The Worst Advice for Your Farm Business
Happy New Year…
Thanks to a very special flu, I have barely had the energy to post a recent photo, let alone a month-by-month recap of 2021… so I won’t be doing that this year.
But I want to say this: “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” 1Thess. 5:24
Depending on how the year went for you, reminiscing could bring waves of grief or feelings of accomplishment.
2021 contains both for me. God has been so good to me and my work at Harmony Farms. At the same time, 2021 bears with it the pain of losing one’s I loved and the sting of unmet expectations.
But He that calls me is faithful. That is my anchor as I reminisce on 2021 and look forward to 2022.
He also will do it: that insurmountable object before you is nothing for Him.
This amazing fog has covered the farm for the past couple mornings and evenings. It’s so thick, I can’t see anything on the other side of it. But as I begin to walk through the fog the path clears just enough for me to take the next step.
Maybe there’s something in that for us.
Happy New Year and thank you all!
-the Shepherdess
Merry Christmas!
“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Luke 2:8-11
It’s pretty amazing to me that the Lord allowed a group of humble shepherds to be the FIRST recipients of the greatest announcement the world had ever known:
“For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11
I hope you have a Merry Christmas. Thank you all for your support. ❤️
-the Shepherdess
PS: I tried to convince the sheep to wear the ears… but they wouldn’t have it. Art was happy to oblige ;).
HOW SHEEP EARN ME 400% MORE THAN COWS
December Farm Update
Hello Friends,
Last year was my first winter on pasture. I had just started grazing my flock in August and winter was an unwelcome arrival. I didn’t want the growing season to end… I wanted to keep moving forward at full throttle.
This year is an entirely different story. After an intense spring and summer, I am welcoming the slowness of the winter season with open arms. The Lord knew what he was doing with the seasons. A season of rest after a season of growth is such a beautiful thing! I hope you enjoy this farm update, and MERRY CHRISTMAS if I don’t talk to you before then :).
The Good:
We are grazing winter stockpile right now. Despite the fact that my warm season grasses got the upper hand this summer, there is a ton of green undergrowth. If my paddock-planning plays out well, I should be able to graze stockpile through January 10th. Come January 10th, we will be feeding hay until the growing season kicks off in mid March.
The Challenging:
You may have seen the video on youtube, but I had a couple of losses during a weekend of freezing rain that swept through. I lost two ewe lambs over that weekend. While this is disappointing, there was more to it than the freezing rain. These two lambs had moms that did not produce good first-milk (colostrum). I had been doctoring them all Summer in hopes they would pull through. Unfortunately, the moment the weather turned south, they were gone. Despite all this, my losses have been really low in 2021, so I am extremely grateful.
Thanks for reading this farm update! I really appreciate you being a part of what I am doing at Harmony Farms.
-the Shepherdess // “Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves…” Psalm 100:3
YOU’RE INVITED!!!
YOU’RE INVITED TO THE SMALL FARMER VIRTUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY!!!!
DECEMBER 9TH at 7PM CST!!!
••••WE’VE GOT THE FOLLOWING ON THE ITINERARY•••
🎁CO-HOSTING The North Pole’s leading advocate for holistic management: Eli Elf // @Mackfarms .
🎁Regenerative-ag TRIVIA for prizes!!!
🎁Virtual Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest.
🎁1-1 LIVE CHAT with Small farmers worldwide.
🎁 AND MORE!!!
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PLEASE JOIN US!!!
This will be a LIVESTREAM where you can interact LIVE with other small farmers for a whole hour. Share SKILLS, RESOURCES, and encouragement! Ask questions and build relationships with fellow food growers. 🌱
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INVITE A FRIEND AND JOIN US!
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If you are not yet a farmer, YOU ARE 100% WELCOME. It will be a great opportunity to get to know the community and ask questions!
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Attendees are required to keep it family friendly. Inappropriate conversation and/or 4-letter words will be muted.
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Hope to see you there!
-the Shepherdess
Full Time Farmer with Only 20 Acres!!
ARE SHEEP PROFITABLE? Why I Chose Sheep Over Cows for My Farm Business
Are sheep profitable? Are sheep more profitable than cows? Why did you choose sheep over cows? If I start a sheep farm, how long will it take to become profitable?
I receive these kinds of questions regularly. Unfortunately, the answers will be different for everyone and you have to find the answers for yourself, based on your own research. In farming there are so many variables: geographic location, natural resource, human resource, and most importantly, what your local market will support (aka, who is going to buy your farm goods). And even after all of this research, there is a fair amount of risk involved.
In my context, Lord-allowing, sheep present a projected gross revenue that is approximately 400% greater than beef.
