February 2024 Farm Update | Raising Dorper Lambs in Texas
Hi all,
February was busy and I am excited to give you a look at it! I have had several emails asking if I have been impacted by the the Texas Wildfires. No, I am closer to the Louisiana border than the Texas Panhandle. Please pray the fires come under control within the next week. Ranchers are depending on it for spring grazing.
I have been sharing about Amos Miller case since early 2022 when the Federal Govt. filed suit against his Organic Farm. Miller Organic Farm is now being sued by the state (a second major lawsuit). This month, I left the farm to attend the Amos Miller Rally in Lancaster, PA. I obtained press-pass to the court hearing and plan to update you all with more info on the proceedings. WATCH MY AMOS MILLER VIDEOS HERE!
Lambing is almost finished! I have one ewe left to give birth. I am grateful for a good season and lambs that are growing like weeds! A few of the Lambs that were born in November have already been weaned. The lamb at the front is not weaned, but is a bottle lamb so she is residing at the weaning pen :).
Despite a (mostly) smooth lambing season, I hit a snag with one of my ewes. The ewe was small, the lamb was large and poorly positioned.
After trying for an hour to deliver the lamb, I loaded the ewe into a pet taxi and took her to the vet (thanks to my dad and brother’s help)…
After a rough c-section a big ram lamb was BORN ALIVE, but not responsive!
I spent about 30 minutes rubbing, stimulating, and even giving the lamb CPR. The vet also came and gave him a stimulant.
The lamb survived and is THRIVING!! I am so grateful to the Lord for a happy ending! His mother is also recovering very well!
If you are waiting on info regarding Dorper Lambs for SALE, be watching for info in the coming month. I am focusing a lot more on meat sales this year, but may have a handful of really high quality breeding ewes and rams up for grabs.
My EAT BEEF, NOT BUGS tee is now available in sizes S-3XL!! Your purchases help support my farm and the work I share on the internet.
If you are interested in raising sheep yourself, check out my book: The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture
Thanks so much for supporting my work!
-the Shepherdess
“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” Proverbs 24:16
HUNDREDS PROTEST AT AMISH FARMER HEARING
AMISH FARMER RAIDED (again) 2024
Click to Help AMOS MILLER with Legal Fees
PREVIOUS VIDEOS ON AMOS MILLER FEDERAL CASE:
Amos Miller 2022 Federal Case Recap
Amos Miller 2022 Federal Case Verdict
2024 Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Lawsuit Against Amos Miller Organic Farms:
Amos Miller, the Amish Farmer in Bird in Hand PA has been raided and is being sued by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture in 2024. In this video I am going to provide you with details surrounding the January 2024 raid of Millers Organic Farm by the State of Pennsylvania; a raid which comes just one year after the conclusion of the Federal Government’s lawsuit against Miller in the United States vs Miller Organic Farm case.
PLEASE SHARE THIS VIDEO: there has been very little media coverage of the most recent raid and the scope of this suit is too large to be glazed over.
I covered Miller’s Federal case which spanned from 2019-2023 in 2 videos, linked below.
As it stands in the USA today, every meat and dairy product that is sold at the retail level must be either directly inspected by a USDA or state agent, or (as in the case with dairy) must be processed by an establishment with license and/or permits from the state or federal government.
Private membership associations like Miller’s Organic Farm, as well as herdshares, etc. are final avenues through which small farmers can provide product direct to consumers without government mediation.
Even moreso, it is the final avenue through which YOU the consumer can opt-out of a dangerously centralized agricultural system, a system that is at present a threat to National security.
Henry Kissinger, National Security advisor under Nixon and Ford said this: “Control oil and you control nations, control food and you control people.”
If the state or federal government can de-legitimize or bankrupt Miller’s 4000+ member Private Membership Association, it could signal the beginning of the end for thousands of other small farmers across the USA who are operating under the same framework.
If you are local to Pennsylvania, or can at all make the trip I want to encourage you to be present at the Lancaster County Courthouse on February 29th at at 11:30am.
for the COURT RALLY that will directly precede Amos’s Court Hearing at 1pm.
If you are like me (not local) donate to Amos Millers Give-Send-Go Campaign using the link below. Robert Barnes is the Lawyer representing Miller Organic farms and is from my evaluation, Barnes is doing so with a firm grasp on what this means for food freedom in the USA. Barnes has estimated that legal fees for Miller’s case will reach one-quarter million dollars by the end of March.
According to Attorney Robert Barnes, the State of Pennsylvania has sued Amos Miller and is in pursuit of a COMPLETE and permanent injunction against Miller Organic Farms.
If won, the lawsuit will set legal precedence for the shut down of the thousands of private farming operations across the USA.
By all appearances, the end goal is not Amos Miller; but, as Kissinger cited, control of the people through food.
Now for the recap of the raid on Miller Organic Farm in January of 2024, as provided by Miller’s Attorney Robert Barnes as well as the Lancaster Patriot. Both sources linked in the description.
Search warrant issued on January 3rd:
On January 3rd a search warrant was ordered for Miller’s Organic Farm by Judge B. Denise Commins
In order to obtain a legitimate search warrant, a crime or probable cause must be present.
In the place of crime and probable cause, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture presented two allegations of food borne illness tied to Miller’s dairy product: one from 2016 and another from 2023.
According to Miller’s Attorney Robert Barnes there were two 2 major problems with these allegations:
#1 The allegations were unverified and dated back to 2016 and 2023. Remember, in 2023 Miller reached a settlement with the federal govt. and these allegations fell under that timeframe.
According to Barnes, The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture lied by omission, failing to cite this fact, which would have disqualified their use as the “crime” or “probable cause” necessary to justify a new search warrant.
What is more, is that Miller Organic Farm has had no customer complaints filed at the state level in over 15 years, which leaves one to wonder how the state materialized these complaints in the first place.
#2 Were the allegations of food borne illness legitimate they ought to have been served through Miller’s legal representative, Robert Barnes, and not through a search warrant.
Raided by Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and State Police on January 4th:
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture wasted no time, however. The very next day, on January 4th, they conducted a search of Miller’s Organic Farm was, with Pennsylvania State Police offering assistance on site. (-lancaster Patriot).
During this search a Detainment Order was placed on a large portion of Miller’s Food Inventory. The detainment order prohibited Miller’s Organic food products from being distributed to the private members until further notice.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and State Police allowed no 3rd party on the premises while they conducted the search of Miller’s Organic Farm…. As such there was no accountability for what was done to or with the food products during the search.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture left with several of Miller’s food products in coolers and affixed a sign to the door that prohibited the contents of the Freezer units from being sold or sampled by Miller. This leaves Miller without the ability to perform the independent testing that may be necessary to disprove potential allegations of contamination.
What’s more is that according to Robert Barnes, detaining food products was not an allowance provided by the search warrant. Barnes cited that what happened here was a general warrant which is in direct violation of the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
What is more, according to Barnes, the warrant for the January 4th search was issued on the basis of Miller’s DAIRY products, however the entire content of Miller’s freezer was restricted, including the pasture raised meat products that were stored alongside the dairy. Several of Miller’s shelved products including granola, canned goods, etc were labeled with Detention order stickers. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of highly perishable merchandise was detained; creating yet another significant financial loss for Miller.
On January 19th
On January 19ththe State of Pennsylvania added an extension to the original detention order. The original detention order restricted food inventory that was on site during the January 4th search. However, the extension on January 19th prohibited the distribution of newly processed dairy products.
On January 24th
“Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Sues Amish Farmer Amos Miller”
Attorney General Michelle A. Henry said in a statement. “We cannot ignore the illnesses and further potential harm posed by distribution of these unregulated products… Pennsylvanians should know what is in the products they and their families are consuming.”
The irony of that statement is that a primary reason Miller’s 4000 Customers buy his organic food is because in doing so they know exactly what is in the products they and their families are consuming.
Why Armed Citizens are Important in 2024
Click for Original Interview with Nick Freitas.
In a recent video with Nick Freitas, I discussed my trip to Australia, and the fact that when people heard I was from Texas, one of their first questions was: “Are you going to let them take your guns?”
US Firearms Restrictions in 2024:
This was a point of interest because, in 1996, a majority of Australia’s gun rights were stripped after a mass shooting known as the Port Arthur Massacre. Port Arthur triggered massive gun control measures within Australia and resulted in the surrender of an estimated 650,000 firearms between 1996-1997.
57,000 firearms were directly handed in by Australians, while the remaining 593,000 were surrendered under a buyback program led by John Howard.
You can have a look at that full conversation with Nick Freitas using the link in the description of this video, or by using the link that will appear on the screen here…
But I actually walked away from that conversation with somewhat of a great awakening.
