Local food - U.S. style!
Teksti: Anna Silén | Kuva: Cara Guillespie-Wilson
The Point of View farm is a small, 60-acre (24 ha) farm in Bangall, a small town
in the heart of the Hudson Valley, NY. It
is home to Sten Wilson and Cara Leigh
Guillespie-Wilson, their two Bengal cats,
two donkeys, seven horses and around
40 Finnsheep.
I first found out about the farm in the spring of
2011, when I was looking for a farm to do my practical period in. Their farm had everything I was
looking for, from the breeding of miniature horses to the raising of our heritage breed, the Finnsheep. I contacted Sten Wilson and asked to be their
farm apprentice for the summer. Their farm turned out to be small in comparison to both American and Finnish standards, but they still managed to be successful. Curiosity awakened, I wanted to find out how they could succeed with such
a small farm in an environment that seemed to
favor big units rather than small family farms.
How did you start your farm?
We purchased this farm in 2005. We started out with
horses, and have been breeders in the past. An interest in sheep developed out of a love of fiber. The
flock started out to be a small spinner’s flock in
which we would raise lamb for ourselves and our family. We started to raise them as all naturally and
organically as possible. It became apparent in just a
short time that there was a high demand for Finnsheep fiber and meat, so we expanded. We now have
25 breeding ewes out of 30, and around 10 rams for
breeding, and the lambs are processed from October
through April. Our business plan was to find niche
markets for all of our farm products and sell them
directly to the consumers. We specialize in genetic
diversity of the bloodlines so that there is no genetic bottlenecking due to a limited pool of Finns in the
US.
raments were easy to work with. Their hardy nature was also appealing. We also discovered not many
Finnsheep breeders were in our local area so it seemed
like a good fit for our niche marketing business plan.
What kind of product do you offer?
We sell registered Finnsheep breeding stock, all naturally raised lamb meats, raw fleeces, roving, yarn,
sheepskins, knitting kits and compost from the
farm. We also offer homemade products like sheep
themed ceramics and lamb shaped cutting boards.
The diversity of items helps ensure our success. All
our farm products are marketed directly to consumers through our website, word of mouth and local
fiber festivals. Some of our lamb meat customers resell the product in their restaurants or farm stands.
How did you settle on Finnsheep, instead of any
other breed?
How far away are all the necessary facilities
from your farm?
We settled on Finnsheep due to their dual purpose as
meat and wool producers, awesome wool to spin, many colors and no docking tails or horns. Their tempe-
We have several local lamb processors for butcher
nearby. The lambs are brought up in the morning
and we pick up the pelts in the afternoon to salt as
Meijän luvalla 2013