Evergreen Students Raise Local Lambs

by Janine Gates

Evergreen Students for Sustainable Animal Agriculture, a student group at The Evergreen State College, is a local Evergreen State College, is a locally pastured lamb business that is now in its second year.

For such a successful business, their marketing strategy is simple and cheap: word of mouth through happy clients and flyers posted on bulletins boards at Puget Sound area Co-ops. I found my flyer about the program laying on a table in the food area at GreenFest in Seattle in late March.

This year, the group has 17 ewes and 26 lambs, now happily grazing on grass in a private field in Centralia. Portable electric fencing is used to rotate grazing areas, which works out pretty well for the land owners since they don't need to mow. When I visited, everyone was out enjoying the sunshine and ran towards us at full speed, bleating and baaing.

Students Alea Hoffman, 22, and Miriam "Mimi" Calkins, 22, showed me around, pointing out Curly, the group's newest ewe, and her one month old lamb. "Just before you got here, we were measuring grass height," says Calkins. The field measures about three acres. Knowing such measurements helps the group understand how much land it takes to sustain a flock of this size, and how long it will take the sheep to graze the area before they need to be moved.

The group will sell the lambs as meat when the lambs are six months old and weigh about 100 pounds. The lambs, born in February, usually come out as twins. "It's so cute to watch them bond with their mothers. We had one set of triplets this year, and one wasn't doing too well, but we kept a close eye on him," said Calkins. "I watched No. 29 have her lambs," said Hoffman. "They usually lamb at night or in the early morning."

All are Suffolk Cross breeds from a farm in Oregon. The ram is a Texall Ram named "Big Boy."

Looking at the ewe's heavy coats, I asked if it was time to shear them. "Yes!" the women laugh. "We actually taught ourselves to shear last year by watching You Tube videos. There's some great videos - they'll shear a ewe in under a minute! We aren't that quick," Hoffman and Calkins laugh.

"Hey, is that lamb limping?" Calkins asks Hoffman.

"Hmmm...we'll keep on eye on that," Hoffman says.

Last year, the group sold 25 lambs, some whole, some half. Nothing, it seems, goes to waste. One lamb produces two legs, two lamb shanks, lamb burger or stew meat, four roasts or 10-12 steaks, 30 lamb chops, a rack of lamb, six sirloin chops, soup bones, breast bones, kidney, heart and liver. The price is $7.00 per pound, butcher fees included.

"A lot of people have reordered and ordered twice as much as last year, so that's cool," says Hoffman.

How does the meat taste?

"Awesome! We've gotten a lot of compliments," Hoffman said.

"I like to buy local and sustainable. I also like that young people are getting a hands-on education experience. The lamb was delicious," says client Layne Lankford, who lives in south Olympia near Scott Lake. Lankford says he would normally buy lamb from a store and eats it as a part of his diet.

Another client, Chuck Bollinger of Seattle, said he found his flyer on a bulletin board at PCC Fremont last year. "Last year we ordered a side, and this year we have ordered a whole lamb. We found the students cordial, communicative, and helpful. When our grandchildren came down and spent fall with us we had hoped to get down to the farm for a visit, but time and weather prevented that. They are returning in May for a few weeks and we will make another try," says Bollinger. "The lamb is a fine product with full flavor. We have recommended ESSA to our friends," adds Bollinger.

Calkins is a vegetarian. "It's not just about the meat. It's about animal husbandry. "We want to connect people to their food. It makes a big difference to expose people to agriculture and the whole process," says Hoffman, who keeps track of the group's clients.

"I have friends who just want to come out and watch the animals. It's really relaxing," adds Calkins. "Students participate for many reasons, from wanting to own their own farm to getting pre-veterinary experience to wanting to be involved in agriculture in another way," Hoffman adds.

"We're learning about genetics and how to raise good quality meat in a grass based system rather than a feed-lot system, which is based on grain," says Calkins.

Hoffman is in the Foundations of Health Science program. Evergreen faculty member Mike Parros, who is also a large animal veteriniarian, is the group's advisor. Calkins, an Evergreen senior in the Environmental Health program, is the group's record keeper. "I want to have my own farm one day, and work in the environmental health field in some way," she says.

By September, the lambs will all be gone and the ewes will be bred again. The lambs, who nurse for about four months, are naturally weaned, usually by their mothers, so when it's time for the lambs to go, the process is stress-free. The group takes turns visiting the farm.

The sheep farm itself is an independent business, which has agreed with the student organization to work with and make management decisions about the flock. In exchange for this a portion of the profits - $1.00 per pound of all sales support the group after feed is purchased - is donated to the club. "Last season we raised approximately $800, which we use for field trips to other farms and other educational activities as a student group," says Hoffman.

The group encourages you to reserve your lamb now. For more information, contact the Evergreen Students for Sustainable Animal Agriculture (ESSA) at essapasturedlamb@gmail.com.

Janine Gates is president of SPEECH and grew up raising pigs for 4-H in Ohio for show and meat. She loves the smell of manure.