An awakening that was really similar to the one I had four years ago:
When I realized that the more I relied exclusively on big agriculture or a third party to grow my food, the more I was at risk of dying of starvation.
And I realized in direct parallel: the more I relied on big government or any third party to protect me from violence, the more likely I was to die from violence.
While both death and starvation are extreme ends of the spectrum, your level of risk escalates or de-escalates based on your level of reliance.
These conversations with Nick Freitas and John Lovell happened in October. And while I walked away from them feeling awakened, I also felt totally negligent, because while I was nodding my head to the vital importance of my 2nd amendment rights: #1 I did not own a firearm and #2 I had fired fewer than 20 rounds over the course of my life to that point.
And just as with farming, where I realized I had a responsibility to steward my resources so that I could feed myself, I realized here that I had a responsibility to steward my rights so that I could defend myself.
So, I walked into Bass Pro Shop (not an ad) and bought a Glock 43x. And I took that Glock 43x straight to a professionally led defensive handgun class.
Now Texas is one of the 22 states in the USA where Constitutional Carry is upheld. Let me know in the comments down below if you are living in one of these green states.
According to USConcealedCarry.com:
“Constitutional carry means that the state’s law does not prohibit citizens who can legally possess a firearm from carrying handguns, (openly and/or in a concealed manner) thus no state permit is required.”
So in short, because Texas acknowledges Constitutional Carry, I did not need any formal training or any permit to carry my new firearm. But given such a low level of exposure to firearms up to this point, I wanted the confidence of formal training, and I wanted to establish good safety protocols within myself.
Oh, and I did not train alone! I took my sister the Chicken Lady and nearly every other female in my immediate circle to train with me. Despite some initial overwhelm when I surprised her with news about the firearms training class, Chicken Lady was actually an insanely sharp shot straight out of the gate.
Scott was the range assistant and cited something that really stuck with me: he said that genocide is typically preceded by the disarming of the populace. The process starts slow, moving incrementally from regulation to restriction.
Within nine hours we moved from totally basic drills surrounding drawing from the holster, reloading magazines, and dry fire, to target practice.
The nine-hour class culminated in the two hours of range training required for obtaining your concealed carry permit: which again, you do not need this permit for concealing and carrying a firearm in Texas (or any other Constitutional Carry State), but they do give you legal protection as you cross over into states that are not operating under Constitutional Carry laws, they also allow you to carry a firearm on college campuses, among a few other things.
Phil Ryan at Northeast Texas Gun Range took my group of ladies from barely knowing how to load a magazine, to nine hours later, acing the range training for our concealed carry license with perfect or near-perfect scores on the target practice.
His snack box was next level in addition to the fresh brownies and chicken sandwiches: which in hindsight, with an all-female class, I realize that all the food was probably a deliberate strategy to avoid HANGER, but a good one at that!
I purchased a simple inside-the-waistband holster for daily use. While I am not here to give you holster setup recommendations, I am here to tell you it is a lot less complicated to conceal and carry as a lady than I was made to believe.
I have no plans of transitioning this channel into a firearms channel, the content that you will see here is going to be about how to grow your own protein. But the same reasons that thrust me into farming are the same reasons that thrust me into becoming an armed citizen.
I realized that exercising a right is the most fundamental way to defend it. And a lot like a muscle: all you have to do to lose your rights is simply not use them. I had to be real with myself and say: “Grace, if you are not strong enough to exercise these fundamental rights, you won’t be strong enough to defend them when someone comes to take them away.”
This is my first video after a seven-week break on YouTube, I have missed you guys and I would love it if you would hit the thumbs up before you leave, leave me a hello in the comment section and I will try to reply to as many as I can :).
January Farm Update
Hello Friends,
This update covers November-January. I can’t believe I have not sent a regular farm update since October! I am continuing my social media break through February 7th, but here is a little look at what’s happened from November-January!
WARNING: I have some lamb processing photos at the bottom of the post, so stop short if you are not interested in seeing them :).
(2 week old orphan lambs)
In November one of my oldest ewes die shortly after giving birth to twins. I never had success raising lambs on powdered formula. For these lambs, I sourced raw goat milk and had a huge success!!
10 weeks old and 40lbs!! |
The ram lamb hit 40lb by 10wks!! To stay budget friendly, I switched to a lower cost formula once the lambs were around 7 weeks (still NOT powdered, but one of you left a comment on facebook telling me how to amend cow milk from the store… THANK YOU!). I plan to make a video with all 3 homemade formula recipes I tried.
The flock is 1/2 way through lambing! I scheduled a January/February lambing instead of March/April lambing this year. Parasite pressure is really hard on my March/April lambing group. This lambing is an experimenting to see if we can mitigate some of the struggle.
In 2020 we experienced what seemed like “food shortages”. In reality, there was a bottle neck in our meat processing system.
80% of our nations meat supply is controlled by 4 major meat processors.
From 2020-2022, local slaughter houses were booked up to a year in advance as major meat packers recovered from lock-down-related closures.
Since observing this, it has been my goal to get in touch with how to process my own meat.
Butchering livestock is way outside of my comfort zone, but so far I have processed 3 sheep. It has been very rewarding to develop this skill set…
The first lamb had died of bloat (she gained access to a feed bag and over-indulged). I decided to make lemonade out of the situation and use her as my first practice! I was not able to eat this one, since I had just run a dewormer treatment the day before (withdraw period is about 14 days for the dewormer I use)
The second lamb was much smaller, but still some great practice.
The third was a mutton that I was able to breakdown and use for a dinner party! It tasted really incredible!
Thanks for reading this update!
-the Shepherdess
The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.
Proverbs 27:26
Taking a Break :)
I started my channel back in 2020 as a way to a chronicle my journey from day 1, as someone who woke up to the risk that a centralized food production system presents. And was learning from scratch as to how to raise animals on grass to produce meat.
I simultaneously realized that the end of the world might be a ways off, and that if I jumped into farming I had to be able to earn a significant income from it. I have been in business for 19 years and have found that the best way to make something sustainable is to find a way to make money from it.
I set out with the goal of building up to earn $100K per year from my 30 acre farm enterprise, with a net profit minimum of $30k. I hoped to reach this goal within 7 years.
With the Lord’s help I was able to reach that goal within 3 years and not 7. That’s without money from YouTube ads, self publishing my book, amazon affiliate marketing, or digital product/class sales. The $100k was money I earned in ways that anyone can: from selling physical products through my farm. I have a separate video on my business model that I have linked in the description, and will link at the end of the video if you want to watch it next.
Despite having reached my financial goals on farm, that original 7 year plan is something I want to stick with and whether it’s continuing to increase the productivity of my flock, diversify my own personal skill sets, or expand the way that I provide marketing resources to help others to monetize their efforts in agriculture; I have some really incredible doors in front of me.
But I came to the point this year where things just started moving so fast.
I am taking 6 weeks off of regular uploads and plan to return on February 7th, 2024.
I really need to quiet myself for a time make sure I am walking through the right doors and not just barrelling down my own path. Ultimately, I want to walk through the doors the Lord would have for me.
I plan to stay active in my newsletter community, so if you want to stay in touch over the next 6 weeks see the link in the pinned comment to subscribe.
PAID TO GRAZE | Wildfire Prevention using Sheep and Goats (Southern California)
Today I am taking you with me as I visit with Dylan Boeken, who raises meat sheep in Southern California.
Dylan raises sheep and goats for a full time income in California, without owning any land. Dylan is the lead shepherd at the Shepherdess Land and Livestock contract grazing operation in the Ojai Valley of Southern California. Shepherdess Land and Livestock is owned by Brittany Cole Bush.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 45 MINUTE EPISODE!
I filmed this episode during our layover in Los Angeles on our way to Australia. This is episode 4 of 4 from my trip to Australia! The info in this video will help those who are farming with limited land resources raising meat sheep.
Raising sheep for wildfire prevention in Southern California (OJAI VALLEY):
- WHERE: Today I am touring Shepherdess Land and Livestock, a contract grazing operation that manages thousands of sheep and goats in OJAI VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Ojai Valley is located in Southern California, just 1.5 HOUR DRIVE NORTH OF LOS ANGELES.
- RAINFALL IS BETWEEN 15 AND 21 INCHES IN THE VALLEY ON AN AVERAGE YEAR.
On this tour, Dylan drives us across the valley to 3 locations where their flocks are currently grazing. We discuss:
- How Shepherdess Land and Livestock uses small ruminants and targeted grazing to mitigate wildfires in southern California.
- How Cole and Dylan are actually PAID for every acre they contract GRAZE, IN one of the most expensive areas of the country to buy land.
- How Dylan built a thriving direct to consumer forage-fed lamb business in Ojai Valley just 3 years after launching into agriculture himself.
