cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: We will get started with the fast five.

What's your name squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: My name is Marquee Renshaw, and my husband's name is Ryan Renshaw, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: and what's your farm's name squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Peace in the Valley Farms.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: and where are you located?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: We are located in West Plains, Missouri.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: When Ryan had messaged me and y'all were located in West Plains.

There's a South Poll breeder there name escapes me, but I've thought I'd like to go West Plains squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: look it up on a map because it's in Missouri.

Not far.

I'm like an hour from Missouri, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Okay.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: when I look where West Plains is, it's clear across the state.

It's a long ways over there.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

Yep.

It's a jog across there for sure.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yes.

And what livestock species do you graze?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So we're basically sheep, but we also have a few Jersey cows in there.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: but most of the time the horses are penned up just because they like to run through sheep and knock cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: and cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: so, yep.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: That, that's so true.

I have a donkey runs with my sheep, but sometimes he earns his other name, you know?

We'll, we'll go with that.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: donkeys, lots of donkeys.

We know that name.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right, right.

And what year did y'all start grazing animals?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So we have had animals.

I mean, my whole life and what I thought was rotational grazing and what really is rotational grazing was completely different.

Cal: Welcome to the grazing grass podcast.

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I'm your host, Cal Hardage and each week we'll dive into the journeys, challenges, and successes of producers like you, learning from their experiences, and inspiring each other to grow, and graze better.

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And right now, each of these two day courses is $50 off the regular price.

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For 10 seconds about the farm.

Not much change for us this week is a little drier than it's been and ground's drying out a little bit on top.

So I expect to see some hay being baled in our area for 10 seconds about the podcast.

We launched the Grazing Grass Resources as well as the grass-based genetics.

The Grazing Grass Resources strives to be a listing of those resources that'd be beneficial to a grass farmer.

I encourage you to go take a look at it.

I also encourage you to make a listing there.

If you've got a farm list, your farm there.

If you're a mentor listed, if you're a consultant listed, if you've got a business that caters to ative ranchers, ative farmers.

It should be listed there.

I do know when you sign up to verify your email, that email is going to spam, so still working on some hiccups, but if you have any trouble, you just reach out to me.

If you don't want to create a account to get a listing there, or you want to suggest a listing another business that's been instrumental in your journey, you can do that without creating an account.

There's a form there.

And then we have the grass-based Genetics.

That's a directory of operations that breed livestock, that excel, that thrive on grass.

So I suggest you go over there and look, if you're in the market for livestock, that's the perfect place for you to go find breeders that will have animals that will excel on grass.

If you're a breeder of those animals and you're not listed there, I encourage you to go over there and get your listing added.

If you have any trouble, reach out to me cal@grazinggrass.com.

And with that being said, let's get get back to Marque.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So I would say that this is our first year of actual grazing every single day doing it right?

Because cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: our rotational grazing, when I was growing up, my family said they rotationally grazed, but it was really, there's a hole in the fence and the cattle just moved themselves across property there.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: There was no rotation about it as far as what we were managing at all.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: this has been our first actual year, but we kind of have a unique story where the, we had a house fire and a lot of things happened and we got moved.

To this property and the farm that we bought has been rotationally grazed, and I could be lying and I can't remember which year number it was, but it was either 25 or 32 years.

They've been rotationally grazing here.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: when we moved here and we come and looked at this property, it was in December and I walked out there and grass is over my knee, you know, it was dead and dormant, but I cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: there's no way.

I said, how long is cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: I squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: farm set for?

the cows were in the back field.

I thought, there's no way.

How is there cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So unlike anything I'd ever seen.

And so I was sold out on it completely.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Was that your, your first time to really consider the potential of daily grade daily rotations, or had you all talked about that in the past?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: No, we so.

When me and my husband got together, we did cow calf operation and stalkers before we had the house fire and all the things perspective kind of got what we wanted to do together.

with that being said, I would say we more set stocked, but it was rotational grazing is what we thought it was.

So we would just eat everything to the ground and then move to the next.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

Kind of that rotational overgrazing that a lot of people do, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: that that's cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: and I've been guilty of that too, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

So I, I thought that that's what rotational grazing was.

So, I I, in my head, we were already doing it until I came here, but it's kind of funny, I, I, we had talked earlier, I was gonna, this is all the wrong things to do in farming, is what our story has been.

When we moved here, it was kind of, we'd been in a situation with a house fire.

We've been in a camper for six months.

A few houses fell through, so when we got here, we had never seen hot wire before.

All of our cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: oh, yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: hard wire.

We bring all of our sheep, all of our horses, all of our donkeys, all of our cows.

We just wanted to get into a home and we brought them here.

And one strand of high tensile fence, you can only imagine how terrible that, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yes.

Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I, so I was sold out on it.

I thought, this is amazing, the grass.

But at that time, really not under understanding what rotational grazing was.

As I watched every horse, every cow, every sheep we had run through this high tensile tear everything down.

I told my husband, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: want to see this stuff again.

It's awful.

Well, with that being said.

As the year went on and you know, you, you have a farm that has been rotationally grazed religiously for 25 or 32 years.

Again, I don't know which number it was, but then you, then you bring us in with all of our critters and set stock that farm for a cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And I said, Ryan, something, I'm marquee Ryan's my husband.

And I said, Ryan, something's, this isn't producing like it was.

What's being done differently?

we're set stock in it.

We didn't do the rotational grazes.

And so our ultimate goal was to make the sheep part of our industry work.

I went on an education binge for three years and, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: educated myself on all how to do farming the right way.

And so here we are.

So I had never thought about the right way to do it 'cause I didn't know what it was.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah, yeah.

To, to go back even before you, you got into rotational grazing and doing that, what led you to sheep?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So it's kind of a funny story.

It's kind of a sad story that my family was like that, but we are generational women farmers.

It's kind of a cool story.

I've got aunts that just packed up one day and said audios to the kids and the husband, and went to the hills to shepherd sheep and never came back.

And specifically, my great grandmama, I should say, she bought several farms down here in Oregon and how, or not how, but Shannon and.

I can't think of where Van Buren is at, but several cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: she paid for those with sheep, so it's just been generationally down.

Well, when I was farming and watching my family at the generation that I watched before me do it, I was like, I don't like this at all.

Like it's not a good situation.

The sheep were just kind of do or die, take care of yourself.

It was a wool industry back cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Uh squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: very, very cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: oh.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: in that.

But I always had kept around a, a small flock.

Me and my husband did because he was heavily into the stockers and like the cow calf operation.

We had a sawmill.

I was heavy into the horse industry running two totally different directions, but every night we'd come home and we had about 30 s.

We could just sit on a hill and it was our piece.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yes, yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: fire perspective and priorities got put in place and I said, why are we running so hard in so many different directions?

We have a passion for the sheep.

We know we can farm.

Let's go hard for this, for this industry together.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: that's kind of how we got into sheep.

They've always been in the background, I mean, all the way through our whole lives.

There's the thing behind me actually, where my grandma herself, one farmer of the year at Sedalia stuff because of the sheep, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: they've always been a part of our life.

Just cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: heavy my adult life as what they are right now.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

And when did y'all make that change?

To really focus on the sheep?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: About three years ago.

This is what the what not to dos and farming.

So when we had first got married, we went pretty heavily into just the feed thought situation with the sheep and goats.

We'd cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: 'em up, get rid of 'em, you know, buy 'em when the market was low.

it's someone that was hot.

So then the horse industry in my aspect really took off and we kind of got out of that.

So for the next seven years, I went heavy into the horse industry.

And then when, so I said we had our small flock, but when we moved here I said, let's go all in.

We sold the stocker cattles, we sold our cattle farm.

We sold everything except for them.

And I called my husband and I said, tell your friend and his name's Ter and he kind of lives down here and he owns a sale barn in Salem, Arkansas.

And we said, bring as many as you can.

Wrong thing to do.

We, so we ended up from the sale barn and from our own journey of just finding a mountain in 300 head of Es from all walks of life, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh boy.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I learned, I think everything that there was to learn about a sheep and then some with, with that.

So about three years ago, we went all in with, with all the girls and.

You know, it's, it's been a ride.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Well, just, just the aspect, you know, if you want some experience by you, some cell barn animals.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

And cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: They, they, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: at the same time was, yeah, that cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Don't cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: do.

Yeah.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: So what was your biggest takeaway from those, that initial flock in getting started on those huge numbers?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So when they all came, it was the fall and the sheep themselves, I will say as a whole, were great.

So cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: it was just the learning experience.

We were not rotationally grazing at that time.

