Willow Farm LLC

We raise grass fed beef and lamb, and pastured pigs and poultry; all of which we sell through our on farm shop along with all sorts of wonderful wool products from our flocks of sheep. It started with Candy's horse and “wouldn't it be nice to have it at home”? That comment led to 15 acres and a barn followed by “well as long as we have the fence why not raise a steer”? The problem with a steer is

that they lead to brood cows and calving; followed by a pig or two. Fifteen acres is not enough to make a living farming unless you do vegetables and we much preferred calves to cabbages. Since plowing things and growing crops wasn't feasible Tom and Candy turned to grass instead. Michigan State University was starting to offer conferences and classes on rotational grazing and we went every chance we got. Subscribed to Stockman Grass Farmer and later on, Graze. Grazing worked for us for many different reasons. We had zero invested in big farm equipment. We also had zero invested in spraying chemicals on our land. The animals were cleaner and healthier out on grass than standing by the barn eating expensive grain. And grazing means everything comes full circle. Land that grows not much more than goldenrod and Queen Anne's Lace will bloom with clovers, grasses and alfalfa if grazed and rested at the right time. Rotational grazing works with nature to improve the land. So it was a horse or two, some cows and their calves, chickens, the odd pig and the dogs and cats until Kyle came along. Driving to the library, for more books, we'd pass a farm with a few sheep. Kyle was 4 and kept insisting we needed sheep. Candy had never had any sheep, knew nothing about their care and feeding and kept insisting right back we did not. Finally to end the discussion once and for all I came up with what I thought was a brilliant bit of parenting. I told her if she could save enough money to buy two sheep we'd get sheep. I thought that long before a 4 year old could save several hundred dollars she'd lose interest and move on. Nope, took her until she was 5 to buy her first 2 grade Romney ewes. The next year she bought her first registered ewe and was showing at the county fair against the adults because she was too young to join 4-H. We now have a web site www.willowfarmwool.com where we sell Romney and Bluefaced Leicester fleeces all over the country, a new page and Kyle is in her final year at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, Gloustershire, England. She is planning on getting her PhD in Sustainable Farming and at some point coming back to the farm. She's bursting with new ideas and directions to take the farm. In the meantime Tom and Candy are holding the fort and selling grass fed beef and lamb, eggs from the free range chickens and this year we have a few turkeys in time for the holidays.