Five Things Raising Sheep Has Taught Me

After nearly a decade of raising sheep, you’d think I would be the one doing the teaching.

I’m the farmer, after all. I decide where they graze, when they move, what they eat, who gets bred, who stays, and—eventually—who goes.

But the longer I raise sheep, the more I realize that they have taught me far more than I have taught them.

Here are five things I’ve learned.

1. Pay attention.

Sheep are experts at being sheep. They don't always announce that something is wrong. Sometimes it's simply the ewe who is standing apart from the flock, the lamb who isn't quite as enthusiastic about dinner, or the animal who is moving just a little differently.

You learn to notice.

And once you start paying attention to sheep, you start paying attention to everything else, too—the grass, the weather, the water, the soil, the dogs, the seasons.

2. Don't rush the grass.

There is always a temptation to think the grass will grow faster if you need it to.

It won't.

Good pasture takes time, sunshine, rain, healthy soil, and a little patience. The sheep have taught me to work with the pace of the land rather than constantly trying to make it hurry up. Going fast is kicking the regenerative can down the road, and not getting me closer to my goals.

Sometimes the right thing to do is simply wait another day.

3. Everyone has a personality.

People who haven't spent much time around sheep are often surprised to learn that they are individuals.

Some are bossy. Some are shy. Some are endlessly curious. Some are determined to be exactly where they shouldn't be. (I’ll be honest, that’s my least favorite personality-type, probably true for any shepherd.)

Some are natural leaders. Some would happily let everyone else make the decisions.

And some sheep will look you directly in the eye while doing precisely the thing you just asked them not to do.

I have favorites. Of course I do. (Blaze? Dolly? Sasha? I’m looking at you.)

4. There is always another way.

Sheep are very good at exposing a bad plan.

The gate that seemed perfectly placed? They will find the gap.

The fence that worked yesterday? Today, apparently, it is merely a suggestion.

The sheep you were certain would go through the gate? Absolutely not.

Raising sheep has made me much better at problem-solving—and much less attached to the idea that my first solution has to be the right one. And it’s easier if I actually embrace the idea of problem-solving, rather than resisting it.

Sometimes you just need to stand there, watch what the sheep are doing, and try something different.

5. The small things are the big things.

A successful day on the farm isn't always marked by some great accomplishment.

Sometimes it's moving the flock onto beautiful new pasture.

Sometimes it's watching a lamb race across the field.

Sometimes it's a dog working perfectly.

Sometimes it's standing in the pasture at the end of the day, looking at a flock of contented sheep with their heads down in the grass.

Those moments don't look particularly important from the outside.

But they are.

Raising sheep has taught me that farming isn't just about producing food. It's about paying attention, being part of a landscape, and taking care of something that depends on you.

And, occasionally, admitting that the sheep probably know what they're doing.

Most of the time, anyway.

— Farmer Judith