 111 116 118
Average weight at weaning (kg) 34.5 32.7 31.0
Average liveweight per reared lamb (all lambs) (kg per lamb) 38.9 38.1 37.1
Average liveweight (kg lwt per lamb sold finished) 42.3 41.9 41.5
Average carcase weight (kg dwt per lamb sold finished) 19.6 19.4 19.2
Average store weight (kg lwt per lamb sold store) 32.7 32.7 31.1
Average age at sale (days) 150 161 169
Daily liveweight gain to sale (kg per day) 0.25 0.23 0.21
Lamb weight produced per forage hectare (kg) 339 400 393
Return per lamb sold finished (£) 69.99 69.13 71.09
Return per lamb sold store (£) 49.91 50.35 49.46
Reared lambs sold finished (%) 50 40 31
Reared lambs sold store (%) 10 10 7
Reared lambs sold breeding (%) 3 5 6
Reared lambs valued at end (%) 37 46 56
Total FW ewe concentrate use (kg per ewe) 42 34 26
Total DM ewe concentrate use (kg per ewe) 36 25 15
Average ewe concentrate cost (£ per tonne) 217 179 132
Total FW forage (kg per ewe) 430 235 179
Total DM forage (kg per ewe) 106 60 47
Creep feed per lamb reared (kg per lamb) 16 6 2
Number of full grazing weeks 45 46 48
Stocking rate (LU per ha) 0.7 0.9 0.9
Inorganic nitrogen use (kg per ha) 45 28 20
Labour use - paid hours per ewe 2.1 1.1 0.8
Labour use - unpaid hours per ewe 1.7 1.4 1.1

SDA Breeding flocks (Stocktake 2016)

(£ per head output) (£ per lwt kg lamb output)
Financial Performance (£ per ewe to ram) Bottom Third Average Top Third Bottom Third Average Top Third
Number of flocks in sample 10 30 10 10 30 10
Average flock size 591 814 1091 591 814 1091
Lamb output 90.72 88.94 99.43 1.67 1.68 1.71
Other income 1.97 2.45 2.68 0.04 0.05 0.05
Gross Output 92.70 91.39 102.11 1.71 1.72 1.76
Replacement costs 17.35 14.72 13.94 0.32 0.28 0.24
Output less replacement costs 75.34 76.68 88.16 1.39 1.45 1.52
Variable Costs
Purchased feed including minerals 13.23 9.09 8.55 0.24 0.17 0.15
Home-grown feed 1.17 0.28 0.00 0.02 0.01 0.00
Purchased forage 0.45 0.23 0.18 0.01 0.00 0.00
Home-grown forage (excludes contract) 4.77 4.24 4.79 0.09 0.08 0.08
Total feed and forage 19.62 13.84 13.51 0.36 0.26 0.23
Vet and medicine 11.01 8.13 6.60 0.20 0.15 0.11
Bedding 0.29 0.59 0.82 0.01 0.01 0.01
Other livestock expenses 7.81 6.91 6.89 0.14 0.13 0.12
Total variable costs 38.72 29.47 27.82 0.71 0.56 0.48
Gross Margin 36.63 47.20 60.34 0.67 0.89 1.04
Fixed Costs
Labour - paid 7.51 8.58 8.37 0.14 0.16 0.14
Machinery repairs and spares 3.27 2.07 1.82 0.06 0.04 0.03
Contracting 3.48 2.48 1.94 0.06 0.05 0.03
Electricity 0.12 0.22 0.27 0.00 0.00 0.00
Fuel 3.83 2.77 2.66 0.07 0.05 0.05
