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

2020 has definitely been a unique year for everyone. I hope this blog, from Wally here at Sandy Acres, reaches you and your family in hopeful spirits as the New Year is about to arrive. As much as I’ve enjoyed extra time with Mom, Marie, this year, I know she’s hoping for a great 2021.

With all the things going on in the world, Mom and I tried to remember and enjoy the small things: sunrises, sunsets, and lots of animal snuggles. We had many baby animals born this year including a March, May, and September lambing season. For cattle births, they started in February and concluded in August with a total of 38 calves born. The last baby animal born this year was a Miniature Donkey born the day before Thanksgiving and his name is Wonky. We will talk more about him in my next blog.

To be honest, I know that the virus really disrupted all the humans’ lives this year, but I really enjoyed Mom, Marie, being home with me most of the summer. She really looks forward to taking the Miniature Herefords to many fairs and shows throughout the summer and fall, but most of them were canceled this year. She did finally have the opportunity to go to a small breed show the first weekend of October, Mini Mafia Upper Midwest Regional Show, and the Kids & Cows event the following weekend.

Another highlight of the year was that the Farmer’s Market on the Farm grew in neighborhood awareness and was enjoyed as a local location for many to get meat, veggies, and other items throughout the summer on Monday evenings. The Farm is still open every Monday evening from 3pm-7pm for Beef and Lamb meat purchases (or by appointment) for the winter and spring. We are excited to also host the Farmer’s Market again in 2021.

Happy New Year to y’all! We are very excited for 2021 and new adventures!

Sincerely, Wally the Trusted Border Collie

January has come and gone, so we’ve all start thinking spring and the arrival of new babies! Mom (Marie) took a little vacation away from us in January and went to the Denver Stock Show with some close friends of hers. They hauled her friend’s shorthorn heifer out to the show to be shown. She said it was a long drive but she really wants to take some mini Herefords out to the show some year soon. I sure did miss her. She was only gone 5 days but it seemed like 5 weeks to me.

February is a month my mom (Marie) has really been looking forward to. We start having new lambs and new calves. We have 49 ewes to lamb that are due starting February 22.  It’s an exhausting but fun time seeing all the new lambs. We never know what color they are going to be. I think that is what makes it that much more fun.

We have 7 cows that are going to have their first calf starting around February 21. My mom is so… nervous because her first one due is Carly and she has been one of our show heifers the last 2 years and is bred to a grand champion bull. She keeps talking about sleeping in the barn. I don’t know if she is serious or just teasing me. All I know is I will be camped out wherever she is just in case she needs my help with anything.

We have spent the winter working with some of our calves from last year teaching them to lead so that they can go to new homes. We always keep some for ourselves of course too. We currently have 5 heifers for sale so check out our website to see them and don’t be afraid to contact Marie if you have any questions. She loves to talk cows. Heres a link: For Sale

Don’t forget that Sandy Acres Meats is open every Monday from 3-7pm. Marie is also available by appointment 715-579-2917. The Valentine’s Day Special runs until Sunday, February 16^th. The special is $6 per pound of steak (Sirloin, Rib, and T-bone). During this special, if you purchase $25 of steak or more (& are 21+), get a free complimentary gift of a bottle of local wine (while supplies last through the 16th).

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love, Wally