Woof woof! Welcome back… it has been another month of babies! This month consisted of five new calves arriving and calling the farm home plus a new baby donkey!

So far, we have four heifer (girl) calves and one bull (boy) calf running around the farm this year. We are looking forward to many more as the spring and summer progress.

On, Thursday, March 24th in the wee hours of the morning, Janey, one of our miniature donkeys, had her foal. His name is Axel and is a very sweet boy.

Just a reminder before I run off… “Sandy Acres Meats” is open every Monday from 3-7pm or by appointment for your meat purchases of beef and lamb. Call/Contact Marie 715-579-2917 to set up an appointment time.

Have a great day! Woof woof!

Sincerely, Wally (the trusted border collie)

Woof woof! Welcome back to the farm blog. We have updates we are excited about.

February was a busy lambing month. Fifty-eight ewes ended up lambing and they had a total of 123 lambs. They’ve been so much fun! Emalee (Jeff & Marie’s granddaughter) even came out to do some photos on Valentine’s Day.

We’ve had a few calves born as well and look forward to continuing to update you as the spring progresses on that front.

May will bring another round of lambing! The calves will come throughout the season, and we will have several calves available for sale as well.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Saturday, May 21st will be our Spring Open House featuring meat specials, farm tour, and petting zoo of our animals. Admission will be free.

I hope your enjoying some spring weather and I’ll be back soon with updates. Woof Woof!

sincerely, Wally the trusted border collie at Sandy Acres

According to Jimmy the Groundhog, who did not see his shadow yesterday morning (February 2nd), spring is coming!

Well, here at Sandy Acres, ”spring” is here too! Although I’m certain that we will have plenty of cold and snowy days ahead on our way to the springlike weather and hopefully more sleigh rides to come behind the horse, babies are coming!

This week marks the beginning of lambing season and we have 60 ewes due to lamb this month. This morning, February 3rd, the first lambs arrived!

We are also expecting three cows to calf around Valentine’s Day. Does anyone have any name suggestions? We are accepting girl (heifer) and boy (bull) name ideas so send them our way.

After the new year begins, we always start to think about the upcoming year’s calendar. Things that Marie & Crew are excited about for the first part this year include:

🔹Sandy Acres Meats Open House event on Saturday, May 21st (details as the date gets closer)

🔹Summer Farmers Market on the Farm starting Monday June 13th.

🔹Miniature Hereford Junior National Show (first time going!!)

🔹 Northern Wisconsin State Fair in July

…and other events as the summer progresses, but we will try not to get too far ahead of ourselves.

We are still open every Monday from 3-7pm for Meat purchases and by appointment by calling Marie 715-579-2917.

Have a great day! Enjoy this snow since spring will come soon. Next post will include baby lamb photos!

Until next time, woof woof, sincerely yours, Wally the trusted Border Collie

Woof woof! Happy New Year. I hope this message reaches you after having a very Merry Christmas and wonderful holiday!

With the new year, we’d like to welcome someone who joined our family at the end of November. Her name is Bonnie and is an Old English Sheepdog.

Just a quick reminder, we are open Mondays 3-7pm for Beef and Lamb meat purchases. We hope to see you then (or by appointment 715-579-2917).

Sincerely, Wally, Trixter, and Bonnie (all three of Marie’s Dogs)!

Woof Woof! Wally, the farm’s trusted border collie, here.

In August, the family made the trip to the Iowa State Fair. They had a wonderful time as a family and were proud to win the Grand Champion Cow-Calf pair award with the Miniature Herefords: Calea and Suzie.

In October, Marie helped with the Kid & Cow event at the Barron County Fairgrounds. The event had record number kids and cattle this year! It’s one of her favorite things to do as she loves helping people learn and grow their passion for cattle.

Last show of the year was the Minnesota Beef Expo. We were excited to get first with a calf and also a yearling in their classes. My granddaughter also got her first show stick (Emalee was 9 months old).

I can’t wait to enjoy winter sleigh rides with Marie and the other dogs while things slow down for a while until lambing starts again in February!

Sincerely, Wally

Woof! Woof! Wally, that trusted Border Collie at Sandy Acres you all know and love, is back again today!!!

Ah! August is already here! I’m enjoying catching a little time in between the fun summer activities my mom, Marie, is enjoying to get some work done along side her. July was an eventful month with the Farmer’s Market on the Farm each Monday afternoon (going on all summer long), the Northern Wisconsin State Fair, and also Farm Technology Days in Eau Claire County at Huntsinger Farms.

The Farmers Market started in June. It’s every Monday from three o’clock until seven o’clock in the evening. For information about the Farmer’s Market and its vendors please check out the Farmer’s Market Page.

The Northern Wisconsin Sate Fair’s Open Beef Show was the second Saturday of July. Seven of our Miniature Hereford cattle went, including a bull calf with his dam (his mother, a 4 year old cow) and five yearling heifers. Seven individuals from age 9 to 59 gathered together to showcase this group of cattle… they were one of two herds represented at the show in that breed. Many other breeds of cattle are also shown at the fair and Marie always enjoys visiting with all of the beef producers (& all the other people that walk through the barns). The champion Miniature Hereford heifer was our girl Sandy Acres Champs Carlotta. We are so excited to see her continuing to develop into the cow she will be next year.

