Waldoview Farm

Waldoview Farm began in 1994 when we purchased 90 acres from a retired dairy farmer in the coastal Maine town of Winterport.  We never envisioned having more than a few sheep to provide lambs for our freezer and to sell to a few friends.  We chose Katahdin Hair Sheep, a breed that was developed right here in Maine, for their low maintenance and mild flavored lamb.  After a few years of raising them, we were fascinated with the process of improving the Katahdin breed and somewhat surprised by the demand for our lambs.  Today, we have more than doubled our acreage and manage close to 50 additional acres of hay land owned by neighbors and friends.  Our ewe flock varies from year to year from 50 to 80 commercial and registered individuals.

For many years, Waldoview Farm managed its operation with a “conventional” approach by lambing in late winter and providing supplemental feed (grain) to ewes during their lactation.  Lambs were limit-fed (creep fed) grain (1 lb/head/day) until pasture was ready in mid May.  Once on pasture, all ewes and lambs were maintained on an all-forage diet through intensive rotational grazing until they are sold, slaughtered, or returned to the barn for winter.  More recently, we subdivided the ewe flock into two management groups.  One group would be maintained according to the traditional “conventional” approach that had been successful since our inception.  The second group of ewes would lamb on pasture and be maintained entirely on a forage diet with no supplement of grain or other concentrates.  This latter approach, which we call “all-forage” was initiated to better meet the growing demand for our breeding stock among commercial breeders in southern New England and beyond that are marketing organic and grass-fed lamb.