Dividing The Flock

Last week, we separated the ram lambs from the ewe flock. Here is a photo of the three boys. As you can see from the rear view of the lamb on the left, they are intact, which is why we separated them.

Last winter I bought a bander with the intention of castrating our ram lambs so we wouldn't have to do this. However, I decided against castrating after we had the lambs. I'm not sure what we'll do next year. They most certainly grow faster when their bodies are producing testosterone. In the past, we've noticed no off-flavors in the meat. I'm not certain that would be the case if we waited until later in the rut. These guys are going to be butchered the second week of October. So, the advantage of castrating is the rams can be kept longer and don't have to separated. But the healthiest meat is going to come from animals harvested off of green, living grass so waiting until winter isn't the best option.

On this note, I also want to mention that we don't wean our lambs. Our sheep are of a primitive breed that hasn't had all sense bred out over many generations of unsustainable, industrial agriculture practices. Hence, our ewes are perfectly capable of weaning their lambs at the optimum time without any interference from us. The ram lamb on the left in the photo and his twin sister were our last lambs born. That was on May 15th. These two lambs are the last ones still nursing.

Full House

Jennifer shot this photo earlier this week. The pullets are invading the sheep pen. I guess that's what having true free-range poultry (i.e. no fences) means.

Iowa - Organic Farming Mecca?

No offense, but when I think of "farming" in Iowa, I think of Big Agribusiness. And when I think of Big Ag, I think of toxic waste dumps of poisonous chemicals and genetically engineered frankenfood. I may have to change my opinion.

The September issue of The Stockman Grass Farmer has an article about a new local government initiative in Woodbury County to encourage organic farming. Here's a quote:

SIOUX CITY, Iowa: At a time when kids are leaving the rural landscape to pursue dreams of the big city fortune and county revenue dollars from rural areas are declining, Rob Marqusee, Woodbury County Rural Economic Developer, developed a novel idea in an attempt to circumvent the situation.

Despite the odds stacked up against him from citizens, farmers, extension, big business, conventional agriculture proponents, and policy makers, he forged ahead and the county board passed the landmark organic tax break initiative which took effect on June 1st.

In addition to property tax breaks for organic farmers, Woodbury County also passed the Local Food Buying Initiative. It requires that the county buy organic foods grown and processed within 100 miles of the county courthouse.

Read all about it here.

Sounds like they're on the right track in northwest Iowa.

Late Summer Transition

We've left the realm of mid summer and moved into late summer here in mid-Ohio. Late summer is the transition period leading into autumn. Last week, the drought that we had been experiencng for the last few weeks ended and our overnight temperatures are now down in the 50s.

I wrote in my most recent post that we were drying out the hay that we bought the weekend before last. Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been the best for doing so. It was cool and misty, if not raining outright, most of last week. Nevertheless, the hay seems to be drying well.

While all this was going on, I was out of town last week at the Society of Saint Polycarp retreat. I was off praying the hours and enjoying the wonderful conversation and consolation of the brethren while Jennifer dutifully cared for all the animals and kept the air moving around the hay. She broke open a bale to feed the ewes and lambs and it was not moldy or heating up. So far, so good.