Only three years ago you could hear sheep farmers complaining in their local diner that the price they earned for lamb was they same as they earned 20 years earlier: $1 a pound.

Prices have since edged up and producers are eyeing a huge Ontario market supplied by foreign producers.

Lamb prices hit a favourable $1.75 to $1.85 a pound in mid-February and the industry, which has seen a decline in producers since 1991, now sees a resurgence. At Sheep Day in Spencerville, south of Kemptville, last month, 91 people showed up. The annual day of seminars usually attracts 45. More than 100 people were at a similar seminar in Norwood. Many are retiring dairy farmers who want to put their barns and land to good use.

There is more than current price that is attracting new producers. Ontario only supplies 50 per cent of amb consumed in the province, said eastern Ontario director for the Sheep Marketing Agency Gary Lapier. With a flock of 300 near Kemptville, Lapier says there are enormous opportunities, from farmgate sales to restaurants and farmers markets.

Lapier got together with other producers last year and sold 280 lambs to Ottawa’s annual Greek festival. Since lamb is the preferred meat of Muslims, Lapier gets repeat business from Ottawa’s growing Muslim population. Restaurants often buy his lambs through the Ottawa Livestock Exchange.

The biggest market, however, has yet to be cracked – the supermarkets. "We’ve always wanted to get into supermarkets year round," Lapier said. However, there aren’t enough producers to provide the big box stores with guaranteed year round supply. New Zealand and Australia are filling the shelves now. A supermarket can have 2,600 products on its shelves and lamb is just one of them, he said.So don’t expect special treatment. Buyers want constancy because the consumer wants constancy, in the same way that they now want and get year round strawberries and corn on the cob. "We still don’t have the volume to supply that market." Meantime, Lapier is quick to encourage new producers.

Chesterville’s John and Suzanna Cayer sold their milk quota and dairy herd and bought 50 sheep last year. They expect to be up to a herd of about 200 early this year. While their marketing plan is being developed they don’t want the hassle of farm gate sales. Said Suzanna Cayer: "Do you want customers coming to your farm seven days a week?"

For farmers like the Cayers, who already have the facilities, you need a 500-flock operation to be full-time, Lapier said. He has this advice on getting started: "Talk to the guys in the business. Get connected." The Cayers are doing just that.

While there may be a resurgence of sheep farmers now, historically numbers have dropped. Statistics Canada reports 3,406 Ontario sheep farmers in 2006, down from 3,978 in 2001, and 4,194 in 1991 when the number of producers peaked. Low prices account in large part for the decreasing number of sheep. There were 230,000 head (and 2 million cattle) in Ontario in 2006, compared with 340,000 in 2001. Mad Cow disease closed the U.S. border to lamb in 2003 and kicked the wind out of sales.

Lapier has seen numerous new producers hang in for a couple of years, then get out of the business. The frustrations are apparent: historically low lamb prices, predation problems, misunderstanding the marketing workload and mortality issues during lambing season. Moreover, there’s no money in the wool.

Farmers understand producing but this industry demands creative marketing ideas and people skills. Lambing time also requires much hands-on management, due to diseases and roaming predators.

"The biggest losses are in the first five days." Lapier said. Coyotes, wolves and fishers are a constant nuisance. Lapier has "six or seven llamas, a shot gun and a rifle." His frustration with predators led him to park his truck in a back field with radio blaring. "I’d turn the radio to Lowell Green to scare them away."

The day that Farmers Forum called Renfrew County sheep farmer Bridgett McEwen, she was preparing lamb burger for dinner. "It’s a fairly stable part of agriculture to be in," said McEwen, who has 100 breeding ewes near Beachburg. She grew up on a 35,000 head sheep station in Australia’s western Queensland. "My father calls and says, ‘How’s the hobby?’"

She and her husband also operate a furniture restoration business. "That funds our farming habit."

Direct marketing is their preferred strategy. "People have to like you," she said, as customer loyalty is key. It doesn’t hurt that their two businesses overlap.

"We’ll deliver to your house," she said, adding with a mischevious laugh: "I’ll say, ‘Here’s your leg of lamb and here’s your dining room table.’"