I walk every day. Every day I walk. And I am always in the company of dogs when walking. This time spent walking is a spiritual fitness and it does make me wonder what changes might naturally come about if farmers and ranchers walked their land on a regular basis.

Winter walks may be on the cold side but they are gloriously peaceful. I enjoy the prairie as much in the quiet of winter as in the warmth of summer. Any sense of needing to hurry dissipates for so much of daily ranch work that is present in the warm season is now on hold. The pace of winter has settled upon us and the routine work is feeding hay to the flock in the morning and then returning to do a second check and feed of guardian dogs in the evening.

In a northern hemisphere winter is a season of testing; when a sound and healthy flock is needed to get you through without a lot of extra work. To see animals and the land still in sync through the winter and to know, that even in a season of such harshness, everything you need is here, is a marvel that is lost in modern agriculture.

This year marks our first year of having a tractor with a cab and I must say it is wonderful to have a cab on a tractor when doing winter feeding. We never set out to be such minimalist farmers but working with so little for so many years resulted in the realization that we need very little to operate this place. This tractor came along because this was the year we could afford to purchase it. Taking such a minimalist approach also means we tend to keep operations rather simple which gives us some down time in the winter months. This downtime is when I settle most deeply into my studio space and figure out how to continue giving the world glimpses of this remarkable prairie life with sheep and a few dogs.

And just like that it is full on winter.

After a weekend of snowfall and wind we spent the day moving snow and sheep to a new winter feeding area. For several years we have wintered the flock south east of the yard where there is ample bush for shelter. Feeding hay out on the pastures in the winter results in layers of hay residue plus urine and manure naturally spread by the flock, which over time, becomes a healthy layer of organic matter. It’s also much healthier for the ewes.

Through these past few years of minimal rainfall this winter feed area stood out from the rest of our land base. Even this year, with only a few inches of rain received, that area of pasture was thick, thigh-high tall grass. You could walk through this area and feel that it was much healthier than the other pastures. The flock just came off grazing it before the snow arrived. With the usual winter feeding spot responding so well we’ve decided it’s time to move to a new location and repeat the process.

The ewes already passed through the stockpiled forage we try to save for early winter grazing and it’s early for us to be feeding hay, which is sign of how dry it has been here. As difficult as it is to get around and tend to the regular happenings on the place with a lot of snow on the ground, the snow is sure is a welcome sight.

The month of October was chalk full of sheep work which had the Kelpies feeling very satisfied but me less so.

The dry conditions in our area steered the tough decision to part with a significant number of ewes this Fall. It is important to us to respect what the prairie land can give and we have already asked a lot of this prairie. And while I’m not arrogant enough to believe the lack of rainfall is within my control I am arrogant enough to demand that I manage well whatever the conditions and managing right now equates to having less mouths grazing the prairie.

This selling of ewes came on the heels of a few hundred lambs leaving for market so the shift in the flock size feels dramatic. I believe it’s been over a decade since the flock was this small.

One becomes accustomed to the size of a flock and you develope a sense of knowing whether you have your group or are missing some. When I head out to bring the flock in for water in the evening I can’t help but feel that I missed a group somewhere such is the difference in the flock size.

With a large flock that roams the prairie having enough guardian dogs is always in the back of your mind. With the downsize we now have a more than adequate number of guardian dogs going but I have no gumption to sell any. Our pack consists of three dogs older than seven years of age and I’m comforted with knowing they’ll stay on and continue to lead a rich purpose bred life with enough younger dogs to handle the workload. There is less concern with bringing new dogs in anytime soon which is somewhat of a reprieve for me because these dogs are one of the deepest treasures of this life, and thus, also the deepest heartbreak at times. I’ll be okay with needing less of them. One of the two up and coming pups will be moved on in order to avoid future conflict between the two but there is no immediate rush for that just yet.

This flock is my day job. The income from the flock is my contribution to our combined living income. The changes in ewe numbers equates to a significant change in that income in the future. Moving forward we have decided to put more emphasis on wool production and ways to add value to our wool clip. It all feels a tad risky right now and yet I feel assured that less is going to be more as we go forward even though I can not see all the how’s just yet.