So they come here in the winter.

We bought 'em in the fall.

We did not breed any of those sheep for winter lambs.

But it just so happens it was the coldest snap in, I think in the United States history.

It really wasn't, but in that time it felt like it was.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: We were sleeping in the barn.

There was use that were, people said, well, how'd you end up with so many bottle babies?

A first timer can, you can give her time to bond with her baby when it's negative 14 windshield.

I mean, and we were in a barn, but they didn't even have time cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: up and take care of 'em.

Like if they weren't taking care of 'em in that moment, like you had to just take 'em because there was no, there was no heating lamps.

We had that many, we didn't know when they were bred.

I think that was the hardest part for us was the not knowing fighting all winter when you used, were having babies when they weren't.

So I'm not saying the sale barns are, of people is like, if they're the plague, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Well, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: you buy at certain times, you better be ready to manage them in the winter, not knowing what you're getting.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right.

And you can just make that assumption.

Whatever we.

On our first flock we bought, we bought like 35 ues and it had came with some lambs and they'd been running with a ram and he's like, they're bred to lamb in November.

Well, November came and went with no lambs, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Oh, no.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: you know, so, so we, we, we got some winter lambs later on that year.

But yeah, whatever you buy anticipating, anticipate something else happening too, because you just never know.

I know with our flock, we purchased it with the understanding the guy had bred them, raised them there, very naive about sheep.

I'd seen sheep or wool sheep in ag when I went through FFA and thought never because I had dairy cows and they were so much easier than the, the sheep they.

They boxed those sheep and sheared them and trimmed them.

It was like every day they were giving haircuts.

It's like, whoa.

Too much work.

And then I go to OSU and I needed a elective class to graduate and I took sheep science and the professor there was like, you know, a quarter of land, 160 acres, you can pay for a sheep.

Now that was long ago when we had the wool incentive.

So, so it's always stuck in the back of my mind, Hey, that's kinda interesting.

And Hare Sheep started getting popular and I, I went up to Lincoln University in Missouri to a small ruminants deal and came home saying, we gotta buy some sheep.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: So we, we found this flock in bottom and the guy says he, he raised them, they're good registered ka and ram on 'em, get 'em home.

They don't lamb on time.

And with hindsight, I can look at you, look at 'em and say, yeah, those were put together.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Some had ducktails, some didn't.

You start looking at scrappy tags.

They have different states of origin.

I'm like, how obvious does it have to be for me to miss squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yes.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: were put together?

Because at the time, I guess I was just so eager to get some, but that's gonna be some of the same issues.

You go through a cell barn, you can get some, some decent animals there, but you can also get some animals that have some problems.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yes.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: there for a reason?

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I do say that to people.

We kinda have a unique situation with the operation we have going as far as buying use out of the sale barn and things.

But I tell people all the time, and I guess this is coming from the really the horse industry of maybe from driving hundreds of miles to look at a horse that somebody lied to me about.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: You can get it at a someone's house just as bad as you can get it at a sale barn.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Well, and that's true.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And because when they run those flocks through and that a lot of people think, oh.

know, homegrown or home rays, typically they're not, they're put together a lot of them.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: you run them in as a bunch, you're not going in and checking every mouth, every foot, every cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And so people really, every eye people get hung up on the sale barns.

And I'm not an advocate.

Not everybody should go out and do 'em, but if you do have experience, get ripped off in someone's farm just the same as you can a sale barn, except for you have 6,000 chances pick from versus somebody's 20 that you have to Because cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: oh.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: 'em.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right, right.

And and the other thing about hair sheep, and you all, you had been exposed to sheep more than I had, but the learning curve for sheep was much steeper squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yes.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: I thought it thought it would be.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yep.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: I got 'em.

I thought they were miniature cattle.

I thought I can just work 'em through my cattle pans.

No, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: No.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: that did not work.

Does not work.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: no, it does not.

And I tell people all the time, the Lord put that sheep needed a shepherd so many times in the Bible because that is exactly what they need When you get sheep, it, it is not just throw 'em out there.

We feel like when we added the numbers, now, this was pre this heightened, you know, with the cattle market right now, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: crunch the numbers and you can make more money per acre with sheep.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

I have to agree.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: work for every penny that you get from them.

You really do.

You, they're not something that when we had our small flock of 30 on a big acreage, I think that it was great.

We'd go out there in the evenings.

There was days where we didn't see 'em, you know, and cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: But if you're gonna start doing the ro, the intense rotational grades with high numbers.

You have to check your stock.

You've got to shepherd them because they were truly not meant to be in condensed areas like they are.

You know, they were in the hills and happy and going from ground to ground.

I cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: the fields, they're scurrying everywhere and they would never stop.

But cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: 'em in these small areas, we make 'em eat the same grass you have to shepherd 'em.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

And getting to that new farm, you've got this flock that you've already had some experience with.

I assume at that point you've got 'em straightened out, doing them better, and you go to this new farm with high tinsel.

And what's your process there?

Because like you mentioned, the sheep didn't know it, so they didn't respect it.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Oh, it was a free for all.

I'm cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: I, I, I could only imagine it.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So we have, you have to keep in mind, I'm coming heavy from the horse industry at this time.

I have 70 head of horses that we brought cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh wow.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: that time, we only had 30 head of sheep, maybe 50 their lambs and things.

So the cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: the issue.

It was the horses tore down all the high cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, I imagine so.

I, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: that the people that owned it before us didn't even have it hooked up, right?

So you can only imagine.

They just took everything.

So by choice, we really went back to just set stalking the whole farm cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: oh yes.

Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: it was cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I looked at my husband and I said, I will never, ever use hot hotwire ever again.

And now here we are with Hotwire everywhere, but you, you know, when people are not educated and that's why we strive so hard on our page to mentor and like just tell people the transparency truth of what we went through.

If you're not educated, you can get yourself in some real miserable pickles with farming all the way cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And, and so that was a whole learning curve with that high tinsel.

Everything came down.

We set stocked, it was a train wreck and then we, then we brought the sale barn use and that was a train wreck.

So for the first two years of our intense farming with these sheep has been quite the ride, to say the least.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: So how did you, you go from that to starting to rotate 'em and manage the pastors better?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So the moment when you're living it, it's, you don't really see why you're going through what you're going through.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: as I was crying it in a bucket in my garage with 52 bottle lambs that winter, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh man.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Tom Perkins and Cameron Meley cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Sheet cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Sheep podcast.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: and I listened to one of their episodes and I got hungry for it.

And I.

Just kept educating and kept educating and maybe to the point where I drove myself crazy.

But you almost have to, if you're gonna make it in this industry at high numbers, you gotta know what you're doing.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

So that's how we got introduced into the grazing was through, through Tom and Cam kind of sitting there and explaining what they were doing.

And I thought, well that's nothing like, that's nothing.

I've never heard of this before.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Mm-hmm.

So that was an experience.

And then we signed up for, my dad had actually got into farming and he had not been in farming since I was a kid.

Him and mom got divorced and the family farm and things got sold and had gone into this rotational grazing and he bought a farm that was completely wrecked.

The guy had not done anything to it.

Ran horses on it, you know, horses set stocking are just rough on cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: like 25 years.

And he went to this grazing school and he keeps coming back and talking about all this stuff, and I don't wanna hear nothing.

He's gotta say, he's my dad.

I'm like, you don't even know, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: I have kids.

I understand.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Well, he, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: And I have parents.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: there you go.

Well, I started seeing the changes that was on his property, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: about the time where like, I found those podcasts and I started diving into it, and then I went to grazing school.

But to see the changes that was made on his farm with his cattle and what they had going on was just unbelievable.

So I cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: all had.

I didn't wanna live this life anymore.

I, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: yeah, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: school did you go to?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: it was through the state.

It was just here in how county, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, okay.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: we were gonna do the fencing projects and things like that, but.

impatient.

We didn't have time.

We didn't have cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yeah.

Wait on like the E quip.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: yes, it's an amazing program and I encourage anybody if you don't know to go to grazing school 'cause that's gonna start making your brain work and ask those questions and what's available to me and things.

We didn't wait for it and it was only because sheep our, I knew that we had made it to where we were by the good graces of God and our sheep could not handle another year like what we'd been doing the last two years and we cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: you know?

It cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: So grazing school was a big influence.

Your dad was a influence.

However much you, you didn't want that influence.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: well, how else did you, you use the Grazing Sheet podcast to educate you.

How else did you gain more knowledge about it?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So, well, when I would listen to them talk and.

I know this sounds crazy, but we didn't sleep.