Farm Tech Days was July 20th through the 22nd. Marie really enjoyed getting to talk to people about the breed she is so passionate about: Miniature Hereford Beef Cattle.

We recently added a couple new heifers For Sale on the website so if you are interested in learning more about them, click the link here. More animals will be added soon as well. Always feel free to reach out to Marie if you are interested in seeing if any livestock might be available that isn’t currently listed on the website. As many of you know, we also raise Katahdin Sheep that we don’t currently feature on our website, but we do have ewe lambs available for sale at this time as well. Please call Marie 715-579-2917 to learn more.

The next show and exciting adventure away from the farm is the Iowa State Fair in a couple of weeks. Of course, while the cattle and humans are away enjoying the show, I will be helping Erika take care all the things here at the farm.

To close this blog out this fine evening, I want to encourage y’all to come to our Farmer’s Market on the Farm on Mondays for the rest of the summer from 3 to 7 pm. These Markets will continue until mid-October.

Sincerely, Wally (the trusted Border Collie)

PS-I look forward to chatting with you again soon!

Oh! This spring has been a busy one! It has kept this Border Collie busy being Marie’s assistant. Lambing season was just in full swing again with our second full round of lambs for the year. We had our first round of lambing in March, a couple extra in April, and now are finishing the second full round of lambs. This May lambing consists of 117 lambs born so far.

The Miniature Herefords have been calving since February and so far we have 35 calves! We are having a blast picking out which ones we think should head to the fairs this year.

May 18th brought us the best birth of the month! Jeff and Marie welcomed their third grandchild, second one of the year, and first grandson! His name is Weston Jeffrey Frank Pagenkopf. He is so loved. Kairi is a wonderful big sister.

Jeff finished planting his crops, corn and soybeans, yesterday. Soon, haying season will begin… I plan to ride along to pick up bales!

We are all really looking forward to this summer. MARK YOUR CALENDARS!: June 14th is the first Farmers’ Market on the Farm for the summer. It will be every Monday from 3-7pm at the farm running all summer until mid-October. Additionally, mom is really excited for the fairs and beef shows to be happening again all summer long. I’ll miss her while she’s away, but I know how happy those events make her!

I’m looking forward to more of these nice spring and summer days coming up. I’m also glad we finally got the rain we desperately needed! Some of my dog friends even had fun playing in it!

Until next time…. Yours truly, Wally, the trusted Border Collie at Sandy Acres

There are babies everywhere around the farm and in the family!

It all began with lambs starting to arrive in early February. All in all, we had 56 ewes in the first round of lambing have a total of 124 lambs. Right now, we are expecting a few more… one just had twins this week and three of her flock-mates will be lambing very soon. Then, a true second round of lambs will arrive in May.

On February 9th, the Pagenkopf’s welcomed their second granddaughter into the family. This is Kayla and Nick’s first child. They didn’t know if they were having a boy or a girl, so they were surprised and had a GIRL! Everyone was so excited! The running bet was whether the miniature donkey or the human were going to be born first. Well, the human won this round!!! The beautiful baby girl was named Emalee Marie.

Two days after Emalee’s arrival, the second baby donkey finally arrived. I think Emalee and this donkey will be friends and enjoy growing up together. The jenny (female donkey) was named Miley. She’s super friendly and loved by everyone.

Alright, so with all this talk about babies, I bet you think that has to be all the babies born over this past couple months at Sandy Acres and in the family… Well, we haven’t talked about the beef yet! So far, we’ve already had four calves born with many more on the way.

If anyone has met me, y’all know that I love spring because it means that my mom, Marie, spends even more time outdoors and amongst the livestock which is my favorite place to be!

I’m looking forward to keeping the updates coming your way as spring progresses!

Sincerely, Wally (the trusted Border Collie at Sandy Acres)

Hey Everyone! I stole the blog from Wally (the farm’s Border Collie) this time. My name is Wonky. I am a baby Miniature Donkey. My mom, Cupid, had me on November 25th, 2020, the day before Thanksgiving. I am the most adorable creature to have ever graced the farm. Mom says I need to work on my attitude. She says that I need to be more humble as well as nicer to her, but biting her and jumping on her is super fun. She reminds me that her friend, Janey, is due any time and the new baby donkey, my future friend, probably won’t like my antics on our first play day.

Some have asked where I got my unique, adorable name. Well… it’s a long story… Just kidding… but it is from a children’s storybook and song called “The Wonky Donkey” by Craig Smith. We all recommend that you find that book and read it. It is hilarious!

We are continuing to await the arrival of my friend! Wish Janey luck with her foaling. Additionally, Marie and Erika are waiting for lambs to start arriving any day now.

Not only that, but 2021 has two human grandchildren due to arrive for Marie and Jeff. The first of those is due to arrive pretty much any day and the second is due in May.

Well, Wally informed me that he insists on saying HELLO… and that he will be back next blog post!

Sincerely, Wonky–the baby Miniature Donkey