Tag: lamb

Hiring Lambs as Landscapers

  • Louise Engel admits she and her husband were initially a little nervous about setting the lambs lose in their valuable vineyard. (Photo by Joyce Kryszak)

Wine makers are shaking things up in their vineyards. Some of them use natural and organic methods to control pests and weeds instead of using pesticides. Now, one winery has discovered a unique, natural way to prune their grape vines. Joyce Kryszak visited the winery to get a first hand look:

Transcript

Wine makers are shaking things up in their vineyards. Some of them use natural and organic methods to control pests and weeds instead of using pesticides. Now, one winery has discovered a unique, natural way to prune their grape vines. Joyce Kryszak visited the winery to get a first hand look:

At the Featherstone Winery in Southern Ontario there are 20 acres of perfectly manicured grape vines. They stretch out in neatly groomed rows across rolling green hills.

But no man or machine maintains this vineyard. There are 40 cute, little, wooly lambs on duty pruning the grape vines into tip-top shape.

David Johnson says he knows the idea of using lambs on his vineyard is a bit odd. Johnson thought so too when he first heard the idea. He found out about it visiting wineries in New Zealand.

“I didn’t believe them at the time. I thought they were having fun with a tourist and that this would be a big joke, some Canadian when he went back home, telling a story. So, yeah, I’ve taken a ribbing on the lamb thing, for sure.”

But Johnson ignored the jokes and decided to try it out.

His wife Louise Engel admits they were a little nervous at first setting the lambs lose in their valuable vineyard.

“We watched these lambs like hawks. I mean, all the staff were sitting out there and following them around – ‘did they eat any grapes, did they eat any grapes?’ But they didn’t. They’ve got very nimble little mouths and little teeths and little lips and they just eat around them.”

You see, pruning grape vines is delicate business. Only a targeted area of leaves is removed from the lower part of the vines to help the fruit grow better.

But Engel and Johnson say the lambs are perfectly designed to handle the job. The young, spring lambs aren’t tall enough and their necks can’t stretch up to reach the grapes. And, since they only weigh about 50 pounds, they don’t trample the soil. And, yes, their droppings do make excellent organic fertilizer.

(sound of lambs bleating)

Three years, and three flocks of sheep later, nobody’s laughing. Area vintners even have copied them; and for good reason. It would cost about $300 an acre to hire seasonal workers to come in for seven weeks in the summer to hand prune the vines. The lambs cost a fraction of that. And, when the pruning is done in August, off they go to the butcher.

Johnson says it turns out that free-range lambs fed a diet of grape leaves end up being pretty tasty.

“We sold them off last year to some caterers and some pretty nice restaurants, and they got back to us and said, ‘wow, these lambs are really special.’ They’re different; they’re almost veal-like in color and flavor and very, very lean. And they’re going to do lamb specials all month and pair it with our wines all month.”

But he admits there are some drawbacks.

They had a tough time finding enough lambs to do the job. There are about fifty million of them in New Zealand. But, it turns out, they’re kind of sparse in Ontario.

Johnson says there are some logistical problems, too. Even some organic pesticides are toxic to lambs. And, there’s all that fence building and moving around to limit the lambs’ access, so they don’t over-prune.

Still, they think it’s worth the hassle. Engel says the lambs fit in beautifully with their philosophy of sustainable farming and diversity in the vineyard.

“They’re lovely, tranquil, placid things, and there’s something almost biblical about having lambs roaming the place and wine here. And, it’s just, I don’t know, there’s just some itch that scratches that’s quite fulfilling.”

People visiting the vineyard enjoy watching the lambs too.

Customers enjoy lunch on the veranda as they look out on the pastoral scene. And, of course, they have a little wine. And one of the top selling wines is Black Sheep Reisling.

For The Environment Report, I’m Joyce Kryszak.

