Sheep

Kentucky used to be the number one producer of lamb in the United States. In fact, high-end hotels and restaurants across the United States advertised "Kentucky Spring Lamb" as a premium item on their menus. Unfortunately, during World War II, "lamb" was fed to soldiers and they became so sick of it they wouldn't touch it when they returned from the war. That distaste was passed on to their children. What went wrong? Lamb went from a high-end product to one met with disdain. The "lamb" fed to the soldiers was actually grain-fed mutton. Mutton is not a desirable meat and certainly does not taste as good as spring lamb.

Lamb is a lightweight animal that regenerates the soil in ways no other livestock can. In fragile ecosystems sheep are light-footed and eat weeds and undesirable vegetation that will crowd out the native and desirable vegetation when left alone. Sheep are also multi-purpose and have many benefits to offer.

Our plan is to regenerate the soil and vegetation on this farm using sheep. Furthermore, we plan to use sheep breeds that are tightly matched to the conditions of the farm to minimize the need for chemical weed control, fertilizers, imported soil amendments and mechanical intervention. In so doing, we believe that the grazing opportunity for this farm will significantly improve and sustain a large flock of sheep.

Our main purpose is to implement the stratified 3-tier breeding system commonly used in the UK. 

There are three goals for the sheep flock.
1) Breed  purebred replacement Scottish Blackface ewes.
2) Breed Scotch Mules for the second tier.
3) Breed lean spring lambs of significant weight by crossing Scotch Mules with a heavy terminal sire for the third tier.

To begin producing the first spring lamb for market we must follow these steps:

As you can see, this is a multi-year project before we reach our first dollar of revenue. It's a tough gig that depends on successful timing. Our project is seriously threatened by the inability to build proper fencing on the east half of the farm. The plan is now one year behind schedule. We are hopeful that resolution will come soon and we will not experience anymore delay.

Most small sheep operations fail because of the economics discussed in the Domestic Sheep Market Headwinds page. Right now, our capital available to complete this project in a timely manner is seriously threatened by the ongoing issues with the fencing of the east half of the farm. Again, we are hopeful that God will provide a way for us to succeed. 

Cattle

Cattle are an important part of farming. They graze what sheep won't graze. Complete grazing with high-impact, in small pastures on frequent rotation will yield the best soil health and vegetation vitality. 

High-impact grazing is typical of herd animals in large numbers. Think of bison, elk, longhorns and etc. When they roam in large numbers, they hit smaller areas and stay together for safety while grazing before moving to the next area. Grasses thrive best under these conditions. The same concept is applied to high-impact rotational grazing.

Recent research and field trials have proven these strategies to work instead of the traditional wide-open grazing of lower impact. Root health  is deeper and stronger, better retaining moisture through the dry months and reducing the need for making nutrients bioavailable through supplementation.

The number of cattle per acre, when mixed with sheep, is lower but provides enough impact and top-grazing to enhance the forages needed for primary production systems. Cattle products will not be the prime goal of this farm, but a supplementary and enabling catalyst. 

It doesn't matter what breeds of cattle we bring onto this farm. But, we certainly want to reduce the amount of labor, risk and complication. We are interested in breeds that are highly sociable for agri-tourism purposes. Jersey, Scottish Highland and Red Devons will be our targeted breeds while keeping total cattle counts down as every cow brought onto the farm will displace nine (9) productive ewes.

To complete this plan, we need to finish the fence on the eastern half of this farm in order to provide the proper winter shelter for the cattle and to maintain rotational grazing integrity for reducing/managing the parasite load on the livestock. Without the ability to manage grazing, we will threaten the lambs with parasitic loads that are not tolerable or sustainably managed without significant and costly intervention.