Why I Farm the Way I Do

People sometimes ask me why I raise sheep the way I do.

Why grass-fed? Why rotational grazing? Why move the sheep so often? Why worry so much about soil? Why make things more complicated than they have to be?

The short answer is: because I believe farming should leave things better than we found them.

That doesn't mean every decision is easy. Farming is full of compromises, surprises, and days when the plan you made in the morning has completely fallen apart by lunchtime.

But there are some things I come back to again and again.

I believe in grass.

I am, in fact all livestock farmers are, grass farmers. Not sheep, or cows. Grass. Grass is an extraordinary thing. It turns sunlight into food. It feeds sheep. Sheep turn that grass into protein and, in the process, return nutrients to the soil.

When I manage pasture well, I am not just feeding my sheep. I'm building a healthier ecosystem.

I believe in moving the sheep.

My flock doesn't stay in one pasture for weeks at a time. The dogs and I move them frequently, at least every three days, but usually every day,giving them fresh forage and giving the pasture time to recover.

The sheep get better grass. The plants get a chance to regrow. The soil gets manure, roots, and time.

It's a system based on movement and recovery rather than taking everything the land has to give.

I believe soil is the foundation.

Healthy soil is where everything starts.

Healthy soil grows healthy plants, plants that can meet uncertain weather with resilience. Healthy plants feed healthy animals. And healthy animals produce good food.

So when I think about farming, I'm not just thinking about this year's lamb crop. I'm thinking about what kind of soil I want to leave behind for the next year, the next decade, and whoever farms this land after me.

I believe the animals should have a good life.

My sheep are livestock. I raise them to produce food. I don't pretend otherwise.

But I also believe that an animal raised for food deserves a life that is, as much as possible, a good one. They spend their days outside. They eat grass. They have room to move, flock together, lie down, graze, and generally behave like sheep.

And when the time comes, they are handled with care and respect. On my farm, sheep have one bad day, and I strive for that day to be as easy for them as possible.

For me, those things aren't contradictory. They're part of the same responsibility.

And I believe farming should fit the place.

Lucky Dog Farm is in Vermont. We have rocky soil, cold winters, wet springs, dry summers, forests, hills, and an abundance of things that want to eat sheep.

So I farm for this place.

I pay attention to what grows here. I watch the weather. I learn from the land. I adapt when something isn't working.

There is no perfect farming system that can simply be dropped onto every piece of ground.

There is only the work of figuring out what makes sense here.

That's really why I farm the way I do.

I'm not trying to recreate some ideal version of farming. I'm trying to raise good food, take good care of my animals, improve the land I'm responsible for, and leave something healthy behind.

And if I can do all of that while spending my days outside with sheep and sheepdogs?

Well, that's a pretty good life.

— Farmer Judith