Field & Garden: The Sheep Whisperer
Apr 30, 2025 11:24AM ● By Mike Gennaro
The farm’s stars are Katahdin sheep, a breed developed in the 1950s by Dr. Pease in Maine, by mixing St. Croix and Wiltshire Horn stock. Unlike wool sheep, they don’t need haircuts. They just shed naturally, looking as scruffy as a dog that lost a fight with a leaf blower. Though the breed is naturally parasite-resistant, McKowen selectively bred her sheep to thrive in Louisiana’s swampy, parasite-rich environment. She started with 25, lost half in the first year, a quarter in the second, but over time, the herd built natural resistance by avoiding deworming treatments.
McKowen Farms raises sheep for meat, and most of their lambs head straight to small Muslim grocery stores that process them according to Halal rules. And if you’re wondering why Louisiana doesn’t have dairy sheep, here’s the short answer: politics and bacteria. The long answer? The humidity here makes it tough to meet the strict cleanliness standards for dairy, so unless you’re into bootlegging sheep cheese, it’s not happening.
But sheep are just one part of the operation. Dr. McKowen’s farm is a full-on permaculture symphony, complete with cattle, a flower farm, and even a honey operation. She leases land to Jan Ways, a local beekeeper who sells to Fullness Organics. The real magic happens with the cows and sheep, though. Each species eats the other’s parasites—think of it as a biological Roomba for worms—cutting down the need for chemical dewormers.
On the plant side, McKowen Farms doesn’t just let the grass fend for itself. She plants ryegrass, clover, vetch, turnips, and daikon radish in cooler months, then switches to iron clay peas and millet in the summer. These crops don’t just feed the animals, they actually rebuild the soil, hold water, and generally make life easier for future farmers who won’t have to farm on what feels like concrete.
Of course, if you’re going to raise sheep in Louisiana, you better have a good security system. Enter the Great Pyrenees and Anatolian Shepherds. These livestock guardian dogs live with the sheep 24/7 and take their job seriously. To them, the sheep are just really socially awkward dogs who need protection.
Thinking about raising sheep? “An ideal starter flock is three young ewes, one proven stud with proven worm resistance, and an older ewe to teach the lambs what medicinal plants to eat,” explains McKowen. How much land will you need? “I saw someone who really knows what they are doing raise 100 sheep on 10 acres and do it beautifully,” she says.
For small farmers, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is basically the best friend you didn’t know you needed. They’ll help pay for fencing, water wells and rotational grazing systems—because if you’re going to farm, you might as well do it right.