I am going to walk you through the evaluation process that lead me to choose sheep instead of cows for my farm business. I am going to share some of the pros and cons of sheep vs. cows. I am going to highlight the profit-killers that sheep farmers wrestle against. Finally, I am going to walk you through a real-time example of how sheep offer a 400% greater revenue potential on my small acreage farm than cows do.
Sheep vs. Cows:
| Sheep: | Cows: |
| ❌Need daily monitoring. | ✅Can be left alone for weeks on end. |
| ❌Easily killed by predators (defenseless). | ✅Can largely defend themselves. |
| ❌Frequently die of parasites. | ✅Rarely die of parasites. |
| ❌Require more expensive fencing. | ✅Require less expensive fencing. |
| ❌Lambing must be monitored closely to avoid significant mortality. | ✅Calving typically requires minimal monitoring (heifers being the exception). |
| ❌Need regular hoof care (unless terrain is rocky). | ✅Do not need regular hoof care. |
| Sheep: | Cows: |
| ✅Wean their body weight equivalent in offspring every year. | ❌Wean 1/2 their body weight equivalent in offspring every year. |
| ✅Begin reproduction as early as 9 mos. | ❌Begin reproduction at 14 months. |
| ✅Raise twins and triplets. | ❌Raise singles (twins generally do not thrive). |
| ✅My Dorper sheep cost $10 per head to overwinter. | ❌My beef steer cost $150-250 per head to overwinter (cost hinges on availability of stockpile forage). |
| ✅Easy to grass-finish on low-moderate pasture quality. | ❌Require high quality pasture for a high quality grass finish. |
| ✅ $3/lb 2021 USDA Market Average. | ❌$1.8/lb 2021 USDA Market Average. |
| ✅Market prices not as easily manipulated. | ❌Market prices easily manipulated by systemic and political factors. |
| ✅Thrive in drought (*at least my Dorpers do). | ❌Must be destocked in drought. |
In short, sheep require significantly more time and human resource than cows. You have to be a shepherd in order to be successful with sheep. If you are willing and able to undertake the role of shepherd, sheep reproduce twice as fast as cows and bring almost twice as much at U.S. cattle auctions than cows. Sheep thrive on pastures that would starve a cow and are a drought-resistant cattle option.
How do I determine profitability? I make sure all costs are counted and revenues exceed costs. But here is where I have to be honest: I am not counting the cost of my time at this point. I am giving my sheep business my time for free… and I have farm hands who donate 4-8 hours per week to help me with heavy lifting. If I were to put a price tag the amount of time I am giving this farm, I would probably not be profitable for 72 years. Just being honest here. But I’m in good company… this seems to be the story of every good rancher’s life.
Two major profit-killers for sheep farmers are PREDATORS and DISEASE.
Predators can wipe out an entire small flock in one night. Disease (internal parasites, vitamin deficiencies, hoof infections, etc.) is part of a fallen world and will always be present on some scale or another. Regenerative Agriculture will never completely eradicate death and disease. The health and protection of my sheep are actually things that I include in my regular prayers. They are profit-killers that only the Lord can protect me from.
Why did I choose sheep over cows for my farm business?
The Lord opened doors to several different market streams:
About one week before I bought the flock I had a local grass-fed meat market contact me. They had seen my work with the flock on Instagram and called to discuss a recurring order for 40 lambs per year. This was the ultimate push for me: a serious meat buyer.
I had also begun to research the Dorper breed and found it was (and is) growing in popularity. I realized that this flock of 25 purebred Dorper sheep was a diamond in the rough. It held far more potential than lamb chops; live animals were (and are) in high demand. Thus, a second market emerged: breeding stock.
To top it all off, I had begun making videos about my farm work. I initially began this as a video journal for myself, but people started watching and enjoying my videos as well. This presented a third marketing and income opportunity: sheep-based education and entertainment.
In my area, there is significant competition for grass-fed beef:
Selling grass-fed beef was my initial plan for profit. I did some market research (google and farmer’s markets) and found there were already some well-established grass-fed beef producers in my area. I also live in a rural area where everyone grows their own beef. I knew it would not be impossible to carve out my own space in the market, but I realized it would take a lot more time to do so. What’s more is that pasture raised lamb was retailing at about 30% above grass fed beef. After this market research, sheep appeared a faster track to profitability.
