The Closing of a Chapter
posted on
March 26, 2024
Blog 3/25/2024 – A Chapter Closes. Farewell Momma Sheep, Beauty and Bonnie.
This week was tough - saying farewell to our Momma Sheep and two great LGDs, Beauty and Bonnie. Since making the decision to divest ourselves of the Sheep enterprise we have been on the hunt for a farmer who could take the enterprise in its entirety.
Josh and Christy Beardon, a young farming family that we have helped over the years with their own sheep, made the decision and bought everything- Momma Sheep, the entire Lamb crop, all the equipment and two exceptional Livestock Guardian Dogs
This was a bittersweet time. As we loaded the last of the sheep, the dogs were in the barn with them and walked on to the trailer as if they knew it was time. They did it with no fanfare and I closed the cut gate on the trailer and told them both – you are good dogs and I love you both.
How do I feel about all that? The lambs - I won’t miss the lambs really. Lambing maybe – babies are cute, and I guess I will miss that, but I won’t miss the life and death part of lambing – tough decisions are made during this time, and it is not for the faint of heart – despite all the cuteness.
The Momma Sheep. I will miss them. I knew them all by heart and their history and proclivities. Saying goodbye to favorites like old #3 was harder than I thought.
The equipment. I spent the better part of 5 years building the enterprise – I thought about that when loading equipment on the trailer – it is sobering how fast something can be undone.
The dogs. That was hard. Beauty has been with me since she was a pup. I remember her first tour of duty with our Goats. It could not have been a worse experience if I had tried. We put her with goats, behind electric netting which she had never seen. It stormed that night and there was little shelter in that field that flooded. When the dog was not getting head butted by our meanest goat, she was being shocked by the fence while being wet. No wonder Beauty is meaner than a snake. Bonnie – what a sweet soul. I will never forget the time when someone drove up and said – hey mister – you got a flock of sheep in the road. I drove toward the black barn – and sure enough, every sheep I owned walking down the road, and leading them was bonnie. What a good dog – you could count on her to be where she was supposed to be. The business. Divesting the farm from this part of the business was a good choice. It will create bandwidth and opportunity.
So what’s next? You know, a big part of me wants to fill up that space with something else. But this year I think we will just focus on great Chicken and Turkey, some Pork and helping Cathy fight her battle. That will keep us plenty busy, I am sure.
Thank you for listening.
Kevin and Cathy
Land Basket Farm
423.202.4924