Property maintenance and water 1.47 0.90 0.81 0.03 0.02 0.01
Land Rent (Actual) 9.20 4.99 2.84 0.17 0.09 0.05
Overheads 3.70 2.62 2.51 0.07 0.05 0.04
Cash Only fixed costs 32.59 24.62 21.23 0.60 0.46 0.37
Cash Only Cost of Production 88.66 68.81 63.00 1.63 1.30 1.09
Cash Only Net Margin 4.04 22.59 39.11 0.07 0.43 0.67
Depreciation 9.91 5.64 4.15 0.18 0.11 0.07
Finance costs (Imputed) 1.68 0.96 0.75 0.03 0.02 0.01
Labour - unpaid (Imputed) 27.01 14.75 11.97 0.50 0.28 0.21
Land Rent (Imputed) 5.17 4.79 4.63 0.10 0.09 0.08
Non-Cash fixed costs 43.77 26.14 21.50 0.81 0.49 0.37
Full Investment fixed costs 76.36 50.75 42.74 1.41 0.96 0.74
Full Investment Cost of Production 132.43 94.94 84.50 2.44 1.79 1.46
Full Investment Net Margin -39.73 -3.55 17.61 -0.73 -0.07 0.30
Physical Performance
Ewe to ram ratio 41 56 67
Scanning percentage per ewe scanned (%) 173 164 175
Lambs born alive per 100 ewes to ram 150 150 160
Lambs born dead per 100 ewes to ram 10 8 7
Lambs died in first 48 hours per 100 ewes to ram 9 9 9
Lambs died after 48 hours per 100 ewes to ram 4 4 4
Lambs weaned per 100 ewes to ram 143 140 151
Lambs reared per 100 ewes to ram 143 140 151
Lamb losses from birth to rearing (% of born alive) 5 7 6
Empty ewes (%) 5.2 4.6 3.4
Ewe mortality (%) 5.3 3.8 3.1
Flock replacement rate (%) 26.9 26.3 24.1
Average age at weaning (days) 131 118 113
Average weight at weaning (kg) 32.1 29.9 30.5
Average liveweight per reared lamb (all lambs) (kg per lamb) 38.0 37.9 38.4
Average liveweight (kg lwt per lamb sold finished) 40.7 41.5 41.7
Average carcase weight (kg dwt per lamb sold finished) 19.1 19.5 19.5
Average store weight (kg lwt per lamb sold store) 31.8 30.7 32.2
Average age at sale (days) 147 148 150
Daily liveweight gain to sale (kg per day) 0.25 0.25 0.24
Lamb weight produced per forage hectare (kg) 413 561 727
Return per lamb sold finished (£) 55.77 63.27 66.11
Return per lamb sold store (£) 51.11 45.72 48.63
Reared lambs sold finished (%) 39 43 42
Reared lambs sold store (%) 4 9 13
Reared lambs sold breeding (%) 10 7 10
Reared lambs valued at end (%) 47 41 35
Total FW ewe concentrate use (kg per ewe) 64 35 29
Total DM ewe concentrate use (kg per ewe) 46 28 25
Average ewe concentrate cost (£ per tonne) 202 225 240
Total FW forage (kg per ewe) 198 172 194
Total DM forage (kg per ewe) 75 60 62
Creep feed per lamb reared (kg per lamb) 7 5 4
Number of full grazing weeks 49 49 49
Stocking rate (LU per ha) 0.9 1.2 1.4
Inorganic nitrogen use (kg per ha) 22 23 32
Labour use - paid hours per ewe 0.9 0.9 0.9
Labour use - unpaid hours per ewe 2.8 1.6 1.3

