Skittles' TV Day

It seemed that Skittles knew exactly what he was doing when he came up to talk to the visiting news personality.

Rachel, a reporter from our local TV station, visited the farm on Thursday to see the animals. Emily, a colleague from the Diverse Corn Belt Project, joined us to talk about farm diversification.

We started with a tour of the farm. I drove through the Christmas tree patch, where I described our work grazing Shropshire sheep among the trees. As we went through a gate and along the back ridge of the Hillside Pasture, Skittles strode the netting, gazing at us from the opposite ridge.

“Is that an alpaca?” Rachel asked.

“That’s Skittles the Llama,” I said. “He has his own attitude that I can only describe as Skittles-tude.”

When we arrived at the SGL paddock, Skittles trotted over to Emily and Rachel and began interrogating them about the purpose of their visit. He soon found their answers acceptable, and he began posing for pictures.

I brought a couple of hay bales and threw them in for the animals. Rachel recorded the scene, sheep and goats chattering as they cantered to the bales. I cut the twine and tossed the flakes into the hay racks.

Rachel interviewed Emily about Diverse Corn Belt, a research project identifying barriers and opportunities for farmers in the Midwest. I spoke on achieving higher farm productivity and finding creative answers to challenges such as drought and labor shortages.

Rachel then created an intro and outro, setting her tripod by the netting so the animals could be in the background.

And while she was recording, Skittles decided to ask for his own segment:

Once the cameras were packed up, I took a break for lunch and errands. That evening, I returned to water the animals. A beautiful deep orange spread from a fiery sun across the horizon, creating a silhouette of the woods. It was quiet, and as water flowed into the tanks, the sheep and goats munched on their hay or lay chewing their cud. Daishin and Mocha came over for a drink. Skittles dug into one of the hay racks, satisfied with his growing fame.

The peace of it filled me. I checked my phone: 6:02. The newscast had begun.

When I got home from chores, Jeff and I watched the on-demand show. A preview of the farm story played at the beginning of the 6:00 Evening News.

So, at the same time I stood alone in the pasture watching the sunset fall across the snowy, quiet landscape, thousands watched our sheep, goats, and llamas in the excitement of that Thursday morning on our Indiana farm.

Thanks for Reading!

And I hope you feel refreshed and rejuvenated for the week ahead with this moment preserved in picture and prose. Consider:

• If you had your own TV segment, what would it be about?

Share your answer and this newsletter with a friend who would be on TV with you!

If Sylvan Sundays was forwarded to you, welcome! To learn more about our farmers, check out “A New Year’s Introduction,” and to learn more about our name, visit “Being Sylvan.” Also, make sure to check out “This Week on the Farm” and “Farm Shop” below!

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This Week on the Farm

Here’s the news broadcast itself:

During my interview, I talked about my gratitude for the snow that surrounded us. Our water table is refilling, and the snow has created a brighter landscape than December’s browns and grays. It’s been beautiful to work in.

The Canaan firs shone in the snow, and it felt a little like Christmas again.

The wind through the Hillside Pasture created some neat furrows.

The January thaw began on Friday, but deep cold is arriving again on Monday. We’ve started feeding the sheep corn to increase their nutritional plane as they go through late gestation. It’s a sign that lambing season is nearly here!

Farm Shop

Outside of a day when a TV reporter visits the farm, it’s pretty quiet right now. But soon, we’ll have lamb photos for you! While you’re waiting for those, check out our previous lamb posts! Here’s “Pura Vida,” in which we consider a lamb that looks like a surfer and lambs whