4 Marketing Tips for Farm Businesses
KARL EBEL: REGENERATIVE RANCHER
MY FIRST LAMBING SEASON
WHEN FARMING IS HARD
LAMB IS STUCK | HOW I HELPED MY EWE GIVE BIRTH
Preparing for Lambing Season My Lambing Kit
Books on Regenerative Farming and Agriculture
Use this code for 30% off the book list below! (hey all! Update for 2022, you must buy all 5 books to qualify for the 30% off. Thanks for understanding!)
“PUB35“
Salad Bar Beef by Joel Salatin
Management Intensive Grazing by Jim Gerrish
The Art and Science of Grazing by Sarah Flack
Grassfed to Finish “A Production Guide to Gourmet Grass-Finished Beef” by Allan Nation
Quality Pasture “How to Create it, Manage it, and Profit from it.” By Allan Nation
(books from the following sources are already discounted, the coupon will not work at this site.)
Temple Grandin’s Guide to Working with Farm Animals
Grass Productivity by Andre Voisin

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SOIL QUALITY
6 Ways I’m Building My Farm Into a Business
How I Left the CITY and Started a SHEEP FARM
BACKYARD SHEEP | 28 SHEEP IN MY BACKYARD
DIY Homemade Sheep Chute Build (Part 1)
Diversity: a Corner Pillar in Regenerative Farming (Part 1)
Show notes from Mack Farms. (Foreword and Editor: the Shepherdess)
Foreword: The principle of Diversity is a corner pillar in Regenerative Agriculture. As regenerative farmers we should pursue the principles of diversity in every area of farming. So doing will maximize not only efficiency, but also profitability. The following show notes are from Elijah Mack and they outline a few of the ways that we, as regenerative farmers, can weave a safety net of diversity on our farms.
Diversity “Resilience is Diversity in motion”
– Daniel Griffith, Timshel Wildland
Diversity is stability, a safety net in your farming infrastructure. Farming comes with very little guarantees. Diversity is a way to cover your bases and build security into your operation. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth… and diversity was fundamental in His design! Diversity with the blessing to be fruitful & multiply. Creation is still dynamic. (Gen. 1:1, 28)
Here are a few ways we can diversify as Regenerative Farmers:
Diversity of Equipment
Practical application:
Try to ensure the equipment you invest in is diverse in it’s usability (aka: no single-purpose equipment!!!). Focus on building an inventory of tools that you can multitask with. Rate what you decide to invest in on a Scale of Permanence, by asking how hard will this be to change once I build it? Once you build permanent infrastructure or invest in an expensive (single purpose) tool it is hard to re-configure it.
Here are some tips to make sure your equipment on farm can be diversified:
- Delay the construction of buildings, gates, handling facilities until you know what works.
- Make buildings open and multi-functional, livestock, equip, manure, hay
- Ask yourself: Do I need permanent fence, gates, etc? Can I do something creative with portable electric fencing to achieve the same end goal?
Diversity of Skill Sets
As a Regenerative Farmer, consider yourself – the human body/mind – as the ultimate tool. Also consider how your livestock might be able to do the work for you.
- Diversify your skill set: Jack of all trades, master of none.
- Historically, specialization of tasks has been a downfall. A lack of diversity creates economic frailty; on a personal level and on a national level.
- The Livestock is your first employee on your regenerative farm – use them. As you approach a task, ask yourself the question: “Is there a way I can employ the livestock’s natural behavior to perform this task?” (planting seeds, brush clearing, etc)
Diversity of Creatures on Farm
Think of farm animals as collaborators, not competitors.
Farm examples:
- Cattle – grazers – 80% forage, 20% browse
- Sheep – 50/50
- Goats – browsers – 80% browse, 20% forage.
Consider the forage needs of these “typical” farm animals and then ask yourself, “how can I manage these animals so that they maximize the various forage resources on my farm?”
To be continued!…
Deworming my Dorper Sheep (FAMACHA SCORING and Selective Drenching)
Interview with Mack Farms in Pennsylvania
WHAT MY Dorper SHEEP EAT IN THE WINTER
As promised, here is a complete list of what my Dorper sheep eat in the winter. This is what I feed my sheep in the winter when I remove them from pasture and confine them to a winterized barn. I rarely have to confine my sheep. However, winter storm URI blew through and buried our pasture in 9″ of snow. For this reason, I pulled my Dorper sheep off pasture and fed them in a warm, shedded area for about a week.
Here is what I fed my 26 Dorper sheep every day while they were in their winter housing. This is a ration for my BREEDERS, not my eaters. Our beef and lamb for market is grass fed entirely. The pellets and grain I feed my breeder ewes disqualify them from a grass fed to finish program. This is fine because their purpose is to breed, not to be eaten.

WHAT DO MY 25 SHEEP EAT IN A DAY?
(Images below. All items purchased from my local Atwoods store.)
2 square bales of hay.
20-25 lbs of 13% All-Stock pellets.
1 Mineral Block (Free choice. Will last much more than a day)
1 Ranch Pro 18% Protein Block (Free choice. Will last much more than a day)




I hope this helps you!
-the Shepherdess
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
TUTORIAL: DIY Portable Shade Structures for Sheep and Goats
BE SURE TO PROPERLY ANCHOR THESE STRUCTURE.
This DIY portable shade structure allowed me to launch a rotational grazing program for my sheep over summer at a fairly low cost. Because I found the hog paneling on sale, the total cost of one of these shade structures was just $60. It took 4 of these DIY shade structures to comfortably shade my 25 sheep. Every time I moved to a new paddock, I simply flattened the shade structures and pulled them to the new spot.
If the wind was set to be greater than 10MPH, I had to make sure I anchored each structure with tent stakes. Otherwise, these shade structures would literally fly across my pasture like a kite. Be aware of the deficiencies in this design, but also know that this list and tutorial will give you a good starting place for cheap, portable shade structures for a rotational grazing program.

Each portable shade structure requires:
16×4′ Feedlot Panel (you can go wider than 4′, but I wouldn’t go any longer than 16′)
Plastic Zip Ties
2 Lengths of 90″ long CHAIN Link
4 Metal Snap Hooks
Blue Polyester Tarp (might recommend choosing shade cloth instead. The blue tarp is waterproof, but does not have much UV tolerance)
4 Tent Stakes
I hope this helps you!
-the Shepherdess
“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Psalm 24:1
SHEEP FARMING DURING WINTER STORM URI
WHAT DOES A SHEEP FARMER DO?
SHEEP GRAZING the Garden Cover Crops
Day in the Life of a Shepherdess
PROTECTING SHEEP FROM PREDATORS with Guard Dogs
“What is Regenerative Farming?” by Joel Salatin
Winter Chores on a Sheep Farm
FREE INSTRUCTIONS: Electric Fence for Sheep
Calculating Grazing Paddock Size for Rotational Grazing
SOLAR POWERED WATERING SYSTEM for Pumping Pond Water to Pasture
[REPLAY] Small Farmers of America Virtual Meetup #1
Join us next time!