FACTS:
When rainfall is plentiful, ranging from 30” and upward, pasture recovery is rapid; a paddock at my farm in Northeast Texas may become ready to graze in as little as 28 days after a previous grazing cycle. As I toured Dylan’s operation he cited that the growth stockpile on this paddock took 7 months to accumulate. While Dylan and the Shepherdess Land and Livestock Team are at no want for land to utilize, should someone be looking to buy a ranch and launch a forage-only operation, either the installation of irrigation or keeping stocking rates at 1 sheep per 2 acres would be what is required.
Closing thoughts: One of the biggest takeaways from my visit with Dylan was that, despite skyrocketing land prices and increasingly difficult conditions for those in conventional agriculture, the landscape is teeming with unique opportunities for shepherds who are ready to think differently, manage differently, and put in the work. Were we to have one partnership in every county, like that of Shepherdess Land and Livestock & Boek House Custom Butchery, food shortages, erosion, and desertified urban landscapes would no longer be a significant threat to our nation. Families would have access to nutrient dense foods at a reasonable cost, rather than defaulting to chemically preserved composites from the grocery store.
“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Psalm24:1
ANGUS OF THE SHEEP WORLD | Raising Dorper Sheep for Meat in Australia
Bellevue Dorper stud in MILLMERRAN QUEENSLAND AUSTRALIA:
- WHERE: Today I am touring Bellevue Grazing Company, an award winning, 6000 acre Dorper Stud in Millmerran, QUEENSLAND Australia. Stud is the term used for a registered breeding stock operation, and the goal at Bellevue is to provide the best grass-based Dorper genetics in all of Queensland.
- RAINFALL IS AROUND 24″ ON AN AVERAGE YEAR, but this year the region has been in an exceptionally challenging drought, with only 8.4” of precipitation within the last 12 months.
In this video we are going to learn:
- How Bellevue Dorper produces award-winning carcasses on FORAGE ONLY, despite navigating in an exceptionally dry climate.
- How and why the Curtis family transitioned from conventional chemical agriculture to organic standards in 2015.
- And finally we are going to get a front row seat as the Curtis family masterfully coordinates their 20th annual on-farm stud sale. Which I found was not simply a sale, but an incredible extension of Australian Hospitality.
FACTS:
In Northeast Texas with average rainfall at 47” annually, achieving a stocking rate of 2-3 sheep per acre and remaining 100% grass fed is possible. However, with rainfall of 8” or less, the numbers are inverted, with a requirement of 3-4 acres per sheep to remain a 100% grass fed operation.
Closing thoughts:
One of my biggest takeaways from Bellevue Grazing Company was the data driven approach that Sophie takes to raising her flock. To see lambs that produced award winning carcass quality in such difficult conditions was almost unbelievable. Another principle Sophie mentioned was that of the bottom 5%. Identifying and culling the bottom 5% of your flock every year will year OVER year reduce your input and strengthen your genetics
“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”
Psalm 24:1
Raising Australian White Sheep for Profit
Macyntire Brooke Lamb in Darling Downs QUEENSLAND AUSTRALIA:
- WHERE: Today I am touring Macyntire Brooke Lamb, 1200 acre farm raising Australian White-Dorper cross sheep in Darling Downs region of QUEENSLAND Australia. Macyntire Brooke Lamb is a first-generation farm established in 2019. Despite being a young enterprise, Macyntire Brooke has launched a thriving, direct to consumer boxed Lamb business, selling out of it’s fresh boxed lamb shares nearly every month. The flock at Macyntire Brooke Lamb is Australian White and 100% forage-fed raised with as much emphasis on improving the land as producing a premium product.
- RAINFALL IS BETWEEN 21-24 INCHES (or 600 MM) ON AN AVERAGE YEAR, but this year the region has been in an exceptionally challenging drought, with only 4.7” of precipitation within the last 12 months.
In this video we are going to learn:
- How Sophie’s direct to consumer lamb sales program is allowing her to continue to garner premium pricing, despite an extremely dismal down-swing in the Australian Sheep market.
- What variety of grass and forage she incorporates into her multi-species pasture planting to finish her lambs.
- How much time she spends marketing vs farming in order to keep her lamb selling out every month.
FACTS:
Being an exclusively meat-producing operation, Macyntire Brooke has found cross-breeding to offer tremendous advantages. Initially, Macintyre launched with white Dorper and slowly bred in Australian White. Sophie cited that this hybrid has led to increased lambing percentages, faster growth rate, and an overall increase in hardiness. While Australian White is touted for increased parasite resistance, Sophie noted that from firsthand experience she did not particularly note an increase in parasite resistance between her Dorper and Australian White stock.
Closing THOUGHTS:
One of the biggest takeaways from my visit to Macintyre Brooke Lamb was a heightened awareness of the importance of establishing direct-to-consumer sales streams for farm products. Drought and inventory surplus are causing the Australian Sheep Market to crash in 2023. Without the ability to market a premium lamb direct to consumer, Macintyre Brooke Lamb would be up against impossible odds. As Sophie shares honestly, this marketing effort takes time, but income from a direct relationship with the end consumer has produced a steadiness in their income that many of their fellow farmers are not experiencing.
“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”
Psalm 24:1
Why I Left Texas for Australia.
Regenerative Sheep Farming in Australia:
I packed up and left my farm in Northeast Texas and here is why:
I am often asked: does regenerative agriculture and rotational grazing work in desert conditions, or are the benefits confined to areas of high rainfall?
To find the answer I visited Southern California, one of the driest areas in the USA, then flew across the ocean to Australia, the driest inhabited continent on the face of the earth, to bring you a first-hand look at raising sheep on Pasture in desert conditions.
Each sheep farm I visited raises meat sheep on 100% forage, with no grain input, and all with as little rainfall as 8-21 inches per year. What’s more is that each sheep farm has developed unique and profitable direct to consumer sales streams. Sales streams necessary to avoid middle-men and commodity sale barns which often squeeze producers out of profits.
This travel and video series was made possible by your support of my new book: the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture. My book is for beginners launching their own flock on 30 acres or less. Through it I teach the basics of raising, rotational grazing, and lambing a small flock of sheep.
This series of VIDEOS, which will be releasing between now and December 10th is for you. Because I wanted to use your support of my book to continue to provide a high level of education that will propel you forward as you raise your own flocks: whether large or small.
Also, I cam back with a bundle of souvenirs from Australia for one of you. Just hit the thumbs up on this video and leave a comment telling me which of the upcoming episodes you are most excited about! This is for US residents only and I’ll pick a winner on December 10th, A few days after I plan to post the final video of this tour.
——
I was able to travel with 3 of my siblings who helped me film at each location.
The trip started at the DFW airport where we flew from Dallas to Los Angeles.
Despite the temptation to stay and stalk celebrities, we exited Los Angeles pretty quickly.
Boek House/Shepherdess Land and Livestock:
We drove to our first film location which was in the Ojai Valley about 1.5 hours north of Los Angeles. I have an entire episode coming on the tour of Shepherdess Land and Livestock, led by Dylan Boeken.
A few of the highlights of this tour include:
-How Shepherdess Land and Livestock uses small ruminants and targeted grazing to mitigate wildfires in southern California.
-How they get paid to GRAZE thousands of sheep via these contract grazing agreements.
-How Dylan runs a thriving direct to consumer forage-fed lamb business in Ojai Valley just 3 years after launching into agriculture and without owning any land.
The full episode from Ojai Valley is scheduled to Release December 7th here on the channel, so be watching for it because there is SO MUCH amazing information on both grazing in a brittle environment and marketing lamb. At each stop I did a reverse book signing and asked each ranch managers sign my book, I am so excited to see how many signatures this copy will accumulate over the next few years.
We had one extra day to enjoy Southern California. We had the most incredible accommodations, thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Ojai Retreat. The retreat is just a quick 1.5 hour drive east of Los Angeles and is incredible getaway.
Flight time from LA to Brisbane was 17 hours 55 minutes, with one layover in FIJI, which was pretty exotic. Lots of guys in skirts.
They served us three meals onboard, which really helped with our food budget, but not enough to justify the acid indigestion they produced, so we opted out of the airplane meals on the flight home. 🙂
Then, after 17 hours and 25 minutes, we landed in the land down under and took our first steps onto international soil and broke into our food budget to enjoy an Australian trademark.
Bellevue Dorper and White Dorper Stud:
We headed inland to our farm tours after a few days on the Gold Coast. The first stop was Millmerran at the incredible Bellevue Dorper Stud. Stud is the Australian term for a registered breeding stock operation. Sophie’s family transitioned from a Merino wether operation, to a Dorper Stud about 20 years ago. The transition was a smashing success in light of the failing value of wool as a commodity and the rise in popularity of the Dorper as a shedding hair breed.
