Meet Your Lamb Farmers
- Eric and Penny Wallis own Wallace Family Farms in Rudyard, Michigan. Eric grew up on the land they now farm, and then returned and has been raising sheep there since 1981.
- They proudly raise Polypay sheep in a commercial flock setting using regenerative, land-healing practices.
- What keeps Eric inspired each day is the joy of productive hard work raising sheep from newborn lamb stage to market and all the pleasures of working the land and living in God's gorgeous creation!
Pics from the Farm
Farmer Q and A
What kind of forages do you raise?
Because of where we are located row crops cannot be viably raised so hay and baleage is the predominant product produced. Small grains are raised on a lesser scale as well. My forages are mostly a clover, trefoil, and timothy mix.
Can you talk about the life cycle of an animal on your farm?
Lambs are born in a 4 week period in May, pastured with their mothers through mid August, then weaned. The lambs and ewes are then pastured separately throughout the rest of the pasture season. Breeding season ensues on December 10 through about January 12-15. The sheep continue to be fed our baleage through the winter and on into lambing season again in May.
What production protocols do you follow?
I feed lambs on pasture and through the winter. I use only OMRI-certified fertilizer beyond the manure that is produced and spread on certain fields each year.
What do you enjoy most about raising livestock?
The joy of watching all those newborn lambs in May and the absolute pleasure in seeing sheep on beautiful green pasture throughout the summer.
How do your practices improve the health of your land?
By not using commercial fertilizers or herbicides, etc. I allow the natural microbes to thrive and keep the soil alive. Rotational grazing helps to keep the plant density higher so that the need to till and replant becomes less frequent.