Sheep presented higher revenue potential for my small acreage:
The best way for me to explain this is to build out my real-time example with the 23 acres of pasture I have. I estimate that with my intensive rotational grazing my 23 acres can support 10 animal units, or 10,000 lb worth of animal (**please know that I am approaching this number incrementally to monitor how my land responds to the animal load). I am going to build this out based on current USDA market prices for conditioned beef steer of 550lb and feeder lambs of 65lb.
| Sheep: | Cows: |
| 10,000lb = 80 Dorper Ewes | 10,000 lb = 9 Cows |
| 80 ewes = 10,400 lbs worth of saleable offspring in every year. | 9 cows = 4,950 lb worth of saleable offspring in every year. |
| Current USDA Market price is $3/lb | Current USDA Market Price is $1.80/lb |
| 10,400 x $3 = $31,200 | 4,950 x $1.80 = $8,910 |
| ✅Estimated Gross Revenue Potential: $31,200 | ⭕Estimated Gross Revenue Potential: $8,910 |
My gross revenue potential is higher than what is listed above for a few reasons: I am running purebred and registered full-blood breeding stock, I am marketing my flock through value-adding consumer education (videos), I am running grass-based breed selection (cutting input costs and improving the value of my breeding stock), and I am selling any meat products direct to consumer.
USDA Market Price Evaluation:
I advocate for private sales, but pricing for private sales are often dictated by USDA market (auction) values. As I reviewed USDA market prices for beef and sheep, I realized that sheep were bringing almost double the price of beef cattle.
My lifestyle allows me to be a shepherdess:
I work from home, and have been doing so for 10+ years. I love being right here, at home on my farm. I have the ability to give my sheep the time they need. While I never would have imagined myself to be in this position, I love the farm work and farm life. I now understand why the aged farmers say “you have to love this life”. Some of the challenges you encounter will make you feel like you are cracking in half. No amount of money can make the stress worth it… but if you love something, you are willing to give it more than you’ll ever get back. And that is exactly the place I have come to as a farmer and shepherdess.
Sheep Offer Me a 200% Faster Return on Investment:
I will walk you through both a beef-to-market timeline and a sheep-to-market timeline. In order to generate sizeable revenue with a small beef herd, I believe that direct to consumer meat sales is the only way to go. That is what this evalutaion will reflect.
Journey to cash-flow with beef
(with a herd and not a stocker-steer operation)
- 9 months gestation.
- 22-24 months to harvest on a steer.
ROI (return on investment) for Beef = 33 months.
Journey to cash-flow with sheep
- 5 months gestation.
- 4 months to weaning and sale of breeding stock or 6 months to harvest of lamb.
ROI (return on investment) for Sheep = 9-11 months.
Two key elements that make sheep a better fit for my context are: I have time to be a shepherdess, and I am working on small acreage.
The bottom line of my journey is that I am farming sheep because the Lord has lead me to farm sheep. The Bible says that whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. That why I am giving this effort all I’ve got... it’s not about money (TBH: I could make more money waiting tables right now). While I am doing my best to be wise and make decisions that may lend to profitability, I realize that the Lord is in control of profitability.
Farming is a humbling thing because it makes you realize how little you know. Despite these plans and evaluations, at the end of the day I am praying the Lord blesses my efforts. And that is my primary hope for profitability.
So that’s it! This is an explanation of why I chose sheep over cows for my small farm business. I hope I presented my evaluation in such a way that will help you to make the right decision for your farm.
-the Shepherdess
the story of Artaban
My Documentary for the National Grazing Lands Conference
National Grazing Lands Coalition invited me to speak at their National Conference this year. While I am unable to attend the national conference in-person, National Grazing Lands allowed me to submit this video documentary on my small scale cattle ranching (to be aired at the conference)! This is a pretty complete summary of the past 18 months of my life as a beginner farmer. It outlines my micro ranching for profit startup, my transition from beef to Dorper sheep as the main focus in my farm business, and the ways I am marketing my farm products (Dorper sheep).
Video Timestamps:
2:54 Micro Ranching for Profit
14:20 Why did I switch from beef to Dorper sheep?
16:24 American Agriculture in Crisis.
20:04 How I am selling my farm products.
27:39 This is harder than I though it would be.
Thank you so much to all who have been with me on this journey from the very beginning. I am so grateful for your support of my Dorper sheep farm.
-the Shepherdess
WHY I FARM
Sheep Farming for Beginners
In Loving Memory
“Take care of your lambs, girl.”
“Take care of your lambs, girl.”
Those were his last words to me.
My grandad passed away yesterday.
For the past few years he lived close to the farm.
He drafted plans for chicken coops, helped install sheep fencing, and would always tell me how good my flock looked. He loved lambing season and would daily ask “how many new ones today?”.
I am grateful for the time we had with him… but more than anything I’m grateful for the Gospel we were able to share with him. I want to share the following verses straight from the Bible and I hope you’ll take time to read them.
“For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:3-7
Life is short no matter how long you live. If you know Christ, share Him with others; if you don’t now is the time to seek Him.
I’m going to be taking a week off of YouTube and social media. Small Farmer Virtual Meetup will also be postponed until December.
I’ll be spending the extra time with my family and taking care of my lambs :).
The Shepherdess at Harmony Farms
Major ANNOUNCEMENT!!
