Faces & places in the country

Tell us about your farm. We have 240 acres. We raise elk and Jacob sheep and also have free-range chickens. Of the 240 acres, 180 acres are pastureland — 30 of those acres are for the elk, and about 40 acres are woodland. The elk are in pasture year-round and don’t need any shelter, so we feed them in the yard so we can keep an eye on them. We also pull them into the yard in the fall to vaccinate and to measure their antlers or cut them for rut season. We moved from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Lexington, Kentucky, for my job in 1995 and started the elk farm. In 2005, we moved back to Minnesota. Both my wife and I are engineers, graduating from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. My wife is a civil engineer, and I am a mechanical engineer. When we moved back to Minnesota, I quit working for others and became a full-time farmer.

What are moments during the year that you really cherish being on the farm? I enjoy early spring and the summer months when the weather is warm and it is lambing season. Then, the elk start calving, and I enjoy the new rebirth after we all get through the winter. Things are waking up and greening up; that’s really a nice time to be on the farm. I enjoy getting up every morning and checking on the animals and seeing what there is to do and what to prioritize. It’s not mundane; every day is a little different, and you can move at your own pace as your own boss.

What are some accomplishments you are proud of? Sustainable farming — our entire farm is raised organically, and we practice organic farming. We use no hormones, and we’ve replaced corn with barely. We feed the elk well as herbivores. They live and grow as Mother Nature intended. I am proud when I look around at the farm, knowing my wife and I have accomplished all of this on our own. When we decided to come back to Minnesota, we had animals that required 8-foot-tall fencing, and we were moving to a beef cattle farm. So, Kim, her dad and her uncle helped one summer to put up fencing. We put one pen up but then had to wait until spring to build another calving pen. There was a lot of planning and figuring out where everything would go. We had experience after doing it on our farm in Kentucky.

We are proud to raise Jacob sheep. They are very hardy and can handle all different types of climates, which has been good for Kentucky and Minnesota. We like the breed, and their wool is a nice patchwork. After shearing them in the summer, we ship the wool to a mill in St. Peter. They wash it, card it and make balls of yarn and batting for us, which we then sell for pillows and comforters. We sell all those products online and at the farmers’ market. The elk bulls, after four to five years, are sold to hunting preserves in August before the rut. We don’t harvest velvet antlers to sell because we don’t have enough bulls to justify the process. We let the antlers go hard before cutting them, and then we sell them as bones, which go really well with customers. They are very nutrient-dense for collagen and rejuvenation.

Tell us about your daily routine on the farm. We have a good breakfast before getting started on our day. We check on the animals and see what needs to be done for the day. It could be a day of cutting hay, working on projects or preparing for visitors. When the sheep have babies, we split the feeding to twice a day so they don’t overeat and they get better nutrition. There’s mowing, maintaining the fencing or working on repairs. We used to grow all our own barley and oat crops, which was a lot of work for the two of us, so we found a custom feed that is right for us, and that is what we do now. We don’t assist the elk with birthing; they take care of themselves. We raise the cows right when they are pregnant by not overfeeding them. So, they are lean, trim and healthy. After they’ve given birth, we feed them more to produce milk for their young. All through summer, they eat well, so then, by fall, they are in good health to start their cycle again.

What is the hardest and best part of your day? The hardest parts of our days are keeping our fields healthy and productive without bringing in synthetics. It can be stressful; life with animals can be unpredictable. The biggest thing I’ve found is that if I am attentive to their needs and observe them well, they can alert me when something is wrong. By listening and being close to the animals every day, you can tell when something is not right.

Sometimes, starting a project is like opening a can of worms. It can be challenging, but you have to deal with it, and when things don’t go the way you want, you have to either postpone it or choose to continue to fight with it.

The best part is finding out when problems aren’t actually problems at all, when the solutions are easier than you thought. We tend to overanalyze things because we always want to be prepared for the worst, and if it’s not the worst, then that’s a bonus.

What motivates you on the farm? The environment, being out in nature, breathing the fresh air and the freedom to be your own boss.

What do you hope the next five to 10 years look like on your farm? I am 66 years old now; we don’t want to have to worry about the animals, but we’d like to find someone who can take care of the farm in the winter, so we could travel more.

What words of wisdom do you have for future generations of farmers? Never stop learning — about yourself, your farm, your animals. Keep your mind going, and don’t become complacent. Find something you like, use your skills, apply them to your life and enjoy life. Be practical; a lot of stuff you don’t learn from books. Mother Nature is here to show us.