A few of the highlights of this tour include:
-Seeing the Bellevue Dorper Genetics that produces award-winning carcasses on FORAGE ONLY.
-Watching Bellevue masterfully coordinate their annual Stud sale.
-Learning about how Sophie transitioned the farm from conventional to organic agriculture 15 years ago.
-Getting a look at what forages are keeping the flock in amazing condition despite an extreme drought, wherein they have seen less than 8” of rain in the entire year.
The full episode from Bellevue Dorper is scheduled to Release December 1st here on the channel, so be watching for it because there is SO MUCH amazing information shared.
Our final farm tour of the trip was Macintyre Brooke Lamb. The name of this farm manager was also Sophie. Sophie and her husband are first Generation farmers, raising Australian White Sheep and marketing the meat direct to consumer. They market and sell through their website and newsletter using a boxed lamb format. Amazingly, Macintyre Brooke sells out of it’s fresh boxed lamb every month. This is an incredible bright spot for Sohpie and her family, BECAUSE
Between drought and inventory surplus, the Australian Sheep industry is taking a huge hit in 2023. Many Australian ranchers are citing that it is close to becoming more profitable to slaughter and bury their sheep, than to pay the transport fees to market. It’s a very sad time to consider, but Sophie’s direct to consumer lamb sales program has allowed her to continue to garner premium pricing on her lamb, even in the most difficult market conditions.
The full episode from Macyntire Brooke Lamb is scheduled to Release on November 24th here on the channel, so be watching for it because there is SO MUCH amazing information shared.
Before Leaving Australia we enjoyed a 10 mile hike through Lamington National Park.
Our final experience was And the third and final was an incredible hot air balloon tour of the scenic rim, sponsored by Hot Air Australia. A gourmet breakfast followed at O’Reilly Vineyard, which made it truly the perfect ending to the trip of a lifetime!
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17
MARKETING LAMBS FOR $225-$480 EACH | Dorper Sheep Farming in the USA
DOWNLOAD MY (free) PDF: 3 TIPS to LAUNCH A PROFITABLE EMAIL LIST!
Marketing Lambs for $225-$480 each:
A question I often receive is: “Where do you sell your sheep for the premium pricing you talk about?” So today I am going to (1) tell you exactly where and how I sell my sheep for between $400-500 per head, regardless of what the sale barn prices are, (2) how long it has taken me to build this sales stream, and (3) The TOTALLY UNIQUE and different from me way my Instagram friend Darlene used to sell her first grass fed lambs for a whopping $510 each, profiting $400 per head!
About Harmony Farms:
For those new here, I run a small-scale sheep operation on 30 acres in Northeast Texas.
I started three years ago with no experience in agriculture, but I did have a pretty extensive background in marketing and using the internet to build various types of income streams.
From the beginning there was one concept I was dead-set on: I was not going to rely on sale barns (or really any middle man or 3rd party sales platform) for profitability. I was going to market my product, my sheep, direct to consumer.
I knew I needed to do this in order to garner a consistent level of profitability from my farm.
BECAUSE, If you are familiar with sale barns and conventional cattle cycles, you will know that you have maybe 2-3 really good years where you are making bank at the sale barns, 2-3 years where you are covering costs and doing ok, and 2-3 years where you are bleeding to death because the prices at the sale barn won’t even pay for inputs necessary to overwinter your breeding stock. The length of these cycles varies based on various factors, but generally that’s what you can expect when using sale barns.
So from the start I knew I could not build a business that was at the mercy of this crazy cycle.
3 years after starting out, by God’s grace, my efforts in this direct to consumer sales stream has paid off way better than I ever expected. Not only do I have a low-maintenance sales platform that I can sell my sheep through at a premium, I have a relationship with a customer base that has allowed me to diversify my income and quit my regular job in 3 years instead of 7.
Now a quick sidenote about quitting my regular job: I haven’t really quit. I have just moved it to the back burner and turned the heat down to a slow simmer. And I can do this because ALL of the income streams I am working (and have ever worked in my 18 years of earning an income) are 100% home based. Diversity is important and no smart business person will ever completely ditch a viable income stream when they have the option to simply dial it down for a season. This is what I’ve done.
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Where do I sell my sheep for $400-$500 per head?:
So let’s get to the first point: Where do I sell my sheep for $400-500 per head?
Where do I sell my sheep for between $400-500 each? I sell them through my email newsletter. I began building my email newsletter list 3 years ago and for 3 consecutive years I have marketed all of my sheep through that newsletter list.
I use that newsletter list to point to my website where all of my sheep are listed once per year at a set price. People can use their credit card to check out on that website and pay for their sheep, just as they are accustomed to doing multiple times per week for other products. I pre-announce the date and time that my sheep will become available and they are offered on a first-come-first-served basis.
In my first year, I only had enough newsletter subscribers to sell 1/2 of my sheep through my website, so I advertised and sold the other half through Craigslist. It took about a month total to sell all of my sheep in my first year.
In my second year, I had built my newsletter list enough to where I sold out of all of my sheep within 15 minutes of opening the sale, and in my 3rd year I sold out of all my sheep within 4 minutes of opening the sale.
Each year I was also offering significantly more sheep than the previous year, which was encouraging to see the demand keep up with flock growth.
Whether people are buying for meat or for breeding stock, I direct them all to the same newsletter “waitlist’ throughout the year. The price for meat and breeding stock works out to be about the same: $400-500 per head.
Second point: How long has it taken me to build out my newsletter?
The short answer is about 3 years in total. On a daily basis I’d say I’m spending between 1-2 hours per day actively building up my newsletter, using the strategies I outline in that free PDF guide that is linked below.
This time quote of only 1-2 hours is a result of having streamlined a lot of processes to gain subscribers: kicking out the strategies that don’t work and zeroing in on the ones that do.
To keep those subscribers warm from one year to the next (because as it stands I have only one lamb crop and only one time per year that I sell my lambs), I send out a monthly farm update full of behind the scenes photos of the flock and the work I am doing at the farm.
The reason this is important is because if you just send out one email per year saying “hey! The sheep are ready to buy!” People are going to be like “who is this stranger in my inbox??” Because they probably will not remember the fact that 8 months prior they joined your email list to buy lamb.
But if once per month you stay in touch with truly beautiful photos, stories, and sometimes struggles from the farm, you have kept the minds and hearts of your subscribers warm throughout the year.
For me, it also provides an easy way to value-add. If the buyer can see beautiful photos of how my sheep are raised and loved, it becomes an easy, non-salesy way to elevate the value of my sheep above other people’s sheep.
EVEN BETTER: In those monthly farm updates, I regularly offer my subscriber something else to buy, items that cost $50 or less. And that diversification is what has allowed me to quit my regular job and focus on my farm business 4 years ahead of my business plan.
If you guys have any further questions they re probably answered on that FREE Newsletter strategy PDF down below, so grab that before you leave!
Finally, I am just going to read how my friend Dianne at Good Shepherd Homestead sold her first grass fed lambs for $510 each, profiting $400! (@goodshepherdhomestead1 on instagram if you want to follow her)
“I wanted to share my success in
raising my first lamb harvest. We
raised grass fed lamb, butchered 4
and sold 2 lambs in profits already.
Each lamb will bring in $510 with a
profit of $400. It could be more but
I’m selling at a price l’d pay. I hosted
a “Lamb Feast” and invited 35
people. They ate lamb for free and
brought side dishes. At the end
several purchased lamb meat and
now they are sharing with their
friends where to get lamb. I accepted
payment via cash and cash app.
God is so good.
The event went so well. we are
considering hosting it once a
quarter due to many request.
@thegoodshepherdhomestead1”
October 2023 Farm Update
Hello Friends!
I am excited to share an October farm update with you! This one is fun because I had the opportunity to travel to Virginia to meet some of you! Enjoy a look at October at Harmony Farms.
I traveled to Virginia for Homesteaders of America 2023! I was super-excited to find an orange TENT for the event ;). It was a great opportunity to promote my book!
If you missed the conference, all of my tees are available (with FREE SHIPPING) at Shepherdess.com!
The best part of the whole event was meeting so many of your face to face!!
October is such a month of refreshing on the farm! The lambs are all off to processing, the weather is cool, and the ewes are ready for breeding.
This year I shortened my fall breeding window. I talk about it in this video, but I noticed that ewes that lamb after April 1st struggle with parasites more than the ewes that lamb in March. This year I plan to have spring lambing finished by March 15th, then rejoin any open ewes for a fall lambing. I’ll be excited to share how it goes!
Thank you for reading and supporting the work I’m doing!
-the Shepherdess
Are you looking for sheep to purchase? Check out the Shepherdess Breeder Directory!
Homestead Burnout?