Announcing FARM ON THE WEB: the FIRST EVER VIDEO-STREAMING PLATFORM FOR FARM BUSINESS EDUCATION!!!!
Since I launched the Shepherdess YouTube and Podcast my marketing and business building content has been some of my most popular.
I get emails asking about tools, processes, and “where to start” when it comes to internet marketing.
For the past several months I have been working behind the scenes on Farm on the Web: a video-streaming platform specifically for Small Farm Business Education… the first of it’s kind (as far as I know, anyway!)!!
FarmontheWeb.com contains in-depth videos on:
➡️How to Launch a Newsletter
➡️How to Build a Website
➡️How to Sell Products on Your Website
➡️How to make Your Own Videos
➡️How to Advertise on Social Media
➡️…AND MORE!!!
I am thrilled about this platform, but ultimately YOU have to want this opportunity… I am looking for 20 registrants to support the launch…. 20 people to say “YES, this is something the farming community wants!”
Go check it out at FarmontheWeb.com… the FIRST 2 VIDEOS ARE FREE. Take advantage of the free content, then register if you like what you see!
-the Shepherdess
“So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.”
1 Corinthians 3:7
“I want to raise cattle for a profit.”
“I want to raise cattle, and I want to make a profit at it.”
That’s what I told my family 18 months ago. It caused some confusion because I came from a desk job in the retail marketing industry (which is still my full time job).
Looking back, I think the fact that I had no experience in agriculture was more of a help than a hindrance. I believe what the Bible says in Phil. 2:13: “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” The Lord gave me a desire, and He is also giving me creative opportunities to grow my farm business.
Here is a video I made sharing some of the ways I have diversified marketing for farm income this year:
-the Shepherdess
“So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” 1 Corinthians 3:7
FULL RECAP: 4 SEASONS OF ROTATIONAL GRAZING SHEEP
On August 15th 2021 I put what is now my flock of Dorper Sheep into an intensive rotational grazing program. I kept my sheep out of confinement and moved them relentlessly across 23 acres of pasture for 4 full seasons. What I did not expect, however, was that my first year of rotational grazing sheep would contain historically extreme weather conditions. In this post I am going to share with you how I (by the grace of God) managed my natural resources as well as a few minor inputs to keep my sheep on pasture for 358 of 365 days in my first year.
But why this obsession with avoiding confinement? For 2 years my family had owned this flock of Dorper sheep and their health had been an ongoing struggle. Internal parasites had taken over and we weren’t sure the flock would make it. When I began managing the flock I knew that in order to get the sheep’s parasite load under control 2 things had be avoided at all costs: confinement of any sort and allowing the sheep to graze any paddock longer than 7 days.
Until I began the intensive rotational grazing program with the sheep, my family would move the flock to a gated paddock to sleep at night. This was to keep predators at bay. Unfortunately the predators within this sleeping area were more harmful than the ones outside of it. This gated area contained a significant amount of grass that could be grazed. This, combine with the pile up of manure from bedding down every night meant the flock had a huge amount of daily exposure to parasites. So we took the risk and stopped using the gated coral at night, leaving the sheep in their pasture paddocks. (**Sidenote, we have not lost any to predators this year. This is likely the result of a lot of prayer, a tight woven wire perimeter fence, and 3 mid-large size pet dogs that bark all night).
So with a bit of the “why pasture only” answered, I am going to jump straight into how I managed my Rotational Grazing System to keep my sheep on pasture for all 4 seasons.
Here are three resources that proved invaluable in my first pasture rotation:
Strategic use of paddocks with tree coverage.
Lean-to shed
Autumn:
Challenges: None to note.
As a rule, I make sure my sheep have shade from the sun when temperatures exceed 79 and shelter from the rain when they dip below 65.
I began my Rotational Grazing Program on the cusp of Autumn which was the perfect season to start with. Temperatures were cool enough to where I could paddock the flock without shade, yet warm enough to where I did not need to worry about too much cover for rainfall.
Winter:
Challenges: Rain, ice, off-season lambs, and historic snowstorm.
Resource management:
- Use of lean-to for bred ewes and off season lambs during 7 day snowstorm.
- Avoidance of low-lying swampy areas (cold and wet are killers when it comes to off season lambs).
Inputs:
- Feed for overwintering (which I actually went way overboard on!)
- Bedding for one week of shelter.
In east Texas our winter is not extreme, or at least it was not until the week of February 15th. Thanks to winter storm URI we received close to 11″ of snow and ice, which was more than this area of the country had seen in 30 years. We toughed it out during the ice, but I ultimately pulled the flock off pasture for 7 days during the snowstorms and housed them in a lean-to style shed that we have on property. I was asked what I would have done if I did not have the shelter for my sheep. I would have left them on pasture and moved them to the most dense tree covered area I had. The ewes were heavy bred, and some may have miscarried if I did not have the shelter. It was not as much the weather that would have caused the stress, but the sudden shift from 65 degrees to sub zero and 11″ snow fall.
