Sheep Industry News February 2023

“But it was a small suburb, and we were surrounded by farms,” John adds. “As a kid, I could just walk across the street to farm fields and woods and hunt and trap. I don’t know what kids do after school now, but I was always out hunting, fishing and trapping, and I loved it.” Purchasing the land for Elly’s Acres was just the start of John’s farming adventure. A horse farm in its past life, the place had been severely neglected by its most recent owners. The house needed a bit of everything, including a new roof. “It was like camping inside those first few months,” John says. “It rained on us in the house that summer. It was so overgrown around the house that we could barely get into it. We started the process of rebuilding it from the frame out.” The rest of the property was in similar condition. Nothing drained properly. Previous owners had stuck railroad ties into the ground as fence posts. A fire pit was setup two feet from a wooden barn. “The goal was to have livestock on the ground within a year of taking possession,” John says. “We physically occupied the house in November 2013 and had livestock on the ground in September 2014. That was really important to us.” The family started with 20 breeding ewes and one ram. Eight years later, the ewe flock is up to nearly 160. John would like to expand the breeding flock to 700 or more, but he’s intentionally taking a slow roll approach that allows him to maintain financial control of the farm. “The banks don’t own us, and that’s a conscious decision on our part,” he says. “It’s why my wife and I both have off farm jobs, as well. People don’t realize how hard it was those first six years. We were going through all of the problems

that come with starting a new farm, raising kids, working jobs. It was hard, but it gave us a lot of control over our operation.” DAILY CHALLENGES Two hours after the process of sorting lambs started, the sheep are loaded and ready for the two-hour drive to the nearest slaughter facility. John skipped lunch, of course, and dinner will have to wait until he’s back from dropping off the sheep. There’s more snow on the way and the drive to the slaughter facility requires a trek through one of the snowiest areas in the entire country, which means John is anxious to get there and back as quickly as possible. Since he spends his days working as the District 126 representative to the New York State Assembly – he was re-elected in November 2022 – John is thankful for a facility that allows him to deliver sheep outside of regular business hours. But he also laments the loss of such facilities through out the state, a fact that has often left him scrambling to find available spots for slaughter. “We’re doing this in the most inefficient way we can as we struggle to find slaughter availability. We end up taking some lambs that are smaller than we’d like because we have to make our appointments a year in advance,” he says. “This year, my first ap pointment is in August, which isn’t great, but we have to take it.” Once his lamb is processed, John sells through a handful of avenues. He’s built a loyal following at two farmers markets while also selling meat directly off the farm. He offers on-farm kill for a handful of ethnic customers who request it. It adds up to roughly 100 lambs a year, a number he plans to increase through managed growth. “The goofy slaughter schedule impacts our ability to do a lot of

(Above) The Lemondes family with JJ, Martha, Olivia and John. (Below) JJ pushes sheep from the back of his dirt bike while John leads the way with a feed bucket as they head to a holding pen.

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