It was insane when those yous were having babies and you know, we moved here and we, we put all of our eggs in one basket, which is probably not the smart thing to do either, but, we had to make it work.

So I would just listen to 'em all day long and if they said something on the podcast that I didn't know what it was, I would Google it or type it into podcasts and I'd start listening to another podcast cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: in depth what that was.

And then, I mean, it got to a point where I just messaged him and we'd be like, Hey, what do you think about this?

And what, you know, we cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: and that really helped out a lot.

But not furthering your education, because I'm gonna tell funny about a sale barn owner.

He had said that his sheep weren't doing very good and he's bringing 'em to a sale.

He owns a very large sale.

my husband was like, Hey, you need to check their frea.

What is that?

We have people in the industry.

Who are just the uneducated into what it really takes to manage and things.

So if you don't act on what you hear somebody say and truly be hungry for it, further information, or just say, Hey, I'm here to learn.

What did you mean by that?

Even if it makes you look silly, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: that's how we learn and contacting other producers and just sound boarding off of each other.

Just like we're talking.

you said something, I'd be like, well, what do you mean by that?

And you just learn.

And learn and learn.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

That, that network you build can be so valuable squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: yes.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: and.

I have to admit, I'm not great at that.

I'm not great about reaching out.

I'm not great about meeting people and doing that.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: yeah, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: kind of drug me into it.

So I, I talk to people all the time, all over the place and have their numbers, and squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: yeah.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: it's a really nice benefit of the Grazing Grass podcast that I have all these opportunities that if I have a question or something, I can contact them and they, and we've had a dialogue, so they're like, yeah, but a lot of people's out there willing to help.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

And cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: gotta reach out.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: yeah, in your Facebook page that you've created with all the graziers that can talk and ask questions, and it's so hard to ask any type of information this day and age in a safe place.

And I, that because somebody will post something on the internet.

'cause I want to know what other people think.

So I do that a lot and I get a lot of, well, why don't you ask your vet?

Why don't you do, you just get tore down?

And so for people who are cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: You do.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: shut down instantly.

So for what you guys have going on, I think that's beautiful just make those connections and talk to people who are gonna be transparent about what they have.

And, and so that's what, that's why we got so passionate about our page and helping people is because.

The industry's going down.

The decline of farmers that are coming up is not there.

So if we don't educate people, we're basically saving ourselves by educating them to get into the industry cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: not gonna be here.

What are we gonna do?

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

Yeah.

And, and I wanna speak to that about the Grazing Grass community, just for a moment.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Mm-hmm.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: know, I, I'm part of so many groups on Facebook and it, the groups, you know, some of the groups, you post something and people, rather than having a nice discussion, they tell you how dumb you are squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yes.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: and what are you thinking?

And there's no, you know, criticism can be constructive or it can be destroying.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Absolutely.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: just destroying.

And that's what I want in the Grazing Grass community.

I want people to be able to ask those questions that someone else may say is stupid, but I don't want anyone to say they're stupid.

I want us to support each other.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: We're all in this journey together.

And just because you think a question is stupid at your journey point in your journey doesn't mean it was at the point they are.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: no, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: and you know, if I'm not very smart, it takes me a long time to learn stuff.

So, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: here.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: you know, having those discussions and, and I'm really, I actually had a listener reach out to me and say, how do you have the, the community support each other?

So, well, I said, I don't know.

It's just a expectation squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yes, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: that I put out there that, that we're helping each other.

We're not coming across that anything stupid if someone ask a question, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: yes, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: if you don't have something productive or.

To improve the conversation, then don't post it.

You can go somewhere else and post that stuff.

But not in the grazing grass.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So we cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So when I came from the horse industry, we had a page and it's called Restless Ranch, and we still do it.

I think it's great.

It's just slowed down with the sheep, getting them off.

And that is one thing with the gr like yours, the grazing community page, we didn't tolerate it.

If you were cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: second, you just got, there was no argument back and forth.

You were just cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right, right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: these people are here to learn.

We really cater to the beginners and we've seen the need for it in that cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: just the same as this.

so there is no dumb question.

I mean, if, if I would've gone online and said, Hey, I just bought if sale barn news, what do I do?

Can you imagine the backlash that I cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, man.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Wow.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

Which, which would that backlash, any of it helped you out?

No, I.

You are there.

You're not changing what's been done.

You just need a path forward.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yes.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: information to go forward.

Yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yep.

And I cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: I, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: strong people to come alongside me.

I needed a great vet and I needed to be myself hungry to make sure that what I was doing, if you tell me to do something, this is one thing I, I do find upsetting in this industry is if you, if somebody tells you to do something, need to research to make sure that that is right.

Don't just go home and do it to your flock, because you'll find yourself in quite the pickle and, and say, well, so and so told cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Wow.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: for instance, we got in on that.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Wow.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: be transparent.

We lost a lot of stock over this.

I did not research it.

I'd always heard, Hey, don't feed silage if you do.

You know, there's, there's stuff that could go wrong.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: know.

We took the word off of a guy who bales hay for a living, does silage, different kinds.

I mean phenomenal people, but they didn't know sheep.

But in my head, the hay guy's telling me this, I'm just gonna do it.

we had all of these views and they were fixing to have babies, and we've been feeding silage and I'm not, they looked so stinking good.

Me and cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: like high fiving, like, wow, our flock looks amazing.

And then I went out there one day and I noticed that there was like three on their way out.

And I thought, well, what in the world is going on?

We lost, I would say, almost 20 s, and I call my vet and thank the Lord we had found her.

And she's just such an asset to our operation.

But I'm bringing a load of ones that were trying to do C-sections.

It was just an awful situation.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: come to find out, they had bailed up a dead animal and our sheep got botulism.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: did cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: no.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, oh.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: was a hard hit.

And so now when somebody says something to me, I'm like, Hey, this could potentially kill a lot of stuff.

So I'm gonna make sure that what they're saying aligns with what cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: maybe they don't know sheep, or maybe cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: maybe they cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Or squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: sheep.

You cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: things for different people.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: And, and their context is so important.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yes, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: you know, we have a 150 UES out here, but if I'm running them on 500 acres, that's different than running them on a much small, smaller acreage.

So squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yes, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: a a lot of stuff there.

Yeah.

You've mentioned your vet a couple times.

How did you go about finding a vet to use and build that relationship?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So first off, I see so many people online and I would ask a question and they'd say, well, ask your vet.

So I'd ask my vet and they would say.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: know.

Or give them, was my favorite.

Give them some safeguard.

Well, no, that's not so they were so surface level we had had some issues where that spring of our first lambing, we had pneumonia come in our herd cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I didn't know what to do.

We had never had that in our other herd.

Well, again, when we had a small flock of 30, everything was groovy.

It was great.

We didn't have any issues.

so when that happened, I really started seeking information.

And I talk about the sale barn owner Salem a lot, but he really saved us in that, of where he got ahold of a guy from Oklahoma and he sent us and, and saved us from that train wreck.

Well then I started thinking about how there was no one in our area that would really help you with the sheep.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

Up.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: kind of funny.

We had this girl move in and she took our horse industry in this area by storm.

She is the most thorough, go to the ends of the earth to find out like she will truly, truly work endlessly for you.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: talking about sheep and she, she's been my vet for like years and years and she said, I love sheep.

I said, you work on sheep?

She goes, oh yeah.

I wrote all kinds of papers about 'em in high school and everything else life changed.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Caitlyn, her name's Caitlyn.

She's down at Gainesville, Missouri.

And.

will do anything that she has to do.

When we had those botulism, she had no idea what was going on, and we've went through so many different things with all those views of different, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: just different things you didn't even know existed.

But she would get to the bottom of every single one of them.

It wasn't a surface level thing.

She's like, Marqui, we're going to figure this out.

It got to where we were working on such a consistent basis and I don't want people to think that, oh, she just runs the vet for everything, but when you don't have a mentor, you don't have anybody else to help you.

There's no other outlets to turn.

The internet's the worst place to go.

Sometimes cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: sometimes you gotta pay for it.

And that's cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: We had to make that relationship.

We had to pay to get those animals autopsies done.

We had to pay to get them in.

We had to pay for everything.

the money that we spent, we, we do get a lot of kickback because we were at the vet so much, but the money that we spent now, we don't do that.

We are not at the vet every day, but for that year.

We saved thousands and thousands of lives on our farm from those cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And she, she got to the point where she's like, Hey, like on a Sunday, she's like, come down here, you got anything going on?

And I said, no.

