Jack Monsour is in heaven, using working dogs to drive his sheep.
Without the dogs, he’d never have made it this far, some move the animals, others protect them from large birds, coyotes and bears.
Monsour and his wife started the farm 40 years ago with two sheep and 17 acres. Now. his Bedford County sheep farm has 2,000 head on 600 acres. It’s one of the biggest on the east coast.
“I tell the boys I’ve never worked a day in my life,” Monsour said. “That;s how i feel; I really feel that way.
There’s no place i’d rather be or anything I’d rather be doing that what i’m doing here. It’s amazing”
A key to his success is fencing the entire 600 acres. Then, the sheep can move around, and their droppings become a valuable fertilizer to replenish the land.
The uniqueness of us is we absolutely don’t use herbicides, pesticides or commercial fertilizers,” he said “Every year we make our own hay and every year we’ve shown an increase in productivity.”
The pureness of this land and these animals translates to quality meat.
“Our unique niche with cattle and lamb is we can claim everything is born, raised and finished on the farm,” ranch manager Jackson Monsour said.
They supply high end restaurants in New York City and Washington, D.C., buy the chops, and ground lamb. They’re on a push to sell more at their storefront on the farm.
“For some reason America is slow to come around to eating lamb,” Jackson Monsour said. “Once you have our lamb, you will order it over and over again”
And a new addition, ground beef from their Scottish Highland Cattle.
Watching these animals, and walking this property is a joy, and since there are 5 vacation homes on the farm, hundreds of people get to come here and enjoy it.
“The folks that come to our vacation homes have turned into great friends and they love coming back. repeat business is one of our major accomplishments,” Jack Monsour said.
As is pasing this farm down to their children, so it can remain a Bedford County treasure.
“We bring in a lot of people a lot of repeat people who love Bedford and love Bedford County,” Jack said. “As far as Kathy and I, we hope this is our legacy.”