Sheep from Scratch: Two Paths to Profit in the Ohio Hills
I recently read a profile in Farm Progress about Marshall Petersen , a young producer in Nebraska who built a 1,500-ewe operation—Shepherd’s Hill LLC—from the ground up. In an era when we routinely hear about barriers to entry in agriculture, his story is a reminder that opportunity still exists for those willing to study domestic supply gaps and build intentionally. Roughly 70% of the lamb consumed in the United States is imported. For those of us looking at the rolling, marginal ground of Southeast Ohio, that statistic signals more than curiosity—it suggests structural opportunity. The question is not whether sheep can work here. The question is which production model aligns with your land base, capital structure, and appetite for risk. Two dominant models emerge: pasture-based and confinement. Each produces lambs. Each carries different capital requirements, management demands, and exposure to volatility. Choice A: The Pasture-Based Model (The Traditional Hill Farm) This is the cla...