She's like, bring a lamb and we're gonna practice doing all this stuff on it that you need to know how to do, how to vein cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: and I thought in that moment, what vet will work for you like that?

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah, yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: truly, truly, she's an asset.

She knows what she's talking about, the sheep industry.

I cannot speak for other vets in our area or, you know, I just don't know a lot of 'em.

But the cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right.

I.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: used, I will say that she, she's it, she's got it going on.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, well, very good that a vet can be a tremendous resource and, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: is.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: and wherever you are, you need to find a vet that, that understands what you are doing.

That works with you.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: if she doesn't cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: I squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: she's not too proud to say when the botulism thing's going, mark, she's like, Marqui, I don't know what we're dealing with here.

It could be so many things, but I'm gonna reach out to all these different people and we're gonna get to the bottom of it.

And cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: reassuring to know that you had somebody who was just like, Hey cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: On your side.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: we'll figure this out together.

I don't know, but I'm gonna find the cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So I really like cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: as well.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right.

Very good.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Back to your sheep and, and your farm and high tensile fence, what do you all use for fencing now?

I.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So we went ahead and did just polywire.

We have five strands up and those are set.

So we have those set right now.

Might be something where we switch in the future.

We're going, I want everybody to know we are going to hardwire because feelings about Hotwire have never changed.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: what we had to do in the moment.

So works well.

It keeps them in.

I really don't have complaints about it.

It's just for us, the upkeep of it, because where we have to keep those so low on the ground, you either cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: mow weed, eat, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: not want to spray.

And so I have weed eat my life away.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: so, but that's what we have right now is just the poly wire.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

Do you, when you replace that with a permanent fence, are you gonna go with woven wire or.

You have a different plan squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: so I call our farm the code of many colors because we have, so when we started on our perimeter, we just added barb wire because we needed something to go up quickly and there was cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: strands and we, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: I squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: coming from the situation that we were in, just wanted to get into a home.

It was cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: to have a house fire and, and not have a place, you cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: so we just put up barb wire on the outside parameters, which we are gonna go around and put up woven wire because the breed of sheep that we're gonna be running and raising here, we can't take a chance.

And then on the outside we're gonna be doing woven wire and high tensile three strands just to make sure nothing comes in cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: on the inside.

We have been using, so.

At the 24 inch mark we've been using woven, but it's only 24 inches tall.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: we use that on the bottom.

But where they can get up and scrape, we've been putting Barb because what we have, they wreck the woven.

And so cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: enough.

It stays below their like shoulder line and they don't wanna rub on the barb.

And so it kind of works out.

'cause when we places, when we had our other farm, we had woven, they had it leaned, I mean brand new They just rub and rub and rub.

And so we have found that the 24 inch barb wire on top is kind of what we wanna go with.

But on the outside perimeter, we will be doing the tall, we won't do the cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: oh.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: And, and we've got some barb wire fences.

We've added, you know, is five wire and squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: it's seven or eight because we've added more wire.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Of course, if there's a dip in the, in the ground there, you gotta be aware of that.

Or the sheep will find it.

And once they find it, it's all over.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: tell all their friends.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: They do.

And then you've got a hundred head of sheep going through a hole made for one lamb squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yep.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: and it.

And they remember it, you know, you can, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: they do.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: they're, you know, they're interesting and they're not the smartest animals a lot of people would say, but they know exactly where they've gotten out in the past, and they will go straight to that spot.

It doesn't matter how many other pastors there are, they know exactly where to go.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Oh, for sure.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: And so we also have some woven wire.

We've got some with four by four, and we've also got some goat, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Mm-hmm.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: goat woven wire.

So the stays are, I don't know, 12 inches, 15 inches apart.

And like you said, we ran a hot wire on the inside of some of that to keep 'em from rubbing on it.

But we haven't done it all.

And I have the hot wire on this place down right now.

But yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: cattle, sheep, they are all so rough on woven wire because they just want to rub on it.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yes.

Yep.

It is, it is disheartening when you put up brand new wove wire and look out there and they have a big old Waller spot in it.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yes, yes, yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: So with your, your rotations today, you're doing daily rotations, you squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yes.

So we do daily rotations.

Right now we have them on, I would say an acre to acre and a half.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I was actually listening to the podcast with Ricky not too long ago, and she was talking about insurance fields.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, I love the concept of insurance fields.

I said it on the podcast.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So that's kind of what we had going on.

We've only used, would say, a fourth, maybe half of our farm and cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: have been doing it.

We, we really do have a grass farm, and that contributes back to the how long that this place has been rotationally, grazed, and.

now they're on an acre, an acre and a half.

But when we get our hard wire up, we're gonna break that down again with Polywire because cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: so, so much, and I know we want to leave behind a, a, an immense amount, but it was just over abundance and our whole farm was getting away from us.

And so, and we also want, you know, with the sheep, as long as you can draw it out, the better.

So we don't want them cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: We want as many paddocks as we can on this farm.

But if I told cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: right now, honey, you gotta build another set of breakups with the hot wire.

I might not be here.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

Yeah.

Does, does Ryan help a lot on the farm or is it mainly you doing that?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: so.

It has been basically me and I've got three girls down here.

My son, we, we do a lot of it, but he does work off farm, so he's gone a few days, but we just, he recently changed jobs because it just got too much for us.

Yeah.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: With the numbers that we have now, we, we've increased since those 300 cell barn news that we've had, and it's just gotten too much for just me and the kids.

So cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: is here and yeah, we're able cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Well, very good.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: a lot more now.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

Which can be great or cannot be great.

Just depends on, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: together.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: you all's relationship goes with that.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: We, we, even when we had the stalkers and the horses and stuff, we were together quite a bit working in that.

We might not have been together, but, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: worked well, so we already knew that cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Well, good, good.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Thank the Lord.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: With your lambing, what time of year are you laming your sheep?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So that has been drastically changed.

Obviously everybody would like to have those lambs ready to go right in the middle of winter.

I don't know how it is other places, but our sweet spot, the consistency and the highest points is the dead of winter here because nobody can get their animals to breed in the summertime.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: ideal for us, and I think that's gonna be an option.

I'm super excited, which we'll talk about the breed of sheep that we have going on here in a little bit.

But cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: with them, you know, you're getting a weaning lamb that is of market weight around here is about 60 pounds is your sweet spot.

Those lambs are here and gone in eight weeks.

So that has changed everything for us because cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: we were just sitting there and raising these things for four and five months, waiting on the market, you know, and, and basing it around that.

And so, you know.

I'm hoping that from here on out we'll be breeding this time of year, lambing late fall and having those babies ready to go right in that perfect market.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

So yeah, naming Mean Late Fault, and you're selling lambs in that early spring or late winter window.

That's really nice.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: would be perfect to cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Mm-hmm.

In our area.

I don't know what other, you know, areas around, but that's our good spot for that.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

Very good.

And and what size lamb are you shooting for at that point, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So at that point, if they weighed anywhere from 60 to 65 pounds, you really start to lose money on them.

You're just kind of feeding them for free past that.

And in our cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right?

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: directly to the dinner table, basically, you know, they want those, and I tell people, think of it as like Thanksgiving dinner.

They want a Turkey, they can eat.

You don't want a Turkey, your family's gonna have to eat on for five weeks.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: You, right, right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: it for that dinner.

And that's kinda our market is in this area.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

With, are you all marking them through a sale barn or you doing direct to consumer?

Obviously with your numbers, that'd be a lot of direct to consumer.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So we have always marketed to the sale barn now with what we have going on.

I've got a good friend down in Mississippi, his name's Russell Schmidt.

He is the lead on our meat deal of what we've got going on with the Australians and with their, I don't wanna talk too much about them because I know we're gonna go into a segment, but their meat quality is so much different than any other lamb.

So we will be doing quite a bit.

Our regular cross breed that we are phasing out of those will be go to just the meat market, but this higher end quality, those will be going direct to consumers.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah, let's go ahead and switch to the overgrazing section and the overgrazing section, we take a deeper dive in some aspect of your operation.

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com cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: For the overgrazing section, we're gonna focus on the breed of sheep you're grazing.

So why don't you introduce us, introduce our audience to the breed you're using.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So we have always ran katahdin and dorper crosses and.

When this switch from, and I, I'm a wool girl at heart.

That's what I grew up with.

So I always got some of them in there.

You know, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: is not happy about it, comes sharing time, but I cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: I'm sure.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: It's where your roots were.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: anyway, we've always had a little bit of wool in there somewhere.

But we've always done tau and doper crosses.

So that was our base herd of the 30 to 50 that we had.

