Great Lakes Lamb of West Branch, Michigan, is the newest spokesman for American Lamb with videos that highlight their focus on animal care, care of the land, and the family’s role in the effort.
Great Lakes Lamb hopes telling their story will shed light on lamb production and producers’ commitment to sustainably producing quality lamb, and will help put trust in America’s farmers and ranchers and local food systems. They were recently named the winner of the 2021 Industry Storytelling Video Contest sponsored by the American Lamb Board.
“We live here, we work here, and we play here,” the Bristols and Palms say in their video. “We have a long farm heritage. We’ve been called to work as shepherds, and our family enjoys working together to raise lamb and find a comfortable balance between animals, plants and our shared environment.”
Great Lakes Lamb LLC is owned and operated by Jim and Sherrie Bristol, along with their daughter and her husband Elaine and Rick Palm. Around 600 sheep make their home on the farm, with meat lambs sold to market and by direct sale. Fine micron wool is sold through Mid-States Wool Growers Cooperative with the goal of becoming base-layer clothing for the US military.
“It’s a pleasure to raise food for our own family and a bonus to raise food for others’ families,” says Sherrie, who is always quick to share her favorite recipes for kabobs, bratwurst, burgers and sliders, or loins.
Providing quality meat means putting animal health front and center. Sheep are fed homegrown hay, corn, beans and barley. They are monitored daily for parasites and overall health, and ewes are sheared prior to lambing for cleanliness and easy nursing.
Great Lakes Lamb takes just as much care with its land. An environmentally verified cropping system through the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program, they use cross fencing for rotational grazing, frost seed and no-till plant to establish healthy forages, and have created a farm-wide system of livestock water access.
The entire family participates in the operation with duties ranging from sheep and crop care to mechanical prowess to communication with consumers and other producers. They employ the latest in technical advancements including tracking data in an electronic record keeping system and regular soil testing for pasture management.
They are active members of the Michigan Sheep Producers Association, Michigan Farm Bureau, and Mid-states Wool Growers Cooperative Association, working through channels for industry improvement, and regularly highlight farm operations through blog posts on their website.
Through its Industry Storytelling Video Contest, ALB enables producers to share their stories with consumers, letting them see the people behind the product, and the hard work and dedication to quality that goes into American Lamb. The videos will be used by ALB in its online and social media communications to consumers.
The American Lamb Board is funded by the American Lamb Checkoff and is charged with building awareness and expanding demand for American Lamb and strengthening its position in the marketplace, thereby increasing the potential long-range economic growth of all industry sectors.
Source: American Lamb Board