Related Links

The Fading Custom of Spring Lambing

  • George Good encourages an ewe to come to her twin lambs. Spring lambing was once a significant seasonal moment on the family farm which often had a variety of livestock. Today, most farms specialize in only one or two animals or crops. (photo by Lester Graham)

Even if you didn’t grow up on a farm, springtime seems to bring with it thoughts of baby chicks and spring lambs. But it’s not as common to find sheep on the farm today. Farming is different. The GLRC’s Lester Graham found some spring lambs… and a man who still thinks sheep have a place on the farm:

Transcript

Even if you didn’t grow up on a farm, springtime seems to bring with it
thoughts of baby chicks and spring lambs. But it’s not as common to
find sheep on the farm today. Farming is different. The GLRC’s Lester
Graham found some spring lambs… and a man who still thinks sheep
have a place on the farm:


(Sound of lambs)


It’s chilly and it’s raining outside, but nestled in the straw, three newborn
lambs are snuggling for a little warmth in the barn. George Good is milking
their mother – in farm parlance she’s called a ewe. He’s inserted her teat
directly into a green Mountain Dew bottle. After getting a little of the
ewe’s first milk, he holds the plastic bottle up to the light to see if he’s
got enough. Then he twists on a screw top nipple and picks up a
newborn lamb. It’s weak, kind of floppy, too wobbly to stand on its
own, but it eagerly takes the nipple and the first milk – called colostrum.


“I’m gonna give these lambs a little bit of supplement, you know, to get
them started, about two to three ounces of colostrum so they’ve got some
strength to get up and go. It’s really rich, high energy, and this ewe –
anything she’s immune to, the anti-bodies are in that first milk. So that
gives that lamb a boost to get off and is really healthy.”


Good is dressed to ward off the chill of the day… insulated overalls, stocking cap
and a pale blue kerchief around his neck. His easy going, warm way of
talking belies his quickness as he nimbly picks up another lamb to give it
a bit of the first milk.


Sheep used to be common on family farms. That’s when farming meant
a balance of different kinds of livestock, crops and income, but that’s
pretty rare these days… and this isn’t a family farm. George Good is the
farm manager at the Michigan State University Sheep Teaching and Research Center,
but Good himself was raised on one of those family farms.


“You know, they used to milk a few cows, have a few laying hens, and a
flock of ewes that they’d lamb in the spring, and lambing in the spring,
that’s a good time because it’s just before they go to the crop, to do the
field work, see?”


The lambs were born in the spring, just before it really got busy. Then,
after the crops were planted, it was time to shear the sheep. The wool
meant income that came at a pretty good time. Farming used to be all
about timing. After going all winter with little to sell, spring offered a
chance for some income. Selling lambs for meat, selling wool, and then
raising different livestock to sell at different times of the year. Farmers
would grow hay and wheat to bring in money during the summer, tiding
the family over until the corn crop came in during the fall and with it
more money.


“And I can remember a lot of people telling me – old farmers – that their
flock of sheep really kind of helped to make the farm payments. They
may not have been necessarily focused largely on the flock of sheep, but
it was something that fit in, that was compatible, you know.”


But, today farms usually are not that diverse. They specialize. Livestock
farms often raise just one kind of animal. Hog farms with tens of
thousands of pigs. Cattle farms that concentrate the animals in feedlots.
Or farms that don’t raise livestock at all, just crops. Modern farms
count on the efficiencies of mass production rather than the balance of
the cycles of nature and husbandry.


Good says even sheep farms have to raise hundreds of sheep to make
enough money to support a family, but Good says sheep are great if
they’re thought of as they once were on traditional farms… as a little
supplemental income.


“If you have a flock of sheep or a group of sheep it’s a great family
project. It’s something the wife and children can help, labor-wise, take
care of. They’re smaller. You got the wool crop. If you have some hilly
land or some rough area that you don’t farm, they graze it and you end
up with a nice product to sell. But, the family, the thing about sheep is
the family can really do a lot of the work, your children and your wife
and so on.”