And we always just ran for fun.

And then when we started diving into this, I needed the numbers.

We needed this to work.

Everything else is off the table.

So we have to have the biggest and the baddest meat market lamb in the country.

So what does cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: They want something that's here and gone the fastest they can.

'cause animals, lambs die.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right, right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: least amount of input and they want a healthy, all well-rounded lamb that you don't have to just put so much time and investment into.

So we started with the Dorper Cains.

We just had typically ter bias, the best rams that came through the sale barn.

And that's just kind of all what we used.

And cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I got listening to Tom and Cam about NSIP, and then I think it was I can't think of the guy they always have on there, but he started talking about whenever he had bought a ram that was NSIP and just using just commercial rams and it added seven pounds because he had the numbers.

It added seven pounds of lamb cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh wow.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: every lamby raise.

And I added that up and I was like.

We're losing thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars, truly just by not investing in a good ram.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: that phase gone.

So then we take the next step up and we go get those registered animals and the ones that had numbers and all the things.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: And you, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: tried it all.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: oh yeah.

And you'd mentioned Sedalia earlier.

Did, did you go that auction there?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: we went to the, I just like to know what's in the industry.

My husband was like, why are we gonna the Midwest RAM sale?

I said, 'cause I wanna know what's going on.

I wanna know.

You have to know if you're in it.

I'll watch sales all the time because I wanna be able to know for a fact when I'm talking to somebody, what I'm talking about.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I think it's so important for us to do our research and to be able to know, 'cause I got told a lot of bad misinformation.

I don't wanna do that to someone else.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So, anyway, with that being said, we had went up and we bought, what I thought was these are the, these are the guys we're fixing to socket to these lambs.

you see all these things online and I, I do understand that a lot of people are running wool up north and stuff.

And so you gotta take that in consideration.

But I wanted the wool numbers and growth, but I want it in a hair sheet.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: find that?

I don't know.

So we went on the hunt for it when we were in the middle of this.

So this is our first lamb crop with all of our good rams, and we got textiles in there and it's fixing to happen for us.

then I had been tracking the Australian whites for three years and just couldn't get my hands on them.

And.

Whenever a guy that I know locally, he literally is in the town that I grew up in, posted that he had Australian white youth.

I thought, there's no way.

And so cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: had researched them so much that if they, it was one I could see and know.

So I told my husband, I said, we have got to go over there and see what's going on.

to find out, he had bought two rams off of the first batch that came over here whenever they first came back years ago.

And he had kept those rams and he had been breeding and breeding and breeding.

And when I seen those ewes, my heart started thumping.

I thought, there's no way.

There's no way that this is the real deal.

Well, it was cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: the first batch we brought back was 60 of them, and we brought them back with the ram.

He didn't wanna sell 'em all.

And it almost made me sick to my stomach because before that he had sold, I think 150 or 200.

I didn't know that they were really that, so I just kind of brushed 'em off and he took them to cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: barn.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: oh, oh.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: uses got sent to okay.

anyway, so we brought it home to 60 and they were due the same week as ours.

So I was like, this is perfect those use.

So that winter that we went through with them, and these are all just percentage use, these are not full bloods.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: these percentage use cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: I, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: through, I noticed that we were having to feed and feed and keep these other ones up and going when these Australians just, they'd get over there and eat junk like a goat.

And they were three times as, I mean they were just massive.

And I was like, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: so that's the first thing I noticed about 'em.

The second thing was when our youth started laying down and have babies, we can't take a chance on, we have done pasture lambing before and we still do, but we also bring them up in a jug for two to three days just to get those lambs up and going.

That way they're healthy cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: don't wanna lose anything.

Those Australians would hit the ground I, I go through and tip and or tip nip and dip everybody, give them their shot and make sure ear tags, all of the things are good.

I was physically running as fast as I could, and I know this sounds terrible, but it's the only way I could catch 'em.

I'd have to kick their back feet out from underneath them as newborns.

One of them had seriously had afterbirth on it.

I'm like, this has cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And had 0% death loss on those percentage used cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yes, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And I thought that is in incredible, insane, like to fathom a sheep that is pasture birthing will get up and run, like to the point where an adult has to chase them and and not have any death loss.

Okay.

So that was the first 60 and I thought, this is kind of crazy.

I didn't, I didn't get out there and weigh any of 'em.

We have a newborn and a toddler and so that was a whole experience doing all that by myself with cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So we didn't weigh any of them when they were born, but in eight weeks, higher percentage lambs, we had an oopsie, we missed a ram lamb that had bred some Es and they had lambs back in.

December, January, we had pulled them off when these lambs started being born and put them on full feed.

Those lambs that were born, the day that those, so they were four or five months old, those Australian whites were here in gone weigh and 55 to 67 pounds and went on the same trailer and never had a bite of grain cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: They were out there fighting with 600 other animals on the same acreage bite for bite.

I was just blown away.

And those are, those were our textile ram, you know, influence lambs.

Those were the door, those were Cains, those were everybody and those Australian whites.

And I told my husband, I said, lambs were eight weeks old, never had a bite of grain.

We didn't even vaccinate 'em yet.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: milk and grass.

Just left here in eight weeks.

And for a farmer, and that's one thing when people, I talk to people, they're like, you're just trying to sell something.

We don't have anything to sell.

We're running our numbers up to.

Sky's the limit on how many thousands we will run.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: so excited for the commercial farmer that we're finally gonna get a product that's gonna work for us and we're gonna make money.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

What, what kinda laing percentage did you have with those Australian whites?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So a lot of people say that they're only singles and we have to think about where they're coming from.

And I have not myself heard anybody say this, so this is just strictly what Marquee has observed cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, okay.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: You have to think about the large numbers.

They're running thousands of sheep.

These are not just little.

They think we're just small timers.

If you have 2000 sheep, you know, here want a lamb that will get up and go to work and stay with the mom and that they don't have to babysit.

And so why they are more apt to do the singles, but we also have to think if that lamb, if we have twins that are, we weaning off at 30 to 40 pounds and then we're having to feed 'em for months If we have an cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: here and gone.

My purebred Australian that is coming up here, he, he's one that we bought and I bought all the other ones at adult age.

So for instance, he was born and I know he's on a grass fed.

I bought him from Russell down there and he does all grass, no grain, everything.

At eight weeks old, he weighed 81 pounds at nine weeks and two cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: oh.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: weighed 87 pounds.

if we have a single that is going to make weight of two twins and we have to think about their fertility rate, these are animals that will lay down and have a baby every eight months.

these rams will get out here and work.

And when you would ask about my breeding dates, out here working the herd.

It's July.

There's just no quit in 'em cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: in that environment of the heat.

They don't have a problem with it like our animals do.

So what we've seen in them was now the higher percentage used.

We did start seeing a few more singles, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: have to tell you that the, the animals that we bought, they'd used the same two rams on this flock for five years.

So cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: maybe we seen some inbreeding that a little bit too much inbreeding.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: maybe so.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So we can't really, I can't really speak to that cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: as many they're having in things.

But we, we will know next year for sure because we are going to be lambing out.

We, we have stumbled into a deal where we are gonna have a large number of embryos that will be born here, and then we're gonna have purebreds that'll be having babies.

So I'll be able to next year give people a better idea of cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: out of that.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: we started with mainly kain base U flock.

There was some black bellies in there some mix, but mainly kain.

We've, we've kept it as Cains till last year and we put a dopa ram on them.

And the dopa ram was nothing special.

I was watching Craigslist, looking for a dopa ram, and finally found one over in the edge of Arkansas.

And I drove over there and I get over there and I was disappointed looking at him, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Mm.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: but I thought, I want.

I, I want one.

So I bought him and used them.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Right.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Super impressed with those doper kain cross limbs for us.

In fact, I went and I found another dopa ram that is built really nice.

So he's a step up from that dopa ram got last year.

So I'm really looking forward to that.

But it sounds like to me from you that your Australian shepherds are putting a doper, kaan crosses to shame, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yes.

And so I want people to know, again, we don't have a dog in this fight as far as selling anything.

We don't cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: to sell.

Now, I can point you to producers that do, and ones that do have quality.

I'm just saying that we have tried the dopers, we've tried the textiles, we've tried the Cains, we've tried, I got into a whole ramen off thing just for multiple numbers.

That was a nightmare.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I mean, we, we've done the wool.

We've just done a variety of breeds that matter to people.

And what we have seen is less issues and better lambs than what we could have ever.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Had with the other ones.

And it's not that we could have, we're just saying that no, we've lived that in a high number cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: of animals.