Spring:
Challenges: Lambing during abnormally high rainfall, leaving lambs on pasture during extreme thunderstorms, managing parasite loads, and hoof care (the pasture was a puddle from February-July which is not good for sheep hooves).
Resource management:
- Using the forecast to decide where to paddock my sheep.
- Planned moves to paddocks with dense tree coverage for the days when intense thunderstorms were scheduled.
- Using paddocks on high ground when rainfall exceeded 5″ in one week.
Inputs:
- Loose minerals.
- Hoof care.
- Dewormer.
This spring took a lot of forward thinking to keep the flock on pasture 100%. Using the forecast I moved the flock to high ground and/or tree coverage when significant thunderstorms were on the radar. When the forecast showed cloudy but no rain, I would graze the paddocks that had no shade whatsoever (this was a bonus because during the summer I would have to skip or haul shade to those paddocks). During significant downpours the temporary shade structures were put way and I made sure every paddock had significant tree coverage. My pastures are really open, so at some points I actually ran out of tree coverage. At those points in time I would open up the back fence onto a previous paddock to allow them shelter in an area from a previous day.
Summer: Extreme uptick in heat (108 heat index for 10 days straight), providing enough shade, watering, managing over mature forage, treating a selenium and electrolyte deficiency in the flock, and providing a small protein supplement on pasture to compensate for over-mature forage and low-rainfall.
Resource management:
- Enlarging my paddock sizing to provide more natural shade and allowing the flock more selectivity in grazing and allowing me closer access to watering points.
Inputs:
- Loose mineral + Selenium Specific Mineral.
- DIY portable shade structures.
- Vitamin/protein/electrolyte recharge.
- Small protein supplement to compensate .
Every season is going to hold both challenges and reprieves. The is to not wish away one season for another, but work day to day to produce solutions.
-the Shepherdess
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Phil. 4:13
Regenerative Farmers Worldwide
Here at Harmony Farms I rotational graze my sheep, perform small scale pasture plantings, and (thanks to my sister the Chicken Lady) run a live pasture fertilization program. These are the ways that I am practicing regenerative agriculture on a small scale. All of the aforementioned efforts are aimed at improving soil quality across my 23 acres.
Today, however, I am highlighting Regenerative Farmers Worldwide. These farmers are small-scale growers, doing what they can with what they have. These farmers are working with land, animals, and crops to improve soil quality.
Why all the emphasis on improving soil quality? The improvement health is the backbone of regenerative agriculture. The practices we implement on our farms all tie to one question: “will this improve or destroy the soil?” The following stat from globalagriculture.org shows both the value of healthy soil and the danger that it is in:
“Our most significant non-renewable geo-resource is productive land and fertile soil. Each year, an estimated 24 billion tons of fertile soil are lost due to erosion.“
globalagriculture.org
Below is “the Shepherdess Top 5” Regenerative Farmers of the month! I put no emphasis on the size of a regenerative farming operation. In this community it is the faithful stewardship of resources, not output volume, that makes a successful farmer.
Friendly Flock, cevennes, Valleraugue, France:
We have a small farm with 120 sheep 7 goats and 1 cow, all grazed as one herd! We herd the sheep in the hills where you can hardly do any fence. We use Holistic planned herding and principals to guide the sheep. We herd them everyday to fresh grass and give long recovery periods for the grass (1year plus). This extended rest period is given because growing conditions are harsh and the soil is very degraded. We started this year and we want to sell lamb of exceptional quality. Our goal is to give ecosystems the space to completely express themselves and to restore water,mineral and energy cycles. We also change where the sheep sleep (every 3 days) to create high impact and a lot of dung. The places we change every year to increase fertility of the land. We have a website: friendlyflock.fr Our goal is to sell all our products online and via shipping directly to clients.
Currently growing: sheep, goats, cows.
How are you improving soil health on your farm?: Rotational grazing.
Learn more about the farm: friendlyflock.fr
Lady’s Farm, Eastern Kentucky, USA:
Currently growing: Two major gardens (at rest for the remains of the season), chickens, and pigs.
How are you improving soil health on your farm?: We are using chicken and pig manure, cover crops and future plans of a no till garden.
Learn more about the farm: Lady’s Farm on Instagram
Holland Harvest, Honey Grove, TX, USA:
Currently growing: small garden, turkeys, egg layings chickens.
How are you improving soil health on your farm?: Animal grazing rotation.
