Livestock
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Farming and sustainable land management is the heart of Slough Farm. As part of that, we take pride in providing the best quality of life possible for our wide range of livestock.
We’ve chosen breeds that do well in our climate and our style of farm management. Our ruminant animals, cows, sheep and goats, are fed no grains and are rotated through our 75 acres of owned and leased pastures. We are grateful for our opportunity to manage lands owned by the Town of Edgartown and The Nature Conservancy. Our poultry, chickens, turkeys and ducks follow behind the ruminant animals in small pens or tractors to give them access to grasses, seeds, bugs and sunshine.
Our animals are integrated into farm programming through hands-on learning and work experiences for all ages.
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Our animals are integrated into farm programming through hands-on learning and work experiences for all ages. 〰️
Cattle
20 Cows
Including Belted Galloway and Randall Lineback brood cows and Archie, our British White bull.
Each fall, our brood cows have beautiful calves that we raise for about 2 years.
Many of our fellow island cattle farmers decide to calve at different times of year from us. We share Archie with farms around the island to provide breeding services for other farmers and share the costs of feeding him. Luckily he's the ultimate gentleman and quite handsome if you ask us!
The Randall Lineback is the last remaining "all-purpose" local landrace breed of cattle that once thrived in New England. Originating in the 1600s, these cattle were a mix of European and North American breeds, developed for milk, meat, and agricultural labor. Isolated from outside breeding, these cattle adapted to local conditions over generations. However, with the rise of specialized purebred cattle in the late 1800s and 1900s, most landrace breeds, including those in New England, were either replaced or crossbred. A small herd of 20 was found in the 90s and since then, amazing efforts have been instilled to preserve this breed. The Randall Lineback remains a testament to the resilient, multi-purpose cattle of early American farming. We are excited to be doing our part to help this heritage breed continue to grow in population!
Sheep
15-30 Lambs
Are welcomed each year between February & March.
Our grassfed flock of tunis sheep are our true stars. Eating only pasture and hay they grow the most beautiful fleeces and lambs. The wool from these heritage sheep is used for a vartiety of sheep to sweater programs from felt snakes with preschoolers to weaving, spinning and knitting with k-12 field trips and adult programs.
Each year we welcome between 15 and 30 lambs between February and March. Our lambs are raised through the grazing season and sent off for processing each fall. Their sheepskins are saved and used as educational tools in our natural sheepskin tanning class that takes place every winter, and their meat is donated to events and programs all across the island.
ROTATIONAL GRAZING
Our animals graze together throughout the summer; an integrated livestock technique that maximizes ruminants’ positive impact on the soil they aerate with their hooves and on the forage plants they eat.
The herd is moved daily to ensure their grazing stimulates growth. The poultry follow along behind, getting fat and happy off the maggots left behind in cow pats and thus reducing the fly population. All in all, it's a pretty clean operation.
ANIMAL PRODUCTS
Our poultry, sheep, and cattle provide meat and eggs, much of which is donated across the Vineyard in collaboration with Island schools, The Family Center, Island Grown Initiative, the Island Food Pantry, and other fellow members of the Food Equity Network.
FIBER ARTS & EDUCATION
We are proud to be a part of a long lineage of shepherds and fiber artists on Martha’s Vineyard. Sheared annually, our Tunis sheep produce wool that is high quality and locally milled; perfect for fiber arts and education. It’s our privilege to host fiber experts, educators, and artists to lead participants in processing, dyeing, spinning, and weaving with our wool, particularly during our annual Feb-“ewe”-ary event.
Farmer Support
Supporting our island farmers is at the forefront of Slough Farms mission. Since 2018 we have given over $85K to support the Martha's Vineyard agricultural society grant program for island farmers and homesteaders. Funds are available to both production farmers and backyard growers each fall to support innovative projects not able to be funded by other initiatives.
Slough Farm has established a relationship with Dr. Erin Masur from Sheep Rock Vet in order to provide 24/7 Veterinary telemedicine service for farm animals. Dr. Masur comes a few times a year to complete herd and flock health exams and diagnose long term issues for farmers. Once she has been to your farm, she can text, email, call or video chat with you to assist with emergencies. Slough Farm is Dr. Masur’s host and keeper of supplies in the event something is needed right away. We are so grateful to Dr. Masur for taking on MV as part of her client load! We of course work closely with our local veterinarian Dr. Breese as well and encourage others to do so.
Learn more about Farmer Support
Community Donations
Slough Farm takes pride in our ability to share our bounty with those in need on our island. Anything we do not use on site for programming, makes its way across the island to a variety of food equity partners and non profit organizations. While we are not a large scale producer, we have worked hard to regeneratively grow and raise as much as we can on the 80 acres we farm. We prioritize our food going to places that can make the biggest impact. Our donations shift with the seasons and we are so grateful to our partners who accept and utilize what we have, when we have it.
Donation outlets include but not limited to, Island schools and preschools, YMCA of MV, Council on Aging, Hospice of MV, MV Boys and Girls Club, The Anchors, Island Food Pantry, MV Center for Living, Serving Hands, MV Libraries, Kinship Heals, Island Grown Initiative, Chilmark community lunch, The Farm Institute and Produce RX.
2018 - 2024
What People Are Saying
“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
— Quote Source
“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
— Quote Source
“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”