That's what we're seeing has worked the best for for us.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: and, and I know getting ready for this episode, I did a little bit of research on the Australian austral, Australian whites, get that spit out on Australian whites, and I was very impressed by the pictures I seen.

They look like they have really good carcasses and, and better size than what we're seeing with a lot of the other hare sheep, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And that is one thing that I do like about them from what I'm seeing as a producer standpoint.

We all want that 900 pound cow that raises a calf bigger than her, you know?

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right?

If she'll wean a thousand pound calf, I'd be happy.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And so, exactly.

So that's what we're seeing with these Australians, is that they're not these big old monster sheep.

They are just little workers and they wanna do a job.

When people come out here, they're like, that's how big as the Rams are.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: but hey, they explode to 80 pounds cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: it's just pretty incredible all the way around and the meat qualities, and that's something that's really gonna change the industry.

In our last meeting they announced that the Australian whites will be the first Aus or first sheep that is certified like Black Angus and Wagyu and cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: that's incredible.

There's gonna be a huge demand for them.

And that is something that when they were doing the design of the breed, they didn't plan for.

And so all the numbers, all the data, everything out of these sheep is not just something that Graham is saying.

So Graham and he's the original founder at Tady Cal.

He has actually taken them to the universities, put them out, took the meat off of them, tested everything, and the Wagyu is I think a 32 or something that Australians are, have a lower melting point than them.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: the same omegas and aminos and things as fish.

Think about all the people that have high cholesterol.

They're gonna be able to eat a burger again.

I mean, it's incredible what they're cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: and they don't have, I personally am not a Lamb fan because I don't like the Wang on the end of it.

It's kind of just a different taste.

They do not have that, so cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

Wow.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: crosses that stout lamb taste is dissolving away.

And so I've not ate a pure bread yet because they're too expensive, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right, right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I'm hoping to get ahold of some of that soon.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

Now Australian whites breed developed in Australia.

Whereabouts in Australia?

Because you've got a, a huge environmental difference.

Were they in the drier area?

Were they in the more tropical areas?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So I do not know cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, okay.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: but I do know that they have been all over the world, and Graham talks about that in so many different things about how they had to perform in all these different environments.

So wherever they are, they have been thriving.

So, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: So how's parasites with them?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: so far, the parasites, we have not had an issue with.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: The group that we brought, it's because we went back and got 150 of those used just recently.

And I will say that when we brought them here, a lot of people say, don't worm 'em anything.

went ahead and worm anything that comes on our property because we don't wanna deal with anything, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: far as what they're bringing in and whatnot.

Their eyes were cherry red, and so far out here, I was worried about it because you take use that have ran, they were running over hundreds of acres and then bring 'em here and put 'em on a condensed area.

But the lambs, everybody's been good, so we haven't had any issues out of 'em and the babies cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: anything like that.

They've done really, really well for us.

So term, I'll let you guys know if we run into any issues, but so far they've been really well, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, very good.

You mentioned a little bit ago about the mature size.

What is the mature weight on a u and a lamb?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: so cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: and a ram.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So the U'S are 150 to 170, but I have not seen any of ours that are that big.

They, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: to be around the 120 to 150.

I mean, she'd have to be a whopper, but I think where the weight comes from is the meat.

So cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: but they're really, really thick.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I've heard they get up to 250, but like I said, ours are not that big.

I need to cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: weigh them.

They just don't, you know, you see some of those guitar ends that they get so tall and, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: but they kind of remind me, which they are kind of made up of textile, but they kinda remind me of textile.

Just like they're just real bulldog and just really cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: but you don't have to worry cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: I.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: the broad shoulders and things when they're lambing because they come out like little bricks.

They are so thick all the way through, you know, and the textiles, they have the head and they have the big shoulders.

And that's where gotten into some trouble on those when we lay those out.

But the Australians, they just, no matter how big they are, they just cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: that on the commercial side of it, where you don't have to babysit them even though they're having big, healthy lambs.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: and they, their lambs have cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Than what any of our other ones have been, but cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: the color difference.

'cause squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: because they're just uniformed all the way down.

Mm-hmm.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: when you're talking Australian white, you're talking a, a white sheep.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yes.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: When you talk dopers, you know they've got the black head dirt.

There's white dopers as well, but outside the color.

If you're looking at a doper and you're looking at an Australian white, how would you tell 'em apart?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: You're gonna, I'm sure if you've looked them up online, you're gonna really see those facial features.

They have black points, black eyes black noses.

They almost look, if you look at a sheep and it looks like a brar cow.

You know, it's Australian.

They just have that really nice, unique look about 'em.

Their ears kind of cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: and they always have, it seems like those black marks under their eyes.

They just really, that's the way I've been telling people.

They just look like a little brain cow.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

And so that is something that glad we kind of went into because people really need to be careful out there.

And when the breed got brought over the first time and.

So this is the second outcoming I would say of the Australians when the breed got brought over the first time there was a lot of scamming.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: breed over a white U, so if you got an Australian and bred over a kain, those F ones come out and you're like, holy cow, it looks like an Australian.

They stamp their babies so strongly cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: people see that look that you see online of, you know, the real brainy look and the black points and they think, oh, that's an Australian no, you, you really DNA is gonna be the way to go in this.

And right now it's not so heavy, but the breeders that are gonna stay long term are gonna be already started this.

We actually took our rams and have DNA verified everything but people.

Cannot go out and pay a lot of money for an F1 thinking it's a purebred.

So you say you spend $2,500 and you bought a F1, you breed it back to your use, you're getting au and there's no growth rate.

All you're seeing is that stamp look on 'em, it's a cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And you think, I just spent $2,500 for nothing.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: got scammed.

So that is gonna be a huge, huge, huge thing.

And I, I cannot bring enough awareness to people that you have got to know true breeders, who they are and, and DNA, you might not get as many breeders again right now that have been DNA verifying because we're just starting to do this in the United States.

But it's too much money to waste for us commercial breeders if it's not gonna perform like one should.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And the percentage ones.

You also have to think, I would never, I know that people are gonna have to because they're just so expensive and there's not very many of 'em, just to get those front genetics in before the, the abundance of the rams come over.

But you have got to make sure they're higher percentages, otherwise they're just, the performance is not gonna be there for you.

But on those higher performance, one, just like our percentage use eight weeks and you got a lamb that's here and gone, that's cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: a F1 or F two, you're really backing them back down into more of a kain or do, or whatever they're crossed with.

And you're not gonna see those numbers go up.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah, I know.

Just talking about that timeframe.

The last two years, we've lambed out a portion of our flock in February with the remainder lambing in May, but those February ones, if the weather coal operates on lambing, it is so nice because I'm selling them straight off to you in May, and I don't have that extended time.

It's before hot weather gets here.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: yes, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: not worried about parasites as bad with them because they're, they're here and they're gone.

So there's lots of appeal to me for that added weight in that short period of time to get 'em, get 'em on the ground and get 'em out.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

And so what we'll see with those and this is not just something that I am taking for word over here in the United States.

I'm a get it from the source of the mouth county girls.

So I've been talking to people in Australia, they're leaving, they're, which they don't wean as early as what we do.

They're, they're more international.

But 55 pounds, they hit that in six weeks.

So you're gonna lamb in February, and those lambs are gonna be gone 1st of April, mid-February, whichever.

And those are not even lambs that are performing on grain, that is grass-based only.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: and truly, if you start putting a little grain out there to them, are you gonna see a lamb for a producer that could be gone in a month?

Now it's cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: time to get to these purebred numbers of what we need to in the United States.

in the end of this game, when the, the news wore off, every producer, I believe, will have to move to an Australian white because they cannot afford not to.

How do you put a number down on missing two to three months that you didn't have that animal here?

No vaccinations, no grain, no cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: It's not just the fact that they're finishing sooner, but it's what they don't have to have in comparison to other breeds and how fast they're leaving.

is the cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: in our commercial.

We can't afford anything else.

And that's I came home, I actually got in the car.

I was like, I wanna see firsthand people who are breeding these.

So I took three, that's how determined I was.

I took three little girls and went on a three day round trip and toured farms.

And when we left there, I called my husband and I said, load every single ram that we have up in that trailer, I've seen it, I believe it.

'cause I'm looking around these farms, looking for the creek feeders.

Where are they at?

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: what's cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And there's none.

their, their farms were flat.

I mean there was barns of what we was in 'em, they just weren't there.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: like, how do you, it's unbelievable until you experience it and we've experienced it and we sold everything else and went all out into it.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, very good.

For, for Australian whites, is there a breed association?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yes.

