Text By Jude Mead
Photo By Christain Stovall

Raising sheep can be a rewarding experience. Some people raise them as pets because of their gentle personalities, but for the more serious shepherd, sheep provide a livelihood as well. For Christian Stovall, of Hidden Mountain Farm in New Marlboro, Mass., the main purpose for starting his sheep farm was for the meat and wool. 

Stovall, a graduate of the University of Vermont with a degree in environmental
studies and a minor in animal science, first became interested in sheep in 2017 in Vermont’s Champlain Valley. “I worked for a farmer who had recently gotten started with sheep, and I helped with large-scale grazing management and lambing. I moved back to the Southern Berkshires in 2018 and bought a small flock of five sheep. I now have about 40 to 60 lambs in the height of the summer. Additionally, I breed 10 to 15 registered Border Leicester ewes that lamb each winter,” said Stovall. 

New England has always been a good sheep region, and this area offers just that with its pastures and seasonal hay production. According to Stovall, the most important necessity is access to healthy pasture. Though he uses his own acreage, he needs enough pasture to provide hay or silage for the winter feed. He leases or is given permission to graze his sheep on his neighbors’ fields.

“I’ve been lucky to have a lot of generous people that continue to offer me space to graze my flocks the past few years,” Stovall said. “My main interest in agriculture is using livestock to manage pasture and improve the quality of the grass with managed intensive rotational grazing, so it’s exciting to see my sheep at work in the grazing season and see my pastures improve. I do not have any formal leases, so the future is slightly unclear.” He added that supplemental feed and clean water are also necessary. 

Besides maintaining good pastures, Stovall needed to build a barn to keep the sheep dry and comfortable, and to set up fences to adequately protect and control them. “I used to raise cattle, and I partially got into raising sheep because the necessary equipment to raise them is a lot smaller than what you need for cattle. I built a barn in New Marlborough in 2020 which was necessary for winter lambing, and besides that, my portable electric fencing, truck and trailer are the key pieces of equipment to my operation. My system with electric fencing allows me to get to remote pastures easily, and I can haul water out to the different flocks,” he said. 

The next step for Stovall was to select breeding stock. Sheep are generally categorized into wool, meat and dairy breeds, and his decision depended upon when he wanted to lamb the ewes and the number of ewes that would be used in his sheep enterprise. “There are hundreds of breeds of sheep out there, but I breed and raise Border Leicester. They are a dual-purpose breed, used for both meat and wool, and are hearty through cold New England winters. My ewes are mostly from Vermont, and my ram is from Minnesota. I look for good body conformation, a classic Border Leicester head with large upright ears and a “Roman nose” and, most importantly, good mothering abilities,” said Stovall. 

Working with sheep takes skill. They must have proper care and attention and require quality time and labor. According to Stovall, it can be frustrating. “It’s vital to stay calm around sheep, and know their flight zones when moving them, loading them onto trailers and generally being around them. It matters where you stand with the animal to get them to go somewhere specific—or not.” 

Sheep are also very labor intensive to raise. “I am moving at least one of the two to three flocks I have in the summer to new sections of grass daily using rotational grazing and giving the animals a small section of grass at a time so they can eat the grass while spreading their manure around it. Then I give that grass a long rest period to grow back. I work for some other businesses, making hay and running a sawmill, so my typical week is about half the time working for others and half the time moving and working with my sheep,” said Stovall. 

Sheep require protection from predators, one of the most serious problems confronting the sheep producer. The coyote is the most predominant predator in this area, and while Stovall’s electric fence works well, he needed additional predator control. “I have a livestock guardian dog named Benson that lives with my ewes. Since I see my sheep so often, I can monitor them consistently,” he said. 

The future of sheep farming in New England is unpredictable. Older shepherds are retiring, and new producers are facing challenges. Stovall sums it up this way: “As with everything, the cost of buying sheep, buying hay, processing lambs, etc. has gone up consistently over the past year. I am trying not to significantly raise the prices of my lamb, but it’s difficult to find the point where I can still make a profit. I hope that consumers are willing to continue supporting local farms and buying meat locally. I invite anyone to reach out.”Stovall can be reached by email at hiddenmountainfarm@gmail.com.