Learn how to slaughter and butcher your own sheep, and go home with meat for your freezer!

Sign up here: http://whetstonefarm.com/store

We will provide a hands-on demonstration of how to slaughter, skin, gut, and break down a sheep into wrapped cuts for your freezer. Each student will learn to slaughter their own sheep and complete the entire process. Teachers will be available to give guidance and support each step of the way. We will work in a group so that each student will have the chance to observe others and be able to ask for assistance with technique. Everyone will go home with their finished butchered sheep after the second class.

Students may bring one partner to help and participate in the processing of their sheep.

This year we are splitting up the class into two sessions - in the first session (November 4) you will slaughter, skin, and gut your sheep. The carcass will then hang in our cooler for a week to age. This improves the quality of the meat and makes the cutting easier for butchering. In the second session (November 11) you will butcher the sheep and learn about cuts, our favorite ways to cook them, and how to wrap them. 

We’re offering this class with a sliding scale tuition this year - please choose a price that fits your financial capacity best. Image 3 has a guide to assessing your financial experience to help you decide what to pay. If you have the ability to support folks with less financial resource, please consider adding on a donation to expand access to slaughter skills!

We provide:

• sharp tools- knives, meat grinder, etc

• a hot meal after class

• butcher paper for packaging meat

• the sheep

Please bring:

• warm clothes that can get dirty (bloody)

• a cooler or boxes to bring meat home in on Nov. 9th

Morning Class (8am-12pm), Saturday Nov. 2+9:

Our annual farm party, with music, sheep roast, fire, raffle, t-shirts, circus performance, camping and more!

Come check out the farm and have good ol’ time.

More info to come, but get those calendars marked!

Saturday Oct 12, 2024

In-person Event: Polk County USDA and Go Farm Connect team up to help farmers learn about—and become comfortable utilizing—programs and resources that can offer protection and move their businesses forward

Amery, WI - The Polk County United States Department of Agriculture  (USDA) Office, in partnership with Go Farm Connect, will be hosting a field day on Wednesday, August 14, 2024 from 4:30–6:30 p.m. to introduce farmers to financial and technical resources and demonstrate how these resources can help their businesses grow. The event will be held at Whetstone Farm at 281 135th St, Amery, WI 54001. Snacks will be provided, and Hmong and other language interpretation services will be available upon request. Residents and staff of Eau Claire, Chippewa, Dunn, and Barron counties are also encouraged to attend.

August 14, 2024

4:30 p.m.–6:30 p.m.

Whetstone Farm is a dynamic collaborative farm with a focus on community building and resiliency in sustainable farming. Whetstone Farm grows certified organic vegetables and grass fed beef & lamb for direct market.

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offer a wide variety of farm loans and programs such as crop insurance, infrastructure cost-shares, and planning tools that benefit farmers and landowners. Matt Hardy and Bonnie Warndahl of Go Farm Connect and staff from both FSA and NRCS welcome farmers—no matter how large or small their operation—to the event.

Media Contact:    

Bonnie Warndahl, Farmer/USDA Connector

bonnie@rtcinfo.org

612.462.9311

Matt Hardy, Farmer/USDA Connector 

hello@rusthill.com

651-237-2195

Burdock Days 2024

Saturday August 10, 1:00 pm

Come for a day of work, games, and fun to help us remove burdock from the farm before it goes to seed and sticks to all the sheep.

Players will break into 4 teams to try to collect as much burdock as possible from 4 zones on the farm. Burdock collected is scored according to weight.

There will be two rounds, 45 min each. In the second round teams will move to another zone that has already been gone over, burdock collected in round two is worth double.

Players get prizes including meat, veggies, and raffle tickets for a couple sheepskins! First place gets first pick, etc.

Come have fun, and help us keep the burs out of the wool, and prevent the spread of this very well adapted plant!

Competition starts at 1:00 pm

Prizes, a jump in the Apple River, food, and a campfire hang afterwards.

EVERY Saturday 10:00 am - 1:00 pm, through October in the St. Croix Falls Library courtyard.

230 N Washington St, Saint Croix Falls, WI 54024

----> Come out to the farm and see your vegetable seed GROWING!   Carrots, brussel sprouts, beets, onions and more, Flowering and Making SEED!!  

 LEARN more and ask questions about SEED SAVING with Clint Freund as your tour guide! Stay for the community potluck right across the street at WHETSTONE FARM.

For more info, email: cultivatingthecommons@gmail.com

260 135th Street, Amery WI 54001

Saturday July 13 is the Eat Local Farm Tour, come stop by Whetstone Farm and Cultivating the Commons to see the seed crops blooming, check out the farms, and stay for the AFTER PARTY!

4:00 pm Bloom Tour at 260 135th street

6:00 pm Potluck at 281 135th Street

Music from GALaxy and fire to follow. 🔥

281 135th street, Amery WI 54001

Beef & Sheep Pasture Walk south of Amery, Saturday, June 22, 10 AM

The NW Wisconsin Graziers Network, River Country RC&D and UW-Madison Extension invite you to a multi-species pasture walk hosted by Whetstone Farm and Cultivating the Commons, located 7 miles southwest of Amery in Polk County on Saturday, June 22 from 10:00AM-12:00PM. This educational event will include multi-enterprises, grazing planning, direct marketing, multi-species grazing, winter bale grazing, vegetable CSA and vegetable seed production, and a soil health discussion.

Come tour a collaboratively run grazing operation (alongside vegetable and seed production) with Whetstone Farm and Cultivating the Commons. These farms collaboratively manage 176 acres with rotationally grazed livestock and have completed EQIP programs as well as working with Polk County Land and Water. Together they were able to improve their livestock operations to enhance water quality and wildlife habitat. Whetstone Farm manages a flock of crossbred sheep (200+ head) and a small herd of Galloway cattle (18 head).

There will be a soil health discussion led by UW-Madison Extension crops specialist on challenges of converting cropland to perennial forage production.

This walk will focus on the livestock and grazing components of the farms. Discuss rotational grazing with cattle and sheep using a mix of permanent and movable fencing. See recent installments with NRCS EQIP programs including above ground water lines, permanent & mobile fencing, and converting crop lands to permanent pastures. Discuss corral for multi-species use, lambing on pasture, parasite maintenance, guard dog use, direct marketing, educational programing, on farm slaughter, and conservation easements.

Whetstone Farm direct markets most of their products via website and farmer’s market, alongside offering on-farm slaughter as well as slaughter/butchering educational workshops. Whetstone Farm has been providing grass-fed lamb for 10 years and raising cattle for grass fed beef since 2021. Other enterprises include a vegetable CSA and specialty crop seed production.

The farm is located at 260 135th Street in south central Polk County. On Hwy 46 going south of Amery, turn right (west) onto 20th Avenue go west 2.5 miles, turn right (north) onto 135th Street, go about 1/2 mile to farm on right. Coming from the south, on Hwy 46 about five miles south of Amery turn left (west) onto 20th Avenue and follow directions above. Watch for the signs.

For more information, contact Kass at 402-310-2046, Becky Brathal, UW-Madison Extension Regional Crops Educator, at 651-302-6520, Chris Johnson, River Country-RC&D at 715-579-0793, or Lynn Johnson at 715-225-9882 with NW Wisconsin Graziers Network.