Learn more about the farm: Holland’s Youtube Channel
de Beer Family Farms, Brooks, GA, USA:
My name is Taylor de Beer and my husband Hendri and I own de Beer Family Farms! We have a small farm in Brooks, GA. Currently we have a flock of Fullblood Dorpers, Katahdins, Cornish cross meat birds, and a large variety of free range chickens. When we moved to our property 4 years ago, there had not been any livestock on the property for quite some time. There was very little variety vegetation wise. Now, we have been rotating our sheep everyday, with the meat birds following after them in chicken tractors. We also hand seed different seed mixes of what is in season before the sheep graze so they trample them into the ground. It’s been amazing to see the change in our soil and the variety of grasses, legumes, etc that have grown since we started with sheep a short 16 months ago. The dung beetles have been amazing this year, a section the sheep have been on 2-3 days beforehand will be almost completely void of any dung. We have just started with the meat chickens, so we are looking forward to seeing the impact they have on the soil, by following the sheep.
Currently growing: Dorper and Katahdin Sheep, Cornish cross meat birds, and a large variety of free range chickens.
How are you improving soil health on your farm?: Rotational grazing sheep, raising broiler chickens, Hand seeding pasture grasses.
Learn more about the farm: de Beer Family Farm on Instagram
Groce Family Farms, Southern Indiana, USA:
Groce Family Farm offers forest raised pork, open-pasture chicken duck and turkey, and 100% grass fed beef through our meat CSA and at farmers markets in the Louisville and Southern Indiana areas. We also work with restaurants and grocers as well. Along the way we added four wonderful children, learned a lot, and have grown in our understanding of how to raise abundant healthy food and interact with land in a way that brings about diversity, health, and flourishing to the whole system, from earthworms to eaters.
Learn more about the farm: https://grocefamilyfarm.com/
Currently growing: beef, pork, chicken, duck, and turkey.
How are you improving soil health on your farm?: Rotational grazing multiple species. Chemical-free land management.
Learn more about the farm: https://grocefamilyfarm.com/
If you would like to have your operation considered for my next Regenerative Farmers post, please email me with the following info:
Your Farm Name:
Where you are located:
What you are Farming:
One way you are working to improve soil quality on your farm:
Your farm’s website or social handle:
2-3 images from your farm:
Thanks for reading!
-the Shepherdess
“Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. ” Psalm 100:3
Answering Your Sheep Farming Questions
How I Record My Rotational Grazing System
September Farm Update
Hello friends!
What an exciting thing to be nearing the end of summer! Autumn ushers in a slower pace as we round off a busy spring and summer here at Harmony Farms. I’d really love to see you at my Small Farmer LIVESTREAM this month. It is a free event and I hope you will join me and farmers across the world as we talk about what’s happening on our farms!
The Good:
I was so thrilled with the results of the first Shepherdess Livestock Sale. It was such a pleasure to meet with buyers and send these lambs to their new homes. I am so grateful to each buyer who invested in my operation by purchasing my stock. Many are asking when my next Dorper lambs will be available for sale. March/April 2022 is the tentative date for pre-orders on my next lamb crop.
I slowed the rotation from once a day moves to once a week moves. The intense heat brings significant relief from one of my primary enemies in pasture: the barber pole worm. Hot and dry weather decreases the parasite load on pasture and allows me to slow my rotation without compromising animal health.
The Challenging:
Heat kicked in hard this August (heat index of 104+ for several weeks). I had to be extra vigilant to stay on top of hydration and electrolytes for the flock. A really helpful tool for that was Apple Cider Vinegar. I added about 1/2 cup per 40 gallons of water during a severe heat wave. The addition of ACV really increased the flock’s water consumption, which helped relieve much of the stress that the heat induced.
Thanks for reading this farm update! I really appreciate you being a part of what I am doing at Harmony Farms.
-the Shepherdess
“But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
How Land Heals
DIY Covered Mineral Feeder for Sheep
INCOME vs. EXPENSES on my Sheep Farm Startup
DISCLAIMER: This Small Farm Business article and video should not be used to replace legal or professional counsel. Use your brain, know your pocketbook, and make sure that at least one of the two has something in it at all times ;).
With the close of my first livestock sale, I have one full year of expenses and income under my belt. I am now ready to analyze profitability of my sheep farm. I have data from all 4 seasons, I have infrastructure costs, and now I have income from my first livestock sale. With the aforementioned, I have everything necessary to evaluate the profitability of my sheep farm.
The size of an operation has little or no connection to it’s overall profitability. In business the term “scaling” is used a lot. Scale is just another word for size. If you can be profitable on a small-scale, you can be profitable on a large-scale. If you cannot generate a profit on a small scale, you will not do so on a large scale.
The profit analysis I am getting ready to outlay is from my small-scale sheep farming operation. This season I had only 16 productive ewes. My ultimate goal is to have 80 productive ewes on my sheep farm.
It is critical that I evaluate the profitability of my farm at this 1/5 scale. If I can hone in on profit margins and streamline my costs I will have a solid foundation for moving forward.