Download my ➡️$100K Worksheet HERE: https://bit.ly/3part100K
Joel Salatin produced an article that I read a few months ago. To summarize the article, he said that each new homestead craze sees a 6 year cycle: 2 years of honeymoon phase, 2 years for reality to set in, and 2 years for you to burnout, sell out and get out.
I was kind of saddened but could really resonate with that article.
WHY? Because this year was an incredibly tough one for me as far as feelings of burnout.
I am going to tell you why I hit such a severe season, how I chose to adjust rather than quit, and 2 hard rules I set for myself to make sure my farming effort really stands the test of time.
Too much too fast:
Ok, so here is why I hit such an intense season: I over-diversified my farm in too short a period of time.
While I never told you guys about it formally, I expanded the farm with a micro cow-calf operation, a dairy goat herd, and feeder piglets… all within the space of a few months. (To be fair the pigs were my brother’s undertaking, so besides logistics and herding them after a breakout, I was not involved)
Within a year of this expansion, the pigs were digging up the pasture, the goats were really frustrating in terms of contentment and rotational grazing, and we hit a couple of major and minor droughts that caused that micro cow-calf herd to put way more pressure on my pasture than was healthy.
The sheep continued to do great. My revenue with them actually tripled from 2022-2023. This was primarily because I was actively cultivating a market stream for them, where I was not as much with the other animals.
I hit last summer I had something like 150 animals on farm counting and some of them just weren’t earning their keep. The cows cash flowed too slowly to keep up with the supplemental hay that I needed to keep them through the winter, and I don’t really have ideal brushy landscape satisfy the goats, nor the audience to consume goats milk. So I really felt like I was spinning my wheels with no real product to show for it.
I made it through the summer and took a real step back once autumn hit. I chose to adjust rather than quit.
I looked at the cows and said my objectives here are to raise Grassfed Beef. I am going to eliminate the costly, risky cow calf operation and switch back to buying feeder steers.
I looked at the goats and said I will not keep 15 dairy goats, I will keep 3.
I looked at the pigs, which were actually in my frying pan.
And I looked at my sheep and said I am going to keep my 40 ewes with the highest reproductive rates.
WOW. I feel so good with these adjustments. I am back to my original energy and focus, while maintaining a reasonable and manageable level of diversity.
2 hard rules I set for myself to bake sustainability into my farming endeavor:
1: I have to have clarity on what I want out of that animal before I commit to it. I did this with the sheep, but really failed to do it for the cows and goats. IT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO SAY: I AM GOING TO RAISE MEAT RABBITS FOR FOOD FREEDOM. YOU NEED TO SAY: I WANT 25 LBS OF MEAT OFF OF MY GROUP OF BACKYARD MEAT RABBITS EVERY YEAR. Knowing what your expectations are gives you a measuring stick for each effort and when you feel burnt out you can step back and say, “OK, am I burnt out because we are just doing a great job of making strides toward this goal, or is this animal dead weight and could I be spending my time better?”. Downsizing if your objectives are not met is good stewardship of your time and energy. Which are both resources with as much value as topsoil.
2: Is something that I actually established way back: I am not allowed to make any significant DE-stocking decisions from June to mid-august. June and July are typically the most intense months for the farm and I find myself saying at least once in June or July that I want to quit. So I make all of my decisions after August 15th when the dust settles and my rational brain returns. I say: “what do I want to do again, and what do I want to do never again?”
So this is it! I want to encourage you guys in the fact that adjusting is not the same as quitting.
We are all in this race for a reason, but sometimes we put weights on ourselves that we weren’t meant to carry. And when we get tired, that doesn’t mean we are disqualified or that we should quit the race, it means we need to evaluate, drop some weight and keep running.
September 2023 Farm Update
Hello Friends,
This farm update is a little different… most of it is coming from Australia! I am often asked if the regenerative principles I promote work in areas of compromised rainfall. To get the answer, I visited Australia to film a 3-part series on Raising Sheep on 100% Pasture (in arid climates).
I’m not going to lie: your generous support of my book launch was part of the reason I was able to take this trip… THANK YOU. It is my goal to use the profit in a way that would provide you with more education and resources.
Australia is the 2nd largest sheep producing country in the world (2nd to China) and also the driest inhabited continent on the face of the earth. The video series is going to be full of management strategies from some of the best farms! (launching November)
We took advantage of a layover in Southern California to film Dylan at Boek House. Dylan raises hundreds of lambs on forage only. Dylan sells his lambs direct to consumer in the Ojai Valley. The thing that amazed me is that Dylan owns no land. He has built relationships with landowners in the valley to grow his lamb operation.
The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture is a book that will guide beginners through everything from raising lambs on pasture, to installing a rotational grazing system, and MORE!
Bellevue Grazing Company was at the top of my list to visit once I landed in Australia. Bellevue is an AWARD WINNING Dorper Stud (“Stud” is a term used to describe a registered breeding stock operation) in Queensland. They raise Dorpers on 100% pasture with no grain and little or no chemical inputs.
Bellevue hosted their annual on-farm Ram sale while I was there and it was incredible to be a part of the event!
Huge thanks to Sophie and Bellevue for hosting me and sharing about the operation!
Macyntire Brooke Lamb was another one of my stops in Australia. Sophie M. raises Australian White Sheep on 100% pasture. Sophie sells all of her lamb direct to consumer as “Fresh Boxed Lamb”. This model is incredibly resilient, allowing her to sell at a premium even as the Australian sheep market takes a hit this year.
And it wouldn’t be an update from Australia without Koalas and Kangaroos, so here you are :).
I love the little joey popping out of the pouch!!
As much as I enjoyed the travel, it was great to return to my farm in the USA. A special thanks to my family for watching the animals while I was gone!
Thank you all! I look forward to seeing you next month,
the Shepherdess
“And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8
Looking to buy sheep to start your own sheep farming journey? Check out the Shepherdess Breeder Directory!:
August 2023 Farm Update
Hello Friends,
August ushered in a slower pace on pasture and allowed me to launch and ship the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture. The heat was extreme and we had little or no rain, but (remembering last year’s drought) I reserved some pasture in prep for another dry spell. Here is a look at August!
I also want to issue a quick apology! Over the past couple of weeks those who ordered sheep supplies have experienced delays in shipping. I typically ship my sheep supplies within 1-2 business days, but with the Book Pre-order, a few of those orders were lost in the influx. My shipping helpers and I have caught up and plan to be back on track with supplies shipments this week.
The Sheep are doing amazingly well in the dry heat. The Dorper is built for drought conditions, so they are having no trouble sailing through the dry spell!
We have had little rain and triple digits for 6 weeks straight. The good rains this spring allowed me to put some pasture in reserve for the dry spell!
My book: The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture has launched and is shipping now!!! I am so grateful for your response to this book.
My incredible family jumped in to help fill your orders!
I really hope this book helps to soften your learning curve and hasten you to a pleasurable, profitable experience with sheep!
I have a NEW SHIRT AVAILABLE! Probably one of my favorites yet :).
I am so grateful for your continued support! I look forward to seeing you again next month :).
-the Shepherdess
“Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Psalm 100:3
Are you looking for pasture raised sheep to buy? Check out my pasture based breeder directory!
CALL about the PRIME ACT!
✅THE PRIME ACT IS UP FOR DISCUSSION!! This will alleviate restrictions on custom exempt meat processors and allow small farmers to sell meat processed through them.
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Call your U.S Representative as well as BOTH of your U.S. Senators (Cornyn and Cruz here in TX) by September 5th and urge them to sign on to H.R. 2814/S.907 which will remove restrictions on resale of meat from CUSTOM EXEMPT meat processors
Here is a quick 101 on MEAT PROCESSING RESTRICTIONS!!
Small farmers have 2 options when it comes to meat processing: USDA and Custom Exempt meat processors
To sell their meat to the public, small farmers have to process through a USDA meat processor. These are facilities with USDA agents on the premise at all times.
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If processed at a CUSTOM facility the meat is stamped “NOT FOR RESALE” and prohibited from distribution to the public.
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While it is often argued that USDA oversight is required in order to assure food safety, there are no records of any foodborne illness traced to any custom slaughterhouse since 2012.
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See this link to find your legislators contacts. Please share this video to spread the word!!
#smallfarm #smallfarming #localfood #foodfreedom
if you don’t have much grass…
The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture has 2 chapters for shepherds who are starting on low quality pasture. Here is a look at those two chapters!
Chapter 8 covers Supplement Options for sheep on low quality pasture:
Chapter 9 covers Easy Ways to Improve Pasture Quality:
The advance copies came in from the printing press today!!! I am so excited about how the final book looks… We plan to start shipping them to you on September 6th!