Feb-March lambing flocks (Stocktake 2016)

(£ per head output) (£ per lwt kg lamb output)
Financial Performance (£ per ewe to ram) Bottom Third Average Top Third Bottom Third Average Top Third
Number of flocks in sample 14 44 14 14 44 14
Average flock size 352 563 531 352 563 531
Lamb output 97.64 95.35 98.81 1.60 1.65 1.71
Other income 2.13 2.21 2.20 0.03 0.04 0.04
Gross Output 99.78 97.56 101.02 1.63 1.69 1.75
Replacement costs 15.25 10.72 9.71 0.25 0.19 0.17
Output less replacement costs 84.52 86.84 91.31 1.38 1.51 1.58
Variable Costs
Purchased feed including minerals 22.85 14.09 9.99 0.37 0.24 0.17
Home-grown feed 0.47 0.46 0.23 0.01 0.01 0.00
Purchased forage 0.37 0.22 0.37 0.01 0.00 0.01
Home-grown forage (excludes contract) 7.47 4.93 2.82 0.12 0.09 0.05
Total feed and forage 31.15 19.70 13.41 0.51 0.34 0.23
Vet and medicine 10.20 8.03 5.68 0.17 0.14 0.10
Bedding 2.49 1.26 0.73 0.04 0.02 0.01
Other livestock expenses 8.53 7.27 6.37 0.14 0.13 0.11
Total variable costs 52.38 36.25 26.19 0.86 0.63 0.45
Gross Margin 32.14 50.59 65.12 0.53 0.88 1.13
Fixed Costs
Labour - paid 15.58 10.11 6.28 0.25 0.18 0.11
Machinery repairs and spares 3.29 2.46 2.41 0.05 0.04 0.04
Contracting 4.90 3.06 2.42 0.08 0.05 0.04
Electricity 0.29 0.39 0.41 0.00 0.01 0.01
Fuel 3.88 2.66 2.83 0.06 0.05 0.05
Property maintenance and water 3.30 2.22 1.56 0.05 0.04 0.03
Land Rent (Actual) 3.41 5.76 6.38 0.06 0.10 0.11
Overheads 5.97 4.15 4.21 0.10 0.07 0.07
Cash Only fixed costs 40.62 30.82 26.50 0.66 0.53 0.46
Cash Only Cost of Production 108.25 77.79 62.40 1.77 1.35 1.08
Cash Only Net Margin -8.48 19.77 38.62 -0.14 0.34 0.67
Depreciation 12.09 7.77 7.15 0.20 0.13 0.12
Finance costs (Imputed) 2.13 1.77 1.41 0.03 0.03 0.02
Labour - unpaid (Imputed) 17.32 15.16 13.98 0.28 0.26 0.24
Land Rent (Imputed) 14.55 10.70 6.64 0.24 0.19 0.11
Non-Cash fixed costs 46.09 35.40 29.17 0.75 0.61 0.51
Full Investment fixed costs 86.71 66.22 55.66 1.42 1.15 0.96
Full Investment Cost of Production 154.35 113.19 91.57 2.52 1.96 1.59
Full Investment Net Margin -54.57 -15.63 9.45 -0.89 -0.27 0.16
Physical Performance
Ewe to ram ratio 45 42 35
Scanning percentage per ewe scanned (%) 172 176 180
Lambs born alive per 100 ewes to ram 164 156 157
Lambs born dead per 100 ewes to ram 7 9 9
Lambs died in first 48 hours per 100 ewes to ram 7 8 6
Lambs died after 48 hours per 100 ewes to ram 5 6 7
Lambs weaned per 100 ewes to ram 152 144 146
Lambs reared per 100 ewes to ram 152 143 145
Lamb losses from birth to rearing (% of born alive) 7 8 8
Empty ewes (%) 3.6 4.5 3.7
Ewe mortality (%) 4.7 3.6 3.9
Flock replacement rate (%) 21.5 21.3 21.9
Average age at weaning (days) 104 115 129
Average weight at weaning (kg) 35.8 34.9 34.3
Average liveweight per reared lamb (all lambs) (kg per lamb) 40.3 40.2 39.9
Average liveweight (kg lwt per lamb sold finished) 42.0 42.3 42.5
Average carcase weight (kg dwt per lamb sold finished) 19.5 19.7 19.8
Average store weight (kg lwt per lamb sold store) 34.2 36.4 35.6
Average age at sale (days) 140 160 177
Daily liveweight gain to sale (kg per day) 0.27 0.24 0.22
Lamb weight produced per forage hectare (kg) 423 480 437
Return per lamb sold finished (£) 68.56 68.82 70.57
Return per lamb sold store (£) 52.97 54.27 54.62
Reared lambs sold finished (%) 65 59 50
Reared lambs sold store (%) 3 7 12
Reared lambs sold breeding (%) 0 4 6
Reared lambs valued at end (%) 32 31 33
Total FW ewe concentrate use (kg per ewe) 63 51 33
Total DM ewe concentrate use (kg per ewe) 55 41 26
Average ewe concentrate cost (£ per tonne) 209 198 209
Total FW forage (kg per ewe) 309 211 78
Total DM forage (kg per ewe) 104 63 39
Creep feed per lamb reared (kg per lamb) 22 11 9
Number of full grazing weeks 44 45 46
Stocking rate (LU per ha) 0.8 1.0 0.9
Inorganic nitrogen use (kg per ha) 53 36 22
Labour use - paid hours per ewe 1.5 1.0 0.7
Labour use - unpaid hours per ewe 1.7 1.5 1.4

April-May lambing flocks (Stocktake 2016)