So.

There is two breed associations in the United States and the A-A-W-S-B-A is the only association that is backed by Graham Gilmore himself in Tady, Kel in Australia.

He sends us embryos over, he gets on Zoom meetings, which is so nice that we can actually sit there and have a conversation with him about our questions and, and not just getting it from anybody else.

So if you're not a member, even if you do not have Australian whites, I think it would be wise for you to just go ahead, I think it's $35 to become a member.

Get on those Zoom calls, start listening to what's going on.

only that, but how cool is it that these are gonna be the top producing sheep in the United States in the industry?

There's no doubt about it, but that you could be on the forefront of something so cool.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I mean, sometimes whenever we get on the Zoom calls, there's like 10, 20 people to log in, so there's just not that many in the United States, but you get to be a part of something that's gonna work.

There's, everything's already established in the world.

This is something cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: exciting and it's, it's just something that's gonna change the industry.

So why not get on there and just listen to those Zoom meetings, talk to other producers and see what could be available to you.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

And and you mentioned there's Zoom meetings available through the association.

Does the association sponsor any sales or field days, or is this too early for that?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Not it right now.

I know that the other association does, but cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: I, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I think that as we get going, we will.

I know we will.

I've already cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Several people.

We got some barns going up.

It's an exciting time around here.

Feeding barns, stud barns, all the things.

So next year when we have our farm completely ready to go.

We want people to come here, see 'em.

We already have people that come and I'm just like, we had a tornado come through.

Don't mind the mess.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: we really wanna open our doors and say, Hey, come and see.

And not just for the farmer that's got five and what's registered stock.

I'm talking to the big producers, come and cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: really going on here.

Come and see what, what we have Bite for bite.

And that's the thing when you have animals competing, bite for bite.

Sometimes some fall out, sometimes this and that.

But I have two pins out cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: bottom end of the Australian wines and my bottom end of the door perca that we raise.

And I set them side by side so people can see this is the bottom end.

And they're like, oh my goodness.

So to see it truly and know what you're looking at, there's no hiding it.

Our whole farm's open, you can see everything is, is gonna be a huge game changer.

So I hope that they start doing those field days, but if not, we will.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

Very good.

Before we move off of the Australian whites, is there anything else you wanna add about the breed specifically before we talk about y'alls future?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

I just think that way around, we don't have the feed issues.

The breeding every eight months.

The fact that these guys are gonna get up and go to work for us in the summertime is gonna be a game changer.

The meat industry, when they start rolling out these higher end meat qualities and things like that, it's gonna give the producer another outlet.

It's gonna open up the door to more customers.

We're just gonna have more options as we go.

And the fact that they're shedding.

The black feet that they've put on and they stand up.

They're, they're just an all around, all around animal with less production cost.

I just do not see the downside of them in what we have going on.

And I think that cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: to cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: and start researching and really see the, the only downside, and this is something I would like to bring to light, the only downside, and don't get discard in this because I know that I have chased them for so long and wasn't able to get my hands on them.

Everybody is trying so hard to get them into the industry and to make more cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: us, they have to understand that these embryos that are coming embryo work is hard enough.

And so a lot of times it doesn't work.

So you're looking at 50 50 best chance they're cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: their herds.

And with that being said, I think people are getting frustrated because they're not available.

It's coming.

This next year is gonna be the best year for anybody to get.

with that being said, don't lose hope.

There's embryo routes.

I know people are gonna start doing stud fees.

gonna be so many different options available to get ahold of them and be like us.

I should have jumped on this gravy train three years cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: so much time I wish I would've done it then.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

Kind of like South Poles are pretty popular in the cattle world right now.

And I had looked at some, I don't want, I don't know, 20 10, 20 11.

Early on I'd found some, I looked at 'em and I decided, I just don't know.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Had I had the foresight, I would've changed that decision and we'd be in different place, you know?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: like me.

You always get in on the tail end of everything.

People cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: don't you get in the Highlanders?

I was like, 'cause as soon as we do, they tank everything we've ever done is that way.

But so I say to you, this is the first time where we can actually be in the forefront of something.

And cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

Yeah.

Very good.

You, you mentioned a couple times, eight month lambing.

Are you all doing accelerated lambing?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: We will be doing accelerated lambing.

When you have an cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: that keeps the body condition, and I, I, I share a lot on our page, like these views out here, these percentage ones.

We actually last Sunday sold our last of the katata and doper crosses and we just said we're taking a chance and we're only going to percentage, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So they're out here having these babies right now twins and look just as big and beautiful like they never had.

And I know that a lot of people will say, well, my, my cat and my door could do this.

I do believe that there are animals out there that look as good, can maybe compete in the same aspect, but they're not commercial farmers out here with 600 head fighting.

You know what I'm cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: These cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: that in such a big scale.

Where they really are having to perform at their top.

We just have not found at a consistent basis of every single one of those.

UES is exactly the same.

The inconsistency with the doper, kato and crosses is all over the place.

The cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: so cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: say we didn't have just a few that perform like this because we do have a kain that lays down and has a baby every eight months.

She's amazing.

But that's one in all of the time I've known them, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: assistance or cedars or anything like that.

So with that being said, these es when they're weaning off these lambs, it's six and eight weeks, their body condition is peak.

you take that lamb off of 'em, let 'em go, they're breeding right back and you got cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: on the ground.

And even if, and this kind of goes back to that single we had talked about, 'cause I, lot of people do say the Australians, but if she raises you every eight months and 81 pounder in six to eight weeks.

I don't know what a cat, Todd and Dopa that can raise twins that will do that for you, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: 'cause most of the time cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: to rear 'em, you have to wean 'em, you gotta feed 'em all the things.

I'm not saying there's not animals out there that will perform great, us, this is just our experience.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: It's working really well for you.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah it cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: And, and that leads us into our next question.

Where's, what's the future hold for Y's farm?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So we have a lot of big things going on right now.

I'm so excited.

We have the last of our Es.

We had an opportunity with the solar farms down in Texas called and cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Hey, what do you got?

And I told my husband, I said, this is our opportunity.

Let 'em go at one whack.

Everything we've got that we don't want.

If it looks at us sideways, crossways didn't perform, it's gone.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: we got rid of those.

And it's kind of crazy.

I always talk about how in the moment you don't really know what that, what's coming, but God has a plan all the way.

Because as soon as we got those out, we got a call and now we have, two different flocks coming that are gonna be carrying purebred embryos.

We're gonna be lambing these out for another operation and growing our own, and with the fire that we had, we're not obligated to anything ground's ground to us.

And we're not stuck here.

We're gonna use this farm to the best of our ability and we're just gonna keep going.

We love cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: you know, we're gonna have a, we're gonna, after we get this set down because you know, sheep needs shepherd, then we're gonna get back into the cattle industry.

But this is our baby.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yeah, yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: really don't have a number.

I mean, I do 20,000, but I know he'll shut me down at some point.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: You right.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: you know, you gotta have, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: gotta have both sides.

and take.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: you do.

If I did everything I wanted to do I wouldn't be good at anything.

And maybe I'm not, but my wife, my wife really helps me focus on what I should be doing as opposed to just, oh, let's try this.

What about this?

Hey, that's a good idea, you know?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I've had to really focus myself down when we started this, because I was that person.

I was all cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: doing the sheep.

Doing the cattle, and that's why whenever the fire we're like, Nope, we're gonna put all of our energy into this one thing.

So cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: years, I've not got out of the box.

I'm cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, very good job.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: got in.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

Well, Marque, let's move to the famous four questions.

Same four questions we ask of all of our guests.

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cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Our first question, what's your favorite grazing grass related book or resource?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So I listened to you ask this question on, on all the podcasts, and I always feel a little, oh, because books I love to read and I have sat down and read several, like Greg, Judy and stuff.

I really do like his books and whatnot, and he's local to us, so it, it kinda cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: off, but I never stop moving.

And so to actually read a book is hard.

I listen to podcasts galore.

I listen cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: some mornings where I'll wake up and just type in sheep and just whatever pops up, I'm just listening.

Some things I learned that I love some things.

I'm like that never in a million years would do that.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: that we chase and do, as long as it's educational, doesn't matter to me.

If it's a book, if it's a podcast.

If it's calling another producer and say, Hey, what do you got going on your farm today?

Just to call and hear some sort of, something about cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: is just great.

And following people online maybe, and reading their articles and stuff about what they have going on.

So I don't really read a lot of books, like I said, because we're always moving, but I've cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right, right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: on, always got on the phone always.

Something like that.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

Excellent Resources podcast out there.

