Sheep Industry News February 2023

A light snow begins to fall on a November Sunday afternoon in Central New York state as John Lemondes heads to the pasture where he’ll round up the final 20 head of lambs to fulfill his 2022 slaughter commitments. Most of the family is involved in the process. In the pasture, John grabs a feed bucket and leads the way. A pair of energetic guard dogs fall in behind as he heads for a holding pen in the corner of a neighboring pasture. The sheep – encouraged by the guidance of John’s son, 13-year-old JJ, on a dirt bike – fall into line. John’s wife, Martha, brings up the rear in a utility vehicle pulling a small trailer that will corral eight to 10 sheep at a time.

The pastures are too soft from recent rain and snow to simply drive the truck and stock trailer to the holding pen. Instead, the family will shuttle the selected sheep back to the main barn in three separate loads. It’s not the efficient use of time one might ex pect from a retired Army colonel, but it’s a common scenario that plays out daily on family farms all across the United States. Farming has long been a dream for John, and there’s no one he’d rather do it with than his family, which also includes 17-year-old daughter Olivia. The farm – Elly’s Acres – is named in honor of the couple’s other daughter, who passed away in 2016 approxi mately two years after the family had settled on a 500-acre place in Jamesville, N.Y., some 15 miles from where John spent his child hood. It was here in Onondaga County, where he developed a passion for all things outdoors: hunting, fishing, trapping, and yes, even farming. “My first paid job was as a fruit picker on a farm,” he recalls. “It

John Lemondes sorts lambs while his wife, Martha, works the holding pen gate.

was the summer before I started sixth grade. One day, my father told me to get in the car and we were going to get me a job. He took me to the farm, and I remember him talking to the farmer, who said, ‘He looks kind of small.’ My dad said, ‘Yeah, but he’ll work.’” And work he did, that whole summer. He couldn’t keep up with the adults he was alongside, but he never quit. He continued to work on farms through his high school years, eventually making his way to a livestock operation. “My bachelor’s degree from Penn State is in agricultural science. I have always wanted to own a farm of some type,” he says. “I just didn’t know exactly what it was or where it was going to be.” IT HAD TO BE WOOL It should come as no surprise that he found his way to wool sheep. After all, John still owns (and wears) a pair of Woolrich wool pants he first got as a teenager. “They’re in that typical red and black pattern,” he says. “My kids mock me because they know I’ve had them since I was 14 or 15 years old, but they’re still going strong. They’re my main pair of ice fishing/hunting pants. I’ve been a wool user my entire life.” Even the U.S. Army indulged John’s passion for agriculture when it assigned him to the agriculture committee while he was a student at the Army War College. He studied agriculture and its importance not only in the United States, but in India, Thailand and Vietnam. He worked on textile projects in the final years of his time with the Army, as well. After retiring, John spent a year working as a military consultant for clients that included ASI. “That all kind of layered itself together and was really helpful in solidifying my desire to be a farmer,” he says. “Sheep are the most efficient ruminants there are. And even though we generally have good pastures in this area, choosing sheep made it easier when it was time to decide which farm property to purchase. I didn’t have to worry about finding one with the best possible soil profile, which would be more important for growing crops. That removed a huge issue for us.” Of Greek and Irish decent, John grew up eating lamb on a regular basis, despite the fact that there was no room to raise animals of their own in the family’s suburban home.

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