About the book The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture:
Raising sheep on pasture requires a basic understanding of pasture management, breeding & lambing, and mitigation methods for common disease. I walk the beginner shepherd through each aspect; sharing vivid pictures, easy to follow instruction, and personal stories from my own journey with sheep.
This is a book best suited for beginner sheep farmers raising sheep on 30 acres or less!
“And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.” Psalm 90:17
I’m giving this to you…
A lot of you asked for marketing information to be included in my book. Unfortunately, (with just sheep info) The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture is already 238 pages! I could not include much about marketing… so I have another pre-order BONUS to fix that!!
I’m giving this class (and planner) to you when you PRE-ORDER the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture!!
The $30k Side Hustle class walks you through:
-Finding customers.
-Deciding what product to sell.
-How to price your product.
-Setting sales quotas.
I teach this class using a real-life example of how I went from 0-$30k with my first side hustle (which I started in 9th grade). 12 years later I used the same planning process to start my sheep farming business.
Overwhelmed.
If I can be honest I was really really nervous (even shaking a little) when I launched pre-order yesterday morning.
I am self-publishing this book.
All production and distribution costs have to be paid in full and those costs crept into 5-figures for this project.
It was a real risk… but I felt really strongly that this was a book that beginner sheep farmers needed.
It was my goal with a 9 day pre-order to be able to cover costs.
Within 9 hours you purchased enough books to cover the of the production.
THANK YOU for supporting this effort. I am overwhelmed with gratitude.
-the Shepherdess
About the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture (Hardcover Book)
Raising sheep on pasture requires a basic understanding of pasture management, breeding & lambing, and mitigation methods for common disease. I walk the beginner shepherd through each aspect; sharing vivid pictures, easy to follow instruction, and personal stories from my own journey with sheep.
If you want to know what kind of info I provide through this book, here is a look at the table of content!
“And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.” Psalm 90:17
PRE-ORDER NOW!
Pre-order bonuses!
First 25 orders receive a Shepherdess tee (your choice of design)SOLD OUTFirst 100 orders receive a laptop sticker bundle (one of each design I have available)SOLD OUTFirst 300 order will receive a signed copy of the book!SOLD OUT
Are you looking for sheep for sale? Check out the Shepherdess Breeder Directory!
FAQ’s About The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture Book Launch
Pre-order launches on Tuesday August 15th at Shepherdess.com for: The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture!
What is the price of this book? The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture is priced at $46.95, but PRE-ORDER price is $41 and FREE USA SHIPPING.
Where can I buy the book? Shepherdess.com. Tomorrow at 8am (CST) is when the book launches. Shepherdess.com is the ONLY place to buy the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture. I am not selling through Amazon.
What are the pre-order bonuses?
- First 25 orders receive a Shepherdess tee (your choice of design)
- First 100 orders receive a laptop sticker bundle (one of each design I have available)
- First 300 order will receive a signed copy of the book! (thank you to everyone who is asking me to sign their copy! I am going to sign the first 300 copies that are shipped out)
What is book about? Here is the table of contents:
When do the books ship? Estimating September 6th.
Are you shipping this book internationally? Yes, however shipping is $25 for international orders. An EBOOK will be available in case you would like to bypass shipping fees and purchase a digital copy.
Have you considered writing a devotional connected to raising sheep on pasture? No, however The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture has Scripture throughout and a few journal entries from my first year of farming. (sample page below) I share the Bible verses that encouraged me through ruts and seasons of burnout as a first time farmer.
Do you have bulk discounts for the book? I am buying for friends or to resell.
YES. I am offering three bulk bundles at Shepherdess.com tomorrow:
- 25% off 10 books
- 40% off 30 books.
- 50% off 50 books.
If you have your own website or social media, you have permission to resell the books for a profit! Shipping is $1 per book on bulk bundles (USA).
This is a spiral bound prototype. The book you receive will be a professionally bound hardcover!
Thank you all! I am so excited for tomorrow!!
-the Shepherdess
“And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.” Psalm 90:17
Are you shopping for sheep? Check out the Shepherdess Breeder Directory!
The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture: A Book for Beginners in Sheep Farming
The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture: a Book for Beginners in Sheep Farming.
About the book: The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture
In 2017, my family and I moved to the country. Shortly thereafter we bought a flock of 36 sheep. We had no previous experience in raising four-footed livestock. Our first few years as beginner sheep farmers was incredibly rough. Over the course of five years, we earned a hard and fast education on animal husbandry. We learned through losses, trial error; you name it, we probably went through it.
In 2020, I personally stumbled upon the concept of regenerative pasture management. It was a combination of an education on basic husbandry principles and regenerative pasture management that took death rate on our sheep farm from 40% in our rookie year to less than 5% three years later.
Industry average death rate for sheep farms nationwide is 15%, so this drop is absolutely astounding.
For the past six months, I have been working to condense everything that allowed us to so dramatically increase productivity on our sheep farm.
The result is a rich resource for beginner sheep farmers.
That resource is a book that I am so thrilled to announce: the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture. What sets the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture apart from any other book on raising sheep is that it is a photo-educational book. As much as it tells you what to do, it shows you what to do.
The pictures in this book are vivid and show you step by step how to implement the basic principles necessary to raise and rear a healthy sheep flock. What’s more is that sprinkled throughout the book are a series of QR codes. Should you choose to pair technology with the use of this book, you can scan those codes to be taken straight to videos that further expound the processes explained on the page.
While this book was not necessarily written for children, the easy to understand framework makes it ideal for a young audience. The videos that are accessible through these codes are hosted on a child friendly platform and free of third party ads.
This book is being launched exclusively through shepherdess.com and will not be found on Amazon.
Thank you all for your support to this point! I wouldn’t be doing this without you.
-the Shepherdess
“And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.” Psalm 90:17
BUILDING 7 STREAMS OF INCOME ON MY SHEEP FARM | Sheep Farming for Profit (with PDF)
➡️ ➡️ DOWNLOAD THE TIME SAVING SUPPLIES LIST HERE!
Today I am going to walk you through seven sources of income that I generate on my sheep farm for profit. A lot of people talk about the concept of having multiple income streams, and it’s usually presented in a very abstract way. Today I’m going to take you through these seven sources of income and how I generate them without leaving the farm.
“Most successful family economies over history involved a mix of trades rather than just one. The village blacksmith also farmed his own land. Our first president was also a distinguished orchardist. Ben Franklin was a courier, author, publisher, statesman, and inventor. So it will be today successful enduring family economies will most likely need to be diversified and cross a range of durable trades.” (Durable Trades, Pg. 41)
Number one source of income is livestock. I run both sheep and a cow herd. The cow herd is a break-even enterprise. I sell the grass fed beef on a local level and it really allows me to satisfy my desire to produce a local food source for my community. The sheep are a profit center on my farm.
My sheep are purebred Dorper sheep. The demand for my sheep is such that all of my sheep are selling on the hoof. They are selling as breeding stock to other small farms. Managing the livestock end of my farm takes about two hours per day. I know a lot of you probably have a job that you need to keep as your primary income source and wonder if it’s possible to run a farm on the side. It is definitely possible.
Being able to finish my farm work in just 1-2 hours per day came down to having the right tools for both my grazing system and my watering system. Here is a free P D F download that lists all of those tools I use.
The second source of income for me is a result of the fact that I have more demand for my sheep than I’m able to supply with my own farm.
I launched a pasture-based breeder directory at shepherdess.com. Pasture-based sheep farmers can join this directory and I will do the marketing for them. You can check this out at shepherdess.com/breeders.
Income source number three is not tied to farming at all. It is a line of leather work and creative products that I produce myself.
This was the bulk of my income before my work in agriculture really got off the ground and started generating income. I have not completely phased the leather work business out. I understand that what I’m experiencing right now with the ability to generate enough income to support myself through agriculturally related means may not last forever.
So I have put the leatherwork/craft business on a side hustle basis. In the case that things slow down on the farm I can expand my capacity for taking orders.
The fourth source of income is Sheep Care supplies kits at Shepherdess.com. What has really made this popular is that I actually assemble kits for beginner sheep farmers.
What I found as a beginner shepherd was that there were just a few supplies that kept situations from becoming emergencies. I sell those products in kits at shepherdess.com. I run Shepherdess.com out of my garage. It is something that I’m able to do right from the farm.
Income source number five is podcasting and videos. Now, this is a very, very small income source. YouTube ad revenue is very small for me, surprisingly enough. I guess the farming niche that is a very low ad revenue generating niche, but the sheep farming videos I create for youtube generate a lot of traffic to shepherdess.com where I sell products for profit.
