Neptune Farm Grassfed Lamb
723
Harmersville-Canton Road, Salem, NJ
08079
Telephone:
856-935-3612
We
began grazing sheep to keep the lawns mowed around our farmhouse and small
orchard.
The
flock is bigger now, more than two dozen polled Dorset ewes and a Dorset
ram. Although Dorsets are not quite as
big or as fast-growing as the black-faced meat breeds, we like them because the
ewes are excellent mothers, and because their lambs grow well and have attractive
meat conformation. Ours have been
selected over the years for superior adaptation to local conditions.
For
much of the year, our sheep rotate
through the same 25 to 30 paddocks as our cattle. Because they eat shorter grass and more shrubs than the cows,
their grazing season is longer—often lasting into February, with only a month
or two on a diet of high-quality hay.
We provide year-round free-choice kelp and a naturally mineralized salt. As the ewes begin to lamb, we bring them to
pastures closer to the farm buildings, where we can provide maternity
care.
Neptune
Farm is certified organic by the New
Jersey Department of Agriculture.
This means that our farming practices conform to the standards set forth
in the USDA's National Organic
Program. Because of additional fees
imposed last year by the certifier, we have stopped applying for organic certification
of our livestock. Our animal husbandry
still follows the stricter rules imposed when we began raising organic
livestock in 1992. In many ways, our
farm exceeds current organic standards, including year-round access to pasture,
restriction of grain feeding to ruminants, and housing dimensions prescribed by
animal welfare experts. We continue to
feed our animals on organic forages and feeds and do not use hormones or
antibiotics on slaughter stock.
None
of the lambs we sell have been treated with wormers: liberal stocking density,
multi-species grazing, maternal selection, and native vermifugal forages make
worming generally unnecessary. Every
now and then, we need to bottle-feed a newborn lamb. Bottle-fed lambs are not certifiable as organic, and we inform
our buyers accordingly.
Our
lambs grow well on grass and we never feed them grain. In addition to causing health problems,
grain puts too much fat on the lambs, changes the flavor of their meat, and
makes them act like mean drunks. Please
visit eatwild.com for more information on
the benefits of grassfed animals.
Our
flock is tested annually for scrapie and OPP by the USDA's APHIS service and certified
scrapie-free. Our flock number is
NJ-30.
We
sell no lamb that was not born and raised on our farm. As with our beef, our lamb is processed by Bringhurst Meats, a local
USDA-inspected, certified organic facility.
Lambs are slaughtered between five and ten months of age, at about 110
or 120 lbs, and usually yield about two 25 or 30-lb boxes of cut, wrapped, and
frozen meat. A typical half will
include a leg (butterflied or bone-in), a shoulder roast or chops, rib and loin
chops, shanks, ground lamb, and cubes.
We sell whole organic lambs retail at $300, or halves for $150. We are usually oversubscribed for lamb, so
our beef customers get priority. Lamb
is available in fall and winter.