I have a trademarked slogan for my farm business: Think big, start small, don’t quit. It really breaks down into a business formula: Set your large-scale goals, test it out it on the smallest scale possible, then put in the work necessary to grow that small success.
My 4-Step Process for Determining Profitability:
Here is how I analyzed my farm’s profitability in 4 steps:
Step 1: I took all of my expenses to date and split them into 7 major categories.
| Category: | Description: | % of total: |
| Farm Infrastructure | Compensation for sheep-specific the perimeter fencing (woven wire), Electric Fencing system, Sheep Chute, Sheep Trailer, Portable Troughs, etc | 50.40% |
| Cost of Livestock | Initial purchase of 25 ewes, sourcing and travel for a registered ram, a small set of registered ewes, and Dorper Sheep Breeder Society Membership and Registration. | 40.40% |
| Animal Health | Lambing Kit, Hoof trimmings supplies, dewormers, a setup for taking fecal egg counts at home, mineral boosters. | 4.70% |
| Overwintering: | Hay, Protein Supplement, Minerals | 1.80% |
| Feed Supplement: | Year Round Minerals | 1.10% |
| Books/education: | Grazing Management Books | 0.80% |
| Marketing: | Website Hosting for ShepherdessDorpers.com | 0.70% |
Step 2: I adjusted my cost sheet to reflect depreciating assets only, removing the cost of appreciating assets (livestock).
Depreciable assets are things that will decay over time. Whether it is in 1 year or 25 years, all of the things in my Farm Infrastructure category will have to be replaced at some point.
Appreciating assets are those that increase in value as you own them. My ewes are appreciating assets because they produce lambs every year. Unless I have a devastating predator attack or disease hit the flock (both of which are actual risks I pray against regularly [you can pray with me if you want… haha! But I’m serious.]), my flock should only grow.
If a ewe dies (or is culled) and the flock does not generate a replacement for her during lambing, I will list the initial cost of that ewe under expenses for that year.
Step 3: I divided the cost of the Farm Infrastructure (depreciable assets) by 7, assuming that all of the farm infrastructure will decay within 7 years. This amount, plus the cost from all of my other categories amounts to the total expenses for 2021.
Step 4: Acknowledge the value of “reinvested capital gains” (for me: ewe lambs that increase flock size) and add this to the cash-revenues. I had a net increase of 7 ewes this season (I had 9 ewe lambs total, however 2 of my mature ewes died). I am working to grow my flock to 80-ewes. Instead of collecting cash on these lambs, I reinvested my “gains” back into the flock.
With the inclusion of my “reinvested capital gains” revenue from my sheep farm exceeded cost by 36% in 2021!
While this year technically involved shelling out 10x more cash than I received from my operation, there is significant profitability in my pasture based sheep farming model… if I can stick it out to the end of 7 years! 90.8% of the money I have spent will not have to be spent again and the remaining 9.2% are recurring costs that can be trimmed with experience.
This does not include the cost of my labor. This is an average of 12 hours per week and is a further investment in the farm.
Thanks for reading my 2021 Sheep Farm Business Profit Analysis. I look forward to seeing you in 2022!
-the Shepherdess
“I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17
SELLING MY FIRST DORPER LAMBS
LIVESTREAM TONIGHT!
Hello Friends!
Tonight I am hosting a 1 HOUR LIVESTREAM with my friends Sam and Ashley. They are a California couple (and first time farmers) who fended off a USDA shut-down this summer. Their backyard broiler operation came under attack… BUT THEY DID NOT GIVE UP! They are coming to share the full story and how they are moving forward with their small farm!
-the Shepherdess
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Isaiah 46:1
3 CHALLENGES TO PASTURE BASED FARMING
How Rotational Grazing Saved me $200K
BEGINNER LEVEL: Electric Fencing System for Rotational Grazing Sheep
ValleyFarmSupply.com has a great selection of Gallagher solar chargers and electric tape!
Shopping List of the supplies needed to rotational graze sheep:
For Perimeter Fencing (you can bypass the perimeter fence if you buy the portable IntelliShock charger I mention below) :
- 12 gauge Aluminum High Tensile Wire (Gallagher)
- T-Post Insulator (Dare Products)
For Paddocks:
- 1/2″Gallagher Polytape.
- Simple plastic cord reel.
- Plastic Step-in posts.
- 2 Joule Solar Charger.
- Power Links (to carry the charge from one line to another).
I found most of these items at my local farm store, and you should be able to do the same! The only exception is the Solar Charger and the Power Links. In my first video I referenced a .25 joule Gallagher charger, but have since stopped using it. It did not have a big enough shock to keep my sheep contained long term.