Income source number six really ties back to my time in the apparel industry. I really have a love for creating unique and beautiful things to wear, and so periodically I will update shepherdess.com with merch and apparel that has an agricultural theme. The neat thing about this apparel also is that my sister is an amazing artist and she’ll actually collaborate with me to create a lot of the designs that are applied to this merchandising: whether it’s shirts or note cards or stickers. This is a really fun project that we can mutually collaborate on here at the farm, and you guys have been so generous to support that.
Income source number seven is something I’m so excited to tell you guys about, and it is the launch of my very own book, the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture. As beginner sheep, farmers going into Sheep Farming with no previous experience in four-footed livestock. Our first few years was really rough.
But we adapted management principles, which I outline in this book, and death rate went from above industry average on our sheep farm to one third of industry average within just two seasons. Pre-order opens on August 15th, 2023, and I would so appreciate your support for the launch at Shepherdess.com.
July 2023 Farm Update | Raising Sheep in Texas
Hello Friends,
I am excited for August… but I don’t want to bypass a July Farm Update! July started out pretty rough. I lost a few ewes and spent some time doctoring my late-born lambs. Despite a rough start, July ended beautifully. I hope you enjoy a look behind the scenes!
I am adding breeders to the Shepherdess Breeder Directory! If you are shopping for pasture raised sheep, that is the place for you!
I was able to stock up on square bales for the winter. I am grateful for the good rainfall which has made hay more easily accessible this year!
The amazing rainfall is nothing to complain about, but it did lead to an extended parasite season. I typically rely on the dry heat of July and August to end the season. Sadly, I lost a few sheep during the heavy July rains. As the month wore on, a few lambs (above) continued to struggle with anemia. I weaned them and put them on dry feed, but they continued to struggle….until…
Fellow shepherds referred me to a vitamin supplement (drench) called “Redglo”! This is a product for horses. You must assume all liability when you use for sheep. I drenched each lamb with 5 cc’s of Redglo per day for 5 days. Within 2 days I noticed a massive improvement. One little lamb had chronic bottle jaw (fluid buildup as a result of anemia). Within 24 hours of her first dose of Redglo the bottle jaw dissipated! Everyone is on the upswing and I am so happy!!
Pasture moves just before dusk! Such a beautiful time.
The final proof of the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture… my book is heading to print!! |
PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR AUGUST 15th!!!!!!! My new book book, The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture is set release at 8am on August 15th! I will be giving away special gifts on launch day, so please watch your email for details as August 15th approaches :).
Tired but grateful as July comes to a close. Sometimes life calls for a double scoop of ice cream in the middle of the day… the sheep made me do it ;). |
Thanks for your support! I appreciate all of you so much.
-the Shepherdess
Check out this featured farm from the Shepherdess Breeder Directory:
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Isaiah 41:10
3 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE BUYING SHEEP | Sheep Farming for Beginners
📚FREE Sheep Farming E-book
🔸CLEMSON UNIVERSITY SHEEP DEWORMER GUIDE
🌾ROTATIONAL GRAZING SHEEP PLAYLIST
BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO RAISING SHEEP on PASTURE SMALL SCALE
IN THIS VIDEO I am going to give you the 3 things you will need to consider as a beginner looking to get start with sheep. I am going to share with you the difficulty we had as a result of being under-prepared for these 3 things when sheep landed at our farm 5 years ago. Spoiler alert: we lost 1/2 of our initial flock.
I am going to call on the sheep owners watching this: Drop in the comments what breed you are running and give one piece of advice based on what you have experienced with sheep so far. I asked this question on my last video about sheep vs. goats and you guys left a GOLD MINE of information for viewers, so I hope you will share your knowledge in the same way on this video!
If you are just jumping into sheep farming I have a free 1 hour class that I highly recommend you take advantage of. It is going to take a deep dive into raising and grazing sheep. I have linked that free resource for you below.
Parasites are #1 on the list of challenges as a beginner sheep farmer.
When you bring a healthy sheep to your farm, you will probably not have a whole lot of trouble with parasites initially. Beginner sheep farmers typically have a 1-3 year grace period before a land base reaches a saturation point. What this means is that your land is initially a clean slate and untainted by sheep manure, and subsequently the parasites that hatch out and multiply through that manure. As your sheep graze across your land base, parasite loads will slowly build. Unless you are proactive with the right strategy up front, you will hit a tipping point and begin experiencing an increase in Parasite problems, even if you are running a “parasite resistant” breed.
Here are 3 ways to be proactive about parasites:
1: Put rotational grazing practices in place at the start. For parasite management it is ideal to move your sheep to fresh pasture every two days, but at minimum try to move to a new paddock once a week. I do this by using electric poly-tape to section off my 30 acres into 40-90 different grazing paddocks (one at a time, of course). Resting a paddock for 45 days will cause a majority of the parasites that are left behind in the manure to die off naturally.
2: Try to avoid penning your sheep up at night, but if you do make sure it is a dry lot and there is no way they can nibble on grass while they wait for you to lead them back to pasture. The parasites from the manure build up in that pen poses a serious threat to your sheep. I keep my sheep on pasture 24/7 as much as possible. This even means at night. I do not use a shed unless it is an emergency, or predator pressure is heavy. When I do house the sheep in a shed, I make sure it a dry lot where they cannot graze.
3 Probably most importantly: if you are going to use dewormer, be aware of correct dosage rates. The rate provided on the package is a maintenance dose and not a treatment dose. Maintenance dose is about 1/2 of what is necessary to kill all of the parasites within an infected sheep. What will happen is that you will use the maintenance dose on the package which kill the weakest worms, and leave your sheep full of blood-sucking super bugs. I am going to link the CORRECT DOSAGE RATE for dewormer down below. This chart is put out by Clemson university and backed up by Rhode Island State University and guides on proper usage for all types of dewormer available in the United States.
How did we get it wrong when our sheep were dropped at our farm 5 years ago and what happened?
We had no rotational grazing system in place.
We housed the sheep in a shed.
And we had no clue about proper dosage rates when it came time to deworm.
What happened: 18 months into sheep farming we hit that saturation point I mentioned previously. We faced the devastating loss if 1/2 of our adult ewes and most of the lambs from our first year. We finally got it under control and brought our death rate from way above industry standard to way below industry standard through good grazing and good deworming practices
I was very recently reminded of how critical that rotational grazing management is for sheep. This year I took a 6 week break from my grazing program in peak parasite season. In the 6 weeks that followed I lost 9 lambs… more than we have lost in one season since launching our rotational grazing program in 2020. While I’m not proud to admit that, I want it to resonate on how important it is to move your flock to fresh pasture as frequently as possible… I have a dozen videos about grazing sheep, and I will link the playlist below so you can binge watch once you are done with this video :).
Containment is #2:
Sheep are difficult to contain. Not as bad as goats, but way worse than cows. 5-strand barbed wire is not effective for containing sheep. At our farm we overlayed our existing 5-strand cattle fencing with 6” woven Wire field fencing as a perimeter fence. We bought this field fencing at our local farm store on 330 foot rolls. And Within this perimeter fence I use polytape to create the small grazing paddocks for my daily rotational grazing program.
If you cannot afford this expensive perimeter fencing upfront, don’t let it to keep you from getting started with sheep, but I would strongly advise the use of portable electric netting over electric poly tape or poly wire.
When I give this advice, I have Greg Judy followers call out the fact that he runs his sheep on a single strand of electric fencing. However what needs to be kept in mind, is the fact that Greg Judy is working on hundreds of acres in a relatively unpopulated pastoral area. In such a setting, a sheep will jump out of the paddock and enjoy 50-100 acres of grass before becoming a nuisance to anyone.
When farming on small acreage with neighbors close by, your sheep will likely jump out of that paddock into either the neighbors yard, or onto the highway. Best case scenario: you are driving your neighbors nuts, worst case scenario you get the sheriff up your driveway because your sheep are on the highway (don’t ask me how I know that, but it’s true).
Keep that in mind and make your own decisions accordingly.
How did we get it wrong 5 years ago?
We thought 5-strand barbed wire was enough. And it was for about 30 days, until the grass was greener on the other side. Which happened to be our neighbor Debbie’s yard. My apologies Debbie.
Our sheep were perpetually in her yard or on the highway causing us major embarrassment within the community.
We also had a lot of predator losses because coyote and wild dog could slip in and out of the barbed wire.
We ultimately upgraded our fencing to the field fencing I showed you. We did it in small sections as our budget allowed. Perimeter fencing was the biggest and best investment we made for our small scale sheep farm. If it is maintained it will last for 50 years or more.
Predators are #3 on the list of things to have a strategy for before you buy sheep.
Predator pressure is going to vary from farm to farm: but it will be an issue. Whether from wild predators, or the neighbors German shepherd.
Livestock guardian dogs are the gold standard for flock defense.
