My older sheep are not tender and do not get top price. Old rams are sold as stew meat for the maritime shippers.

Perhaps there is a misunderstanding. Aged meats hung to age in controlled environments do get tender.... perhaps years was meant to be months....

My sheep graze over land that is not tillable, they turn weeds into meat.

Vegans are misguided. Imho a vegan life style historically develops due to lack of options. To choose vegan is odd. Getting the right amount of each amino acid from a vegetarian source is tricky business. I made rice and beans for my boys last night. That is a good combo. We are designed to eat a variety of food sources. To adapt to what is available.

I am concerned that in South America forests are cut down to make pastureland. This is not a good practice and programs are in place to stop the cutting. However it is not enough to stop all the destruction.

In the US the huge plains area once used by the buffalo is perfect for grazing. We should be demanding 10O% grass fed meats from cattle and sheep, and chickens, ducks and turkeys should also be on grasslands.

And much of Africa is the same structure, natural grasslands to browse. Again programs are getting support to rebuild the natural grazing that the wild grasses need to survive. If left ungrazed the native grasses mature and die off leaving the soils to erode in the rainy season. When rotational grazing brought in, those grasses remain lush and regrow waiting for herbivores to come back to mow the grasses again and again. When the rainy season arrives the roots hold the soils in place AND alliws that soil to absorb the rains, keeping the ground moist as the rains have not drained away to a river.

IMHO a tree, a carrot, a peach is valuable. As important as a squirrel, a mouse, a lamb, a steer. The circle of life.