I have had several people ask me about my Electric fencing system for rotational grazing sheep. What kind of charger do you use to power your electric fencing for sheep? What is the best portable electric fence for rotational grazing sheep? Should I use electric poly netting, poly-tape, or poly-braid for my sheep?
This post is dedicated to showing you both the electric fencing and portable charger system that I use to facilitate my rotational grazing program for for flock of Dorper Sheep. I move my sheep to fresh pasture quite frequently. My paddocks last 1 day or 1 week depending on the season. An easy to use fencing and charger system is key to this rotational grazing system.
3 primary considerations factor into the materials I chose for my sheep rotational grazing system: cost, ease of use, and containment rate. It is my goal to run this rotational grazing system for my sheep at as low a cost as possible. My fencing, charger, and grounding system for rotational grazing on 30 acres cost about $1500. This $1500 system could easily facilitate a grazing rotation for 80-100 sheep.
Because I am creating 150-200 temporary paddocks for my sheep every year ease of use is a big part of what fencing and charger system I chose. It is my goal to perform all of the tasks associated with rotational grazing my sheep within 45 minutes-1hour.
Finally, because sheep are notorious escape artists, containment rate is a huge consideration for my rotational grazing system. To avoid wasted time (which is really an economic liability in any farming operation) I try to keep my containment rate at 90% or better for my flock. I give some allowance due to the nature of sheep, but I try to amend any gaps in my system that might make way for more escapes than necessary.
I do not cull escape artists. While some farmers may disagree, my philosophy is that if a sheep is highly productive and genetically fit, it is not a wise decision to cull it for escaping the paddock. Sheep are sheep, and escaping is part of their nature. I believe our fencing systems can do up to 90% of the job for us, but the end of the day we are shepherds.
Here are the rotational grazing supplies that work best for me on my sheep farm.
Perimeter Fencing:
When we bought this farm the 30 acres was already cross-fenced into 3 different pastures. Once we bought our sheep we added a welded wire to the existing 5 strand barbed wire fence. This perimeter fencing is a great asset and really simplifies my rotational grazing for sheep. If I did not have this perimeter fencing I would likely use a lot more poly netting to keep my sheep contained.
On each of the cross fenced pastures I have put one hot line of Gallagher 12 gauge Aluminum High Tensile Wire. I plug my charger straight into this main wire, then link the charge to my polytape paddocks using Power Links from Premier 1 Supplies.
Portable Electric Fencing for Creating Grazing Paddocks:
My portable electric fencing of choice is 5/8″ poly tape. The electric poly tape I use for my paddocks is about 5/8″ wide and provides 5x more visibility than poly braid. What’s more is that poly tape is much easier to use than poly netting. I will use 2 strands of this poly tape to create my paddocks. One row is strung about 6″ off the ground (too low to sneak under) and the second row is 24-28″ off the ground (too high to easily jump over).
All that said, I do occasionally use the electric poly netting to create paddocks for my sheep rotational grazing system. I will use this netting during lambing season when the lambs are small enough to sneak under the tape. The poly netting also serves as an extra layer of predator protection when the tiny lambs are on pasture. A final reason I use electric netting is to keep our field dogs with the flock when paddocking them in remote pastures (our guardian dogs are not bonded to the flock and will stray from them if not contained).
Electric Fence Charger:
I currently use a 2 Joule Charger with leads for a 12V Battery. This charger powers my 30 acre system quite well. It provides a consistent 8KV+ charge on my fencing. I initially started my rotational grazing system with a .22 joule solar charger, but this charger is really not powerful enough to contain sheep for the long term.
I power my fencing with a 12V Marine Deep Cycle battery. This allows me to carry my power with me not matter how remote the pasture. This will also allow me to quickly and easily setup my rotational grazing system on lease land, should my farm ever grow to that point. I have two 12V batteries. This allows me to switch out when my battery needs to be recharged. I recharge my batteries with an autom
Grounding System:
I created a grounding system using 6 ft copper ground rods. I have around 15 ground rods on my 30 acres. To provide optimal shock, I make sure to sink three of these ground rods 10ft apart.
Accessories:
There are a few simple accessories in my rotational grazing system that I have yet to mention. I use insulated handles to latch the electric fencing onto my perimeter fencing. I use simple plastic reels to hold my poly tape (a geared reel may work better, but geared reels cost $70-100 each vs. $10 for a plastic reel). I also use the inexpensive white step in posts from my local hardware store ($1.50 each). I have tried the expensive ($5 each) O’Brien posts and did not like them as well as the $1.50 posts.
I think that is about it! I hope this detailed post on my electric fencing system for sheep has helped you! 95% of what I use can be sourced at your local hardware store. While you want to fix your system for a containment rate of 90% or more, don’t be discouraged if a sheep occasionally makes an escape. It is called shepherding for a reason!
-the Shepherdess
“All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6