Good notes that there’s been increased demand for lamb from growing
Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean populations in cities such as Detroit
and Toronto. Lamb prices are higher, making sheep worth the effort.
But then, Good seems to be partial to the animals. He gives you the
impression that nursing these lambs has to do with something more than
just profit and product. Maybe it’s just a reminder of how it used to be
on so many family farms.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

Related Links

The Fading Custom of Spring Lambing

  • George Good encourages an ewe to come to her twin lambs. Spring lambing was once a significant seasonal moment on the family farm which often had a variety of livestock. Today, most farms specialize in only one or two animals or crops. (photo by Lester Graham)

Even if you didn’t grow up on a farm… springtime seems to bring with it thoughts of baby chicks and spring lambs. Maybe it was those cardboard cutouts on the bulletin board in grade school. But it’s not as common to find sheep on the farm today. Farming is different. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham found some spring lambs… and a man who still thinks sheep have a place on the farm:

Transcript

Even if you didn’t grow up on a farm… springtime seems to bring with it thoughts of baby chicks
and spring lambs. Maybe it was those cardboard cutouts on the bulletin board in grade school.
But it’s not as common to find sheep on the farm today. Farming is different. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham found some spring lambs… and a man who still thinks sheep
have a place on the farm:


It’s chilly and it’s raining outside. But nestled in the straw, three newborn lambs are snuggling for
warmth in the barn. George Good is milking their mother. In farm parlance she’s called a ewe.
He’s inserted her teat directly into a green Mountain Dew bottle. After getting a little of the
ewe’s first milk, he holds the plastic bottle up the the light to see if he’s got enough. Then he
twists on a screw top nipple and picks up a newborn lamb. It’s weak, kind of floppy, too wobbly
to stand on its own. But it eagerly takes the nipple and the first milk – called colostrum.


“I’m gonna give these lambs a little bit of supplement, you know, to get them started. About two
to three ounces of colostrum so they’ve got some strength to get up and go. It’s really rich, high
energy. And this ewe, anything she’s immune to, the anti-bodies are in that first milk. So that
gives that lamb a boost to get off and is really healthy.”


Good is dressed to ward off the chill of the day…insulated overalls, stocking cap and a pale blue kerchief
around his neck. His easy going, warm way of talking belies his quickness as he nimbly picks up
another lamb to give it a bit of the first milk.


Sheep used to be common on family farms. That’s when farming meant a balance of different
kinds of livestock, crops and income. But that’s pretty rare these days, and this isn’t a family
farm. George Good is the farm manager at the Michigan State University Sheep Teaching and Research Center. But Good himself was
raised on one of those family farms.


“You know, they used to milk a few cows, have a few laying hens, and a flock of ewes that
they’d lamb in the spring. And lambing in the spring, that’s a good time because it’s just before
they go to the crop, to do the field work, see?”


The lambs were born in the spring, just before it really got busy. Then, after the crops were
planted, it was time to shear the sheep. The wool meant income that came at a pretty good time.
Farming used to be all about timing. After going all winter with little to sell, spring offered a
chance for some income. Selling lambs for meat. Selling wool. And then raising different livestock to
sell at different times of the year. Farmers would grow hay and wheat to bring in money during
the summer… tiding the family over until the corn crop came in during the fall and with it more
money.


“And I can remember a lot of people telling me – old farmers – that their flock of sheep really
kind of help to make the farm payments. They may not have been necessarily focused largely on
the flock of sheep, but it was something that fit in, that was compatible, you know.”


But, today farms usually are not that diverse. They specialize. Livestock farms often raise just
one kind of animal. Hog farms with tens of thousands of pigs. Cattle farms that concentrate the
animals in feedlots. Or farms that don’t raise livestock at all. Just crops. Modern farms count on
the efficiencies of mass production rather than the balance of the cycles of nature and husbandry.


Good says even sheep farms have to raise hundreds of sheep to make enough money to support a
family. But good says sheep are great if they’re thought of as they once were on traditional
the traditional farm as a little supplemental income.


“If you have a flock of sheep or a group of sheep it’s a great family project. It’s something the
wife and children can help, labor-wise, take care of. They’re smaller. You got the wool crop. If
you have some hilly land or rough area that you don’t farm, they graze it and you end up
with a nice product to sell. But, the family, the thing about sheep is the family can really do a lot
of the work, your children and your wife and so on.”


Good notes that there’s been increased demand for lamb from growing Middle Eastern and
Mediterranean populations in cities such as Detroit and Toronto. Lamb prices are higher, making sheep worth the effort. But then, Good seems to be partial to the animals. He gives
you the impression that nursing these lambs has to do with something more than just profit and
product. Maybe it’s just a reminder of how it used to be on so many family farms.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.