The first Meals on the Farm event of the season was a success!
Country 107, MIX 96, AM1250, and sponsors visited Seine River Shepherds, a sheep farm near Ste. Anne.
The farm was nominated by Les Schewe on behalf of the Seine Rat Roseau Watershed District for their hard work.
“Since beginning their sheep farm in 1978, they have practiced environmentally conscious farming in their operation,” says Schewe.
Owned and operated by Randy Eros, his wife Solange Dusablon, and their son Michel Eros, the farm maintains 350 breeding sheep and a total of 900 animals, including lambs.
Their dogs also play an important role in protecting the herd. One of them, named Loup-garou, which means “werewolf” in French, guards the sheep from coyotes and other predators. Dogs Opus and Monty also stole the show during the visit.
This season has been a good one for Seine River Shepherds, says Michel Eros.
“In the last three or four years, we've struggled with either too much rain or too little rain, which has made it either hard to get any hay because it's not growing or hard to get the quality hay off the ground because it has been rained on. This year, we've had it dry, so it's a limited hay supply, but it is in really good condition.”
He says spring weather was ideal during lambing season.
“Everyone was able to nurse all the time. We didn't have these long, wet, cold days.”
While there are always challenges in farming, Eros says they’ve been fortunate this year.
“We've had years where not only is it dry or too wet, but this is the year where all the machines decide to break and you find yourself where you've got three tractors and none of them are running for a week because they're all somehow in the shop of some sort and we haven’t run into any of that this year!”
The farm is currently halfway through its second hay cut and is aiming for a third.
“The last week has been sort of on and off with rain, so it's kind of stalled us a bit, but we are definitely anticipating some third cut, and we hope it will be quite good stuff as well.”
For Eros, the best part of sheep farming is the challenge.
“It's the day-to-day, it's the, you got five things on your list and you get three of them done, but you've added four more,” he says. “The constant learning and the ability to sort of, you are growing forward, but it is definitely slow and a lot of learning and steep learning curves and missteps and stuff, but it's the challenge.”
He also enjoys showcasing the farm’s scenic land to visitors, especially in summer when the sheep are grazing.
“Seeing that flock, it's very picturesque, it's almost like you could pick it out of a magazine. So that's always a very proud moment to show people.”
With files from Carly Koop
Do you know a farm that deserves some extra recognition? Nominate them for Meals on the Farm, presented by Steinbach Credit Union, and we could be stopping by with a delicious meal from the Mennonite Heritage Village, along with great prizes from our sponsors.
Thank you sponsors:
Steinbach Credit Union
MNP
Marc Hutlet Seeds
Grunthal Auction Service
Hanover Doors
Seine River Roseau Watershed District
Premier Truck Group
Penfor Constuction
Tristar
Seine River Seeds
Materfeeds
KK Penner
Al McVicar Farm Services
Denton Krentz
Steinbach Dodge
H&L Motors