That said: I myself do not. Have a livestock guardian dog. I mentioned the perimeter fence. Once we installed the tight fencing, our losses abated. We have two large pet dogs that roam the perimeter of our property and bark at anything that approaches the fence line. We have only had one predator loss since we installed the fencing, and it was due to a hole in the fencing.
Predators are pretty serious, so have a defense plan in place.
Watch this video next where I walk you through the 15 things you need to start a sheep farm with cost for each:
Raising SHEEP vs GOATS: WHICH IS A BETTER HOMESTEAD ANIMAL?
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One year ago I purchased a small goatherd to add to the farm. The does were French alpine (a milk breed) and the billy was a Boer.
I bought them knowing there would some differences between sheep and goats, but assuming (even if I didn’t admit it) that they would be basically the same as sheep.
One year later I am going to share from my perspective
If you are trying to decide between sheep or goats for your farm or homestead am going to share my opinion on a situation in which goats are a hands-down a better for your farm or homestead and a situation in which sheep are a hands down better choice for your farm or homestead.
4 ways that goats have been a more pleasurable animal for me than sheep than sheep, and 4 ways that goats have been a less pleasurable animal for me than sheep and what role they will play on my farm from here on out.
If you are trying to make the decision for your homestead, this video should be chock full of info. Please note there will be exceptions and caveats based on breed, etc so I would like to ask goat owners to leave a comment below with their breed and how their experience has differed or been similar to mine over the past year.
This video is brought to you by shepherdess.com, where I provide beginner sheep owners with the resources they need to get off the ground, including sheep supplies kits and free ebooks and articles. The unique thing about sheep and goats is that there are so many similarities in the healthcare arena that the supplies and resources I offer for sheep crossover into the goat arena.
I’m also going to be launching a book in August that I want you to be watching for: the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture: a photo-educational guide to raising and grazing sheep on 30 acres or less.
First up, when we think of bringing an animal back to the farm it is really important to define your goals for that animal. This is going to help you to avoid burnout when the challenges associated with that animal present themselves.
When people talk to me about raising animals on a homestead they are raising them for one of twos reasons: self-sufficiency and food production or Land management
If I am speaking to the self-sufficiency, food production homesteader, I would advise sheep.
Here is why:
At my home, I would a tremendous amount of difficulty convincing my family to make goat milk a regular part of their diet. Lamb, however, slips into the menu and replaces beef in most of the recipes we use it in. Lamb is very easy to integrate into already established eating habits. Until we are starving in some apocalyptic situation I will have to find a secondary use for my goats milk: feeding it to pigs or chickens, or making soap.
Another primary difference between goat and lamb is in the eating experience (should you raise meat goats). Lamb has the capacity to marble and create a similar eating experience to beef, whereas excess fat stores in goats does not become marbling in the meat. Instead it centralize around the vital organs and abdominal wall, and not in the meat. This makes goat a very lean eating experience. This isn’t bad, just different and something that would prove a bigger adjustment for my family at least.
If I am speaking to the homesteader who is managing a very brushy or poor quality forage resource: Goats win.
Goats are extremely aggressive browsers. As I watched this goat herd eat, I at one point watched them work together to tip over a small evergreen tree and then proceed to peel the bark off with their teeth and eat it… all while there were acres and acres of pasture grass at their disposal.
Sheep are 50/50 in their grazing-browsing habits. They are a hybrid between a goat and a cow in that they will eat weeds and brush, but if there is open pasture in front of them, they will opt for it first, then eat away at the brush.
If you have extremely brushy land and very little grass, goats are going to make amazing use of that. The interesting thing I have heard about goats is that within about 5 years they will eat themselves out of a habitat because the brush that they go at so hard is really not used to such heavy grazing impact and will eventually die out of a pasture, making room for grass.
Ok here are 4 ways goats have been a more pleasurable experience for me than sheep over the past year:
Prolificacy: The twinning rate on my goat herd was better than my sheep flock. My goats were supplemented with feed and my sheep were grass only. So please note that could have had something to do with it.
Personality: Goat kids have a way better personality that lambs. The two are equal in cuteness… but goat kids will literally hug you… it’s weird. And it is literally one of the most fun experiences to take your coffee out to the goat pen in the morning and watch them use anything as a gymnasium. Lambs re adorable, but goat personality wins. (Sorry sheep)
Commodity value: Consistently here in the DFW area, goats are pulling stronger prices at sale barns and public auction houses.
Browsing ability: I mentioned this before, but if your land base has more weeds than pasture, goats have an advantage.
4 ways that goats have been a less pleasurable experience for me than sheep over the past year:
Containment: This is the biggest challenge. I had really gotten a good system in place with my sheep. I operate on 2-strands of polytope and a 12 Joule AC charger. This keeps my sheep in at a rate of 90% (which is good enough for me). The goats pretend the fence doesn’t exist. They are super agile and can either jump or muster the bravery to slip through. As I’ve watched them get hit with the electric shock of the poly tape, their instinct seems to be to continue bounding forward, rather than to retract, so whether they are hit with a shock or not, they leave the paddock. I’ve discussed the issue with other goat owners and the concession is that electric netting is the best portable fence option for goats, so invest in a set of that and. You are good to go.
Copper: Goats need more copper than sheep. This isn’t a huge deal, but something to be noted. Twice this year I have administered a copper bolus in the back of the throat for each goat and that was all they needed.
Climbing: It may be the breed, but my alpines climb-climb-climb in ways that my stalky Dorpers never could. They climb out of my handling system and I have to chase them around the corral and manually provide their drenches and treatments. In fact last year they collaborated with the sheep. They climbed to the top of the hay pile, and kicked several bales to the bottom, where the sheep feasted heartily on what was supposed to be winter reserves.
Hooves: I was treating more goat hooves than sheep hooves this year. Now it was an abnormally wet year so I am not certain this is a fair estimate, but I’ll include it anyway and let you agree or disagree in the comments section with the point that goats are more sensitive to hoof issues than sheep.
I noted they were about the same as sheep with respect to parasites… However I did not loose any goat kids to parasites this year and I did lose a few lambs, so they did gain the win there. However I was raising a lot more lambs than goats this year, so it’s not really an even match.
So what am I going to do?? Will goats stay on my farm. Yes, they will. I have been told by my little sisters, who adore the goats, that I must keep them. They will not be a for-profit enterprise.
I am going to keep 2 does for personal enjoyment. One of the does I am keeping is a great milker and allows anything to nurse off of her. I believe she will come in handy for orphan lambs.
I hope this video helped you and please give it a thumbs up if it did. I look forward to seeing you in the next one.
Pasture Raised Sheep For Sale
🔹ARE YOU A BREEDER wanting to be a part of the directory? CLICK HERE
I am so excited to be launching the Shepherdess pasture based breeder directory: a place for sheep buyers and sheep breeders to meet.
I receive two kinds of emails every week: emails from individuals looking for pasture raised sheep to purchase, and sheep farms looking to sell or market their pasture raised sheep to an audience that appreciates what they have to offer.
The Shepherdess Breeder Directory is designed to provide the missing link that will connect these two parties.
For the breeder: I will market your farm. And for buyer, I will provide a platform for you to find what you need.
What’s more, is this directory (and subsequently the breeders who choose to participate) will be listed as a primary resource in my upcoming book: The Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture. This book will be distributed nationally, providing even more exposure for pasture based farmers in the Shepherdess Breeder Directory.
If you are a buyer looking for sheep, please bookmark shepherdess.com/breeders
If you are a breeder who is interested in being listed in the Shepherdess Breeder Directory, click on the link below. Annual fees apply, however for July and August, I am waiving the signup fee in hopes that you will join.
-the Shepherdess
“Know ye that the LORD he is God: It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Psalm 100:3
A rough month on the farm.
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It’s been a rough month on the farm. In this video I talk about the anemia that hit the flock and what caused it for me. I also share about a common denominator in all of the losses. You can find the products referenced in this video at Shepherdess.com
I hope this video helps you! Keep on pushin’ forward.
-the Shepherdess
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About this Channel: This channel chronicles my journey as a sheep farmer from the very beginning. My primary occupation is in business management. In 2020, I discovered the principles of regenerative agriculture and embarked on a journey with the end goal of building a profitable small farm on 23 acres by 2027. Thank you for joining the journey!
Running Hoof Care for My Sheep and Goats
This video outlines my annual hoof care process. I cover two ways that you can care for the hooves of sheep or goats: manually or with a handling system. I share some of my favorite hoof care supplies for sheep and goats, as well as what hoof trimming day looks like for me at my farm.
Thanks for watching!
-the Shepherdess
*Minor correction, the grass-fed yearling did have a small grain ration during the winter following 2022’s drought. Very short term.
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In this Video:
Sheep Farming
Sheep Care
Hoof Trimming
Goats
Foot
Hooves