(£ per head output) (£ per lwt kg lamb output)
Financial Performance (£ per ewe to ram) Bottom Third Average Top Third Bottom Third Average Top Third
Number of flocks in sample 14 43 14 14 43 14
Average flock size 452 836 1393 452 836 1393
Lamb output 83.37 87.18 88.21 1.70 1.76 1.82
Other income 2.71 3.69 4.42 0.06 0.07 0.09
Gross Output 86.08 90.88 92.63 1.76 1.83 1.91
Replacement costs 0.52 8.01 9.46 0.01 0.16 0.20
Output less replacement costs 85.56 82.87 83.18 1.74 1.67 1.72
Variable Costs
Purchased feed including minerals 6.95 3.56 1.82 0.14 0.07 0.04
Home-grown feed 0.26 0.34 0.26 0.01 0.01 0.01
Purchased forage 1.30 0.44 0.02 0.03 0.01 0.00
Home-grown forage (excludes contract) 10.65 4.91 3.46 0.22 0.10 0.07
Total feed and forage 19.16 9.26 5.56 0.39 0.19 0.11
Vet and medicine 10.80 6.55 4.76 0.22 0.13 0.10
Bedding 0.68 0.37 0.29 0.01 0.01 0.01
Other livestock expenses 8.56 8.45 8.27 0.17 0.17 0.17
Total variable costs 39.20 24.63 18.88 0.80 0.50 0.39
Gross Margin 46.36 58.24 64.30 0.95 1.17 1.33
Fixed Costs
Labour - paid 19.63 11.07 8.08 0.40 0.22 0.17
Machinery repairs and spares 3.74 1.99 1.43 0.08 0.04 0.03
Contracting 3.55 2.42 1.95 0.07 0.05 0.04
Electricity 0.17 0.12 0.11 0.00 0.00 0.00
Fuel 5.14 2.80 2.12 0.10 0.06 0.04
Property maintenance and water 1.52 1.12 0.76 0.03 0.02 0.02
Land Rent (Actual) 22.79 8.85 6.68 0.46 0.18 0.14
Overheads 5.77 3.66 2.45 0.12 0.07 0.05
Cash Only fixed costs 62.31 32.01 23.58 1.27 0.65 0.49
Cash Only Cost of Production 102.03 64.65 51.92 2.08 1.30 1.07
Cash Only Net Margin -15.95 26.23 40.72 -0.33 0.53 0.84
Depreciation 6.92 4.97 4.39 0.14 0.10 0.09
Finance costs (Imputed) 1.24 1.09 1.14 0.03 0.02 0.02
Labour - unpaid (Imputed) 16.25 10.86 8.71 0.33 0.22 0.18
Land Rent (Imputed) 8.01 8.85 6.16 0.16 0.18 0.13
Non-Cash fixed costs 32.41 25.77 20.40 0.66 0.52 0.42
Full Investment fixed costs 94.72 57.78 43.98 1.93 1.17 0.91
Full Investment Cost of Production 134.44 90.41 72.32 2.74 1.82 1.49
Full Investment Net Margin -48.37 0.46 20.32 -0.99 0.01 0.42
Physical Performance
Ewe to ram ratio 42 50 54
Scanning percentage per ewe scanned (%) 169 165 155
Lambs born alive per 100 ewes to ram 150 147 142
Lambs born dead per 100 ewes to ram 6 8 9
Lambs died in first 48 hours per 100 ewes to ram 10 8 7
Lambs died after 48 hours per 100 ewes to ram 6 4 4
Lambs weaned per 100 ewes to ram 136 136 131
Lambs reared per 100 ewes to ram 136 136 131
Lamb losses from birth to rearing (% of born alive) 9 8 8
Empty ewes (%) 6.0 6.8 8.6
Ewe mortality (%) 3.1 3.1 3.0
Flock replacement rate (%) 19.0 23.6 25.5
Average age at weaning (days) 120 118 112
Average weight at weaning (kg) 32.6 31.3 30.8
Average liveweight per reared lamb (all lambs) (kg per lamb) 36.0 36.4 37.1
Average liveweight (kg lwt per lamb sold finished) 42.6 41.4 41.5
Average carcase weight (kg dwt per lamb sold finished) 19.7 19.1 18.9
Average store weight (kg lwt per lamb sold store) 30.9 31.4 30.7
Average age at sale (days) 163 163 164
Daily liveweight gain to sale (kg per day) 0.21 0.21 0.21
Lamb weight produced per forage hectare (kg) 246 351 396
Return per lamb sold finished (£) 68.27 68.94 68.90
Return per lamb sold store (£) 50.55 49.01 48.54
Reared lambs sold finished (%) 30 27 27
Reared lambs sold store (%) 21 11 9
Reared lambs sold breeding (%) 4 5 7
Reared lambs valued at end (%) 45 56 56
Total FW ewe concentrate use (kg per ewe) 17 22 7
Total DM ewe concentrate use (kg per ewe) 15 13 6
Average ewe concentrate cost (£ per tonne) 231 147 209
Total FW forage (kg per ewe) 499 254 196
Total DM forage (kg per ewe) 104 59 47
Creep feed per lamb reared (kg per lamb) 5 2 1
Number of full grazing weeks 47 48 49
Stocking rate (LU per ha) 0.6 0.8 0.9
Inorganic nitrogen use (kg per ha) 41 22 15
Labour use - paid hours per ewe 2.4 1.2 0.8
Labour use - unpaid hours per ewe 1.6 1.2 0.9

