This session was totes magoats!

I first met the fascinating, multidimensional, and altogether lovely Erin Link a little under three years ago at a women in ag gathering in Menomonie, Wis. As it turned out, she farms a little more than 10 miles away from us and her dad was the guy behind the counter whenever we went on parts runs for our discbine. Small world, ain't it? Anyway, Erin and I became friends and we got pretty close while working our buns off to save a local monthly newspaper called the Hay River Review. All right, enough about me. Let's talk about Erin some more.

Erin and her longtime partner, Bob, own and operate EB Ranch LLC, a small and diversified farm using regenerative practices in suburban Ridgeland, Wis. The goats that Erin raises are San Clemente Island goats, a rare and very endangered heritage dual-purpose breed. Erin uses their milk to make soap, sells their meat, breeds and sells breeding stock for other SCI breeders, and does a lot to raise awareness for a breed of goats that needs every bit of attention it can get. Most of the EB Ranch herd is named after Nordic gods and goddesses, which is fitting since Erin harkens images of a Viking queen (meant with all the love in the world on my end). In addition to goats, Erin and Bob also raise Bourbon Red turkeys, broiler chickens, and geese on pasture.

Erin is shifting her website platform to Barn2Door from a previous webhosting site in a move to boost sales of her products and fight for the land and goats she loves so dearly. With a new website comes a need for new and updated photos of the farm and farm products, and she invited me to come on down to the farm! While August is still quite green in our part of the world, she and I as farmers are pretty immersed in the rhythm of the seasons and we're beginning to hear the whispers of fall. When the colors change, I'll be headed back to EB Ranch to get some more photos of the goaties grazing under leaves of copper and gold, and then again in the winter to capture those majestic beasts romping in the snow.

Enjoy a taste of EB Ranch LLC! Check them out on Facebook and order some soap while you're at it.