"There was a guy in my office for years, who used to refer to people like me as hobby farmers. And it drove me crazy. One day I finally said, “You know what? These hobby farmers, if they are getting up every day, and taking care of animals, it's not a hobby. A hobby is something you do when you feel like doing it.”
Karen Hoffman started working for Cornell Cooperative Extension for a few years after grad school, and then began working for USDA-NRCS as an Animal Scientist to help dairy farmers convert to grazing more successfully. She is now the State Grazing Specialist for NY, although she still reminds folks that she's an animal scientist inside.
Her farming journey began in 2011 when she and her partner Jack decided to raise sheep and beef cattle and market their meat locally. They bought a small farm and started with 5 Dorset ewes that he already owned. Much of the land needed to be reclaimed, which they did with a lot of manual labor and animal impact.
Links:
Peaceful by Nature Farm email
Peaceful by Nature Farm Facebook
FAMACHA scoring
Grasstravanganzainfo:
https://grasstravaganza.morrisville.edu/
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