Lamb finishing (Stocktake 2016)

(£ per head output) (£ per kg carcase weight)
Financial Performance (£ per head output) Bottom Third Average Top Third Bottom Third Average Top Third
Number of flocks in sample 20 61 20 20 61 20
Average head of output 229 577 1022 229 577 1022
Lamb output 68.70 73.94 76.41 3.55 3.76 3.86
Other income 0.00 0.09 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.00
Gross Output 68.70 74.03 76.43 3.55 3.76 3.86
Purchase costs 53.99 54.39 55.39 2.79 2.76 2.80
Output less purchase costs 14.71 19.63 21.05 0.76 1.00 1.06
Variable Costs
Purchased feed including minerals 2.67 1.37 0.49 0.14 0.07 0.02
Home-grown feed 0.59 0.27 0.05 0.03 0.01 0.00
Purchased forage 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Home-grown forage (excludes contract) 1.07 1.70 2.13 0.06 0.09 0.11
Total feed and forage 4.34 3.33 2.67 0.22 0.17 0.13
Vet and medicine 1.13 0.85 0.55 0.06 0.04 0.03
Bedding 0.05 0.04 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.00
Other livestock expenses 4.04 2.66 2.28 0.21 0.13 0.12
Total variable costs 9.56 6.87 5.52 0.49 0.35 0.28
Gross Margin 5.15 12.76 15.52 0.27 0.65 0.78
Fixed Costs
Labour - paid 3.32 1.23 0.97 0.17 0.06 0.05
Machinery repairs and spares 1.41 0.49 0.26 0.07 0.03 0.01
Contracting 0.70 0.41 0.29 0.04 0.02 0.01
Electricity 0.03 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00
Fuel 1.57 0.79 0.57 0.08 0.04 0.03
Property maintenance and water 1.56 0.79 0.39 0.08 0.04 0.02
Land Rent (Actual) 2.12 1.09 0.79 0.11 0.06 0.04
Overheads 3.88 2.62 2.04 0.20 0.13 0.10
Cash Only fixed costs 14.60 7.44 5.32 0.75 0.38 0.27
Cash Only Cost of Production (inc purchase costs) 78.15 68.71 66.23 4.04 3.49 3.35
Cash Only Net Margin -9.45 5.32 10.20 -0.49 0.27 0.52
Depreciation 3.50 1.51 1.10 0.18 0.08 0.06
Finance costs (Imputed) 0.86 0.63 0.60 0.04 0.03 0.03
Labour - unpaid (Imputed) 4.43 1.70 0.93 0.23 0.09 0.05
Land Rent (Inputed) 1.96 1.33 1.29 0.10 0.07 0.07
Non-Cash fixed costs 10.76 5.17 3.92 0.56 0.26 0.20
Full Investment fixed costs 25.36 12.61 9.25 1.31 0.64 0.47
Full Investment Cost of Production 88.90 73.88 70.16 4.60 3.75 3.54
Full Investment Net Margin -20.21 0.15 6.28 -1.04 0.01 0.32
Physical Performance
Mortality % 1.1 1.4 1.1
Feeding period (days) 100 95 91
Average liveweight at start (kg) 34.7 33.8 33.6
Average liveweight at sale (kg) 41.2 42.3 42.8
Daily liveweight gain (kg per day) 0.07 0.10 0.11
Average carcase weight (kg) 19.3 19.7 19.8
Purchase value per lamb (£) 53.40 53.69 54.80
Return per lamb (£) 68.70 73.94 76.41
Liveweight price all lambs (£ per kg lwt) 1.67 1.75 1.78
Return per kg deadweight: finished lambs (£ per kg dwt) 3.57 3.77 3.87
Lambs sold finished (%) 95 96 97
Lambs sold or retained breeding (%) 5 4 3
Total FW concentrate use (kg per lamb) 20 9 3
Average concentrate cost (£ per tonne) 161 179 167
Inorganic nitrogen use (kg per ha) 14 23 11
Labour use - paid hours per lamb 0.3 0.1 0.1
Labour use - unpaid hours per lamb 0.4 0.2 0.1

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