Why is Lamb so Expensive to Buy?

[mrs_overall]

I cannot justify paying for lamb as it is so costly. Strange, considering how many sheep we have in this country!

[cathfromsaron]

i pay £4.99 /lb from my local farm!

[pastafreak]

I pay less than that at my local butchers^^^^^^.

[mrs_overall]

I was looking at a very small portion of leg in the local butchers that would have fed 2...priced just under £7.
Outrageous

[cathfromsaron]

i buy organically fed!

but do you mean kilo or pound?

[rosamundjohn]

Surely it has to be scarecity? Cost of rearing? Pork is cheaper almost everywhere.

[pastafreak]

I saw a leg in M&S a few weeks ago...think it was about £15-I nearly fainted.
At least with the butchers,I know it is all locally sourced-which helps keep the price down I suppose.

[tenrec]

I don't eat much lamb, but do we still get NZ lamb?

[horseshoes]

When I was a child, we always had a Sunday dinner, and I can remember sometimes my Mum would say "It's only lamb this week"!!! It was the cheap meat then, and it was a chicken which was the real treat. I don't understand it either - you need a bl***y mortgage to buy lamb these days.

[rosamundjohn]

could be that it came from NZ Horseshoes? I know some it still does but perhaps there was an aggreement......

[humbersloop]

Try this Mrs O.

http://www.telegraph....r-sheep-shortage.html

[horseshoes]

Who knows Ros...I'm just glad OH doesn't like it so I don't buy it much now there's just the two of us. I tend to have lamb if we go out for a meal and that's about it really.

[emmie]

i like lamb, but it can be a bit on the expensive side, and yes you still get New Zealand lamb.

[dianahoohar]

Braised lamb shanks are delicious, but they're about £3.50 each. Not so long ago they were the cheapest cuts and you could get them for about £1.

[horseshoes]

Sheep shortage???!!! Are they serious? There are fields and fields of them round us.... not to mention the hundreds of gorgeous new lambs.

[bookbinder]

I found these 3 websites, that might go some way to answering mrs-overall's question. The situation seems to be connected with high prices abroad, although that info is not up to date. The dalesnet site gives fairly up to date prices.
http://www.thegrocer....abroad/207786.article
http://www.shetnews.c...istorically-high.html
http://www.dalesnet.co.uk/retail.htm

[DTCwordfan]

aaah my cousins, worth every penny..

[Baldric]

It's to pay for the man hours involved in catching them, have you seen how quick those little beggars are?????

;o)

[rosamundjohn]

I have also looked
Demand is low because price is high.

[humbersloop]

Looks like DTCrosswordfan's sporting a premium avatar :D

[mrs_overall]

I live in the sticks in North Yorkshire and am surrounded by thousands of the woolly things!