According to the USDA, nearly all lamb raised in the United States is fed hay along with feed consisting of corn, barley, milo, and/or wheat supplemented with vitamins and minerals. Lambs are usually finished in feedlots where they are fed specially formulated feed to make them grow quickly.
It has always been our philosophy that the best way to raise all ruminant animals, such as beef cattle and sheep, is to raise them on a 100% grass diet. Their stomachs were designed to eat grass, not grain.
Since most sheep and lamb are raised on grain, we have never been able to offer it in our farm store, but all of that changed recently.
I’d like for to you to meet our lamb producer!
Cami Rademacher lives on a small family farm surrounded by wind turbines in Hope, Illinois. She is the daughter of Corey & Randi Rademacher. Even though she is young (10 years old, to be exact), she has been raising sheep on pasture for 4 years.
In 2020, her family decided to add another animal species to their farm. Six year old Cami took charge of the lambs, and she’s been managing them ever since.
She enjoys seeing new babies born and watching them bounce around the pastures with their mamas. Cami especially loves how docile they are.
The sheep are raised on pasture grasses and alfalfa. During the day they roam the pastures and have access to a shed when they want to get out of the elements. When the cold months arrive and grazing is not possible, they are fed grass hay.
The lambs are butchered before they reach 1 year of age which makes for the best meat.
If you’ve been looking for pasture-raised lamb, Cami’s Lambies is now available in the Sonrise Farms on-farm store.
