Windswept Farms is located in beautiful Southwest Michigan, in Monterey Center - the heart of Allegan County. Our township is one of the last agricultural strongholds in the area, and boasts rolling hills, open farmland, and many wonderful old family farms.
Windswept Farms was established in June of 1993, after a two-year search for the perfect farm. Our farm sits atop a high hill with a constant breeze and consists of 50 acres, a nice big old farmhouse, and several outbuildings. The farm is approximately 100 years old, and has had only three previous owners. The farm had evolved over time from a family dairy operation to a family hog operation.
When we moved in, it had been 10 years since the farm had been operational, and the rebuilding and renovating of the grounds and the old barns began immediately and still continues to this day. We have made many improvements to the farm over the years and it is a never-ending project - a labor of love!
The first livestock arrived at the farm exactly one month after we moved in, long before the farm was actually ready for livestock! Heather is a veterinarian in Allegan Country and worked with Linda (Zuppann) Grommes and her flock of Shetland Sheep. Linda gave Heather a sick ram lamb that we treated and named Mike Junior. After he had been at our farm just one night, Heather decided he was lonely and the rest was history. By fall we had accumulated a small flock of five Shetland Sheep - three ewes and two rams, and we've been hooked on Shetland Sheep ever since!
It didn't take long to accumulate more livestock. We have raised beef cattle, dairy steers, horses, pigs and chickens on our farm- but our passion has always been sheep. Our family has raised outstanding Shetland Sheep for over 25 years now, and we have shown and sold our Shetlands and their wool all over the country- producing numerous local, state and national champions. We consistently kept a flock of 80 to 90 Shetland ewes, and over the years added purebred Targhee sheep and a small flock of high quality blackface Club Lambs.
As our children grew up and aged out of the show ring, we began to transition to a flock of whiteface commercial ewes- predominantly Dorset/Polypay cross with some of our Targhee influence. In 2015, we learned about the Ovine GM1 for Huntington's Disease project and purchased our first two GM1 carrier rams. We now have a flock of approximately 100 commercial ewes, many being carriers of the gene for Ovine GM1 Gangliosidosis. As sheep producers with a family connection to Huntington's Disease, this project has become our passion and purpose.
We will never be without Shetland Sheep on our farm- we love them for their personality, their fiber, the hardiness of the lambs and the tremendous mothering ability of the ewes. We have kept the very best ewes and rams in order to continue to produce registered breeding stock and show stock for our buyers. We currently have a flock of 20 excellent Shetland ewes and 2 to 4 Shetland rams on our farm.