You’re walking through the dark woods when you hear a branch snap behind you. You look back, fearing what you’ll see, but instead of flashing teeth and sharp claws, you see a sheep peacefully grazing the undergrowth. As the shepherd raises a cheerful greeting, more sheep appear through the ferns, salal, and vine maple.
Despite this being a longstanding method of raising animals, the drive for efficiency and more significant profit has caused the wider livestock industry to move further away from nature. However, folks can still integrate their livestock practices with nature, especially in the forests west of Port Angeles. The Sawtooth Ranch, owned by husbands Billy and Devan, has been raising Icelandic sheep for fiber and food for the past few years using silvopasture methods. “We were doing it before we realized it was silvopasture, the forest was full of life, but there wasn’t suitable grazing land; as we practiced and learned more, we found lots of history and scholarship around that agricultural production. We’re doing what the land was made to do and improving the cleared soil meant to grow trees for vegetables.”
So what exactly is silvopasture? If you spoke Latin, it’d be obvious, but it’s when animals are pastured in mixed woodlands, and there are many benefits for the farmer, animals, and the greater ecosystem. The grazing animals control invasive species, protect themselves from heat and inclement weather, and facilitate the moving of nutrients through the ecosystem. The farmer saves money on feed and fertilizer, manages a healthier herd, and can earn an income on land not suitable for crop production. The forest can sequester carbon in the trees, hold the soil during torrential rain, remain attractive to wild populations, and draw moisture from the lowered water table during a drought.
As Billy talks about their operation, you can hear his love for the sheep, the forest, and the science behind silvopasture.
“We’re not just stocking them on a piece of land, but actively cycling them to what’s available at different times of the year. It saves on winter feeding costs since grass is most sensitive to overgrazing in winter, and winter is the gestation period for lamb. A diverse diet leads to diverse nutrition; in fact, there are different outcomes based on what their moms eat while the lamb’s in utero.”
It shows that small businesses are ideally suited to benefit their neighbors and their environment in ways more extensive operations aren’t able to. To learn more about their process and see the bounty they can get from stacking agricultural uses, you can visit their website or chat with them at the Port Angeles Farmer’s Market during the summer.
Website: www.thesawtoothranch.com/
Instagram: @thesawtoothranch
Email: thesawtoothranch@gmail.com
Location: Joyce, WA, on the Olympic Peninsula