Of course, I say that with a podcast, but I do think I love having a podcast in my ear when I'm out doing stuff.

Now I do caution.

Sometimes just take the podcast out so you can just enjoy the moment.

But it, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I, I need to start doing that maybe.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah, yeah, sometimes I get out there and I'm like, I'm not listening.

I'm just gonna enjoy the moment and be more present.

But a lot of times I have a podcast in my ear or a audio book.

So those are really nice.

That network's so important.

And you mentioned Greg, Judy actually the first person who comments in the Grazing Grass Community about Greg Judy.

When this drops, I've got a free book for them on, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Very cool.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah, I can't even think of the title now.

It's the, it's his third book.

I've got one.

So if someone comments in the Grazing Grass Community, I'll get that book to you.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: That's cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: But excellent resources.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yes.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: question, what's your favorite tool for the farm?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So my favorite tool is the sprayer, and it goes back to that hot wire I have weeded.

I told my husband, I was like, I don't wanna use sprays, I just don't like 'em.

I don't wanna breathe.

You know, all the things that go cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

All the reasons.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And so for this whole season, I have got out there and moved the fence over, Mo move the fence over.

I'll never know.

Sprayer's my friend, I'm done with it.

I spent a month worth of hours weed eating and mowing around places, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: oh.

Yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I'm just like, I sprayed my first pad on and three days later I come back and I was like, wow, that cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So I'm not gonna go without it ever cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah, yeah.

You know, we, we mention this a lot of times in the end point or our end goal, we may be wanting to be there, no chemicals, no whatever.

But on our journey, sometimes we need to use some of those crutches or, or resources, depending on how you wanna frame it to get to that end point.

So, yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Well, people don't take enough.

And again, no, I don't wanna spray.

But if you don't do these little things that help yourself out along the way, your burnout's gonna be so real.

You're never gonna make it there anyway.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right, because your farm has to be financially stay sustainable.

But not only that, it's gotta be sustainable for you to do the work squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: and continue on squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: and enjoy it.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: exactly, we're raising a family.

We got the farm going on, we got all cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: if I'm mowing and we eating for 10 hours a week just for just for one paddock, ' cause you cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: under every single fence.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I'm willing to give up for this year.

Next year we'll probably have hard fence and I'll never have to do it again.

But cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: be ashamed for having to do something for a short amount of time to get to your goal.

To never have to do it again.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: right.

I completely agree.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yep.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Our third question, what would you tell someone just getting started?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I would tell them to start small.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: I.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: educate, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Not by 300 views at the cell barn.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: no.

So it was, it was God's gift to us that we did go through that.

Because now look at all the people we can help.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: in cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: yeah.

Right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: was not funny.

It was not funny that we were crying and like, why did we cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And there's no way out and you know, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

But you learned a lot.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Did we ever.

So I'm grateful for that.

But I would tell them, start small.

Don't be afraid to cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: and cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

Good advice.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: hungry for it.

And approach people, like some people are gonna shoot you down and they're just rude.

But truly somebody who understands and where you've been and where you're from is gonna break it down to you in a way that you can understand and meet you where you are.

And that's where I think that we have a cool advantage in the way the Lord set it up for us is we did start as those small producers and we did go all the way up.

Now we did towards the end, jump into it big time.

But we can say, Hey, but you have to educate yourself.

You have to hear something and say, I don't know what that is.

I'm gonna look it up.

You have to put down the cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: be on Facebook and listen to a podcast.

You know, because you, you have to make cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Wow.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: It's not gonna work for you.

You have to work.

You have to work for your farm.

not something you have to do forever, but it is growing pains and you really, really do have to invest yourself in education as far as farming goes.

You're never gonna make it.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

Excellent advice.

Our fourth question, where can others find out more about you?

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: So we have a page, it's called Peace in the Valley Farms, and you guys can always call us, email us.

We're always available.

I love to talk to people about sheep.

My husband loves for me to talk to anybody about sheep besides him.

So it works out.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Right.

So if you can talk to someone else about sheep, he doesn't have to hear as much about 'em that day.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: And you'd think I'd run out, but I don't.

I've always got something to say about him to him or cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: exactly.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: else gave me that day to present to him, and he's always grateful for that.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

I I feel you.

My wife sometimes is like, I don't need to talk about how you're going to rotate the cows or what you're going to try or this.

Yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: yep.

That's exactly us.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Before we wrap up today, do you have a question for me?

I.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: I do.

I have, I might have convinced you to look a little harder about the Australian white.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: You know, looking, you didn't have to try very hard because I'm already trying to, to figure out.

I think we need something more.

We've been keeping our own and Rams and, and I just felt like we needed more meat on those lambs.

So we went with DOPA last year and then got two DOPA Rams out there.

Right now.

The, the difference in those crossbred lambs versus the lambs we were producing are night and day.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: yeah.

Oh, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: it's amazing.

So when I look at the, the photos of the Australian whites online and to hear you talk about it, I'm like, whoa, if, if that's really the case, I need a Australian white Ram.

I need to, to try this and see.

And I don't doubt what you're saying, but you know, everyone's got their own context and how it works for 'em, so, but yeah, it definitely makes me think, man, that's something I need to watch out for, that I need to find a ram or even a few F ones or something just to, to try and see how they work for me.

I am concerned for the dopers on, I don't wanna lose the parasite resistance I had with my flock, so, that's something that I'm trying to monitor and, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Mm-hmm.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: we'll, we'll see how it goes, but I'm really liking these, these lambs and we're gonna keep a few of them as ewes.

So I'll see how they are on the maternal side.

But yeah, you have me fully interested in Australian whites and I saw there's a deal in Missouri in Mount Vernon.

July 31st, I believe.

And I think someone's gonna be there with Australian.

Talk about Australian whites.

At least in, yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: We'll be there.

And, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: you, squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: yeah, we're gonna go up Doug Edge, who's the president of the A-W-S-B-A.

He'll be bringing a, I think a couple use and maybe his Ram down.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yep.

I think he's gonna bring those.

And then that way we'll be speaking at, and this is something I wanted to shed some light on before we actually got off of here, but the Missouri Sheep Producers Association, I think is something that doesn't get enough light.

We are actually gonna start being a rep for them cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yes.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: We will be hosting and talking about the Australian White as well at their annual meeting in the fall.

But if you are in Missouri and would like to know the goings on and ins and outs of the sheep world and the sheep industry, a very simple signup and you get a newsletter every month.

And I think we just need to really push for more people to know about that association.

That way we can get more people involved in what's going on in cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: them.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Yeah.

Very good.

Well, I saw that for July 31st, and I thought I need to check my schedule and see what I have going on that day.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: It will be great.

You should come over.

And Doug is a wealth of information and he actually owns RSG out in Indiana, which is fertility specialist for sheep and cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: We're actually becoming a rep for his company as far as minerals and things like that go.

We went up and lot of the reason why we went to the Missouri Stud Ram sale was to just sit there and have a conversation and, and what do you, what do you see with Australian whites?

What are you guys seeing?

What, cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: and the goals and things like that.

So I think the more people that you could talk to about them and just see what their production looks like and what their goals are with them is, it'd be really cool just to go up there and just have a conversation with him.

cal_1_07-08-2025_100941: Oh yeah.

Yeah.

Well, Marque really enjoyed you coming on and sharing today.

squadcaster-2af7_1_07-08-2025_100950: Yeah, absolutely.

Thanks for having us.

on in this episode, Marque mentioned that this was all about everything not to do on the farm, and I value her honesty, her transparency with their farm.

I think so often in this age of social media, we look at Instagram posts and reels, we look at the Facebook post and we see everyone's doing so great, but not us because we see the whole picture in our mind, while Instagram and Facebook are showing the highlights.

I think it's important we share our failures are trying times, things we wish we'd done better, as well as those other times that we've succeeded, because all those times are important for your journey.

You learn a lot more when there's failures, when things don't work out as you planned versus when things just go perfectly planned.

So Marque, thank you for being honest, thank you for being transparent and sharing your struggles as well as your tri triumphs, and for you the listener, remember Instagram, Facebook are highlight reels and you're seeing the whole picture in your operation.

Cal: Thank you for listening to this episode of the grazing grass podcast, where we bring you stories and insights into grass-based livestock production.

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You can grab your free copy at grazinggrass.com slash guide.

Don't miss out.

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We're always looking for passionate producers to feature on the show, whether you're just starting out or have years of experience your story matters.

Head over to grazing grass.

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We'd love to share your journey with our growing community of grazers.

Until next time.

Keep on grazing grass.