24 Jul 5 Benefits to Introducing Sheep to Your Land
Over the last few years, we have been carefully working on integrating our philosophy into real, tangible results. It is one thing to say we are sustainable, but it really is something else to embrace the concepts we firmly believe in and be the change we want to see in the world. With this in mind, we have orientated ourselves around growing our own food, which in turn enables us to grow our people and our community. By feeding our physical selves with fresh and healthy food, we can thus nourish our soul and land on which we live.
That is why we have started introducing new livestock to our land, that don’t resemble our famed (and capricious!) goats. Take for example, our new sheep herd. Over the past few years, we’ve introduced more and more sheep to our land. Besides being adorable, there are many benefits to having sheep at Fairview, such as the fact that they have strong herd instincts, making them excellent ranch animals as they keep together in tight and easily managed flocks and do not disperse widely all over the available land, which would make it difficult to protect them from predators and difficult to round up.
Here are 5 main benefits of having sheep on our farm:
1. During our drought, they are some of the most suitable of the small ruminants to utilize the sparse vegetation in dryland areas through rangeland management and developed (re-seeded) pasture
2. Since sheep eat more different type of plants than any other kind of livestock, they can turn waste into profit and at the same time improve the appearance of many farms (i.e. they are excellent weed destroyers!).
3. Sheep dung is a valuable fertilizer, and since they are grazed on sub-marginal lands, their droppings are the only means of improving the growth of plants in such areas
4. Our sheep offer a multi-faceted utility : meat, wool, skin, manure, and to some extent milk, all of which helps to play an important role in the farm’s economy
5. Unlike our rather naughty goats, sheep hardly damage any trees or vegetation
We are proud to be able to raise and care for our own sheep here on the farm, as they all contribute to Fairview’s micro-economy and sustainable philosophy. And don’t worry – we employ conscious farming techniques in order to produce food which is as clean and as nourishing as possible, while aiming to be as kind and considerate to all animals that exist on our property, so they are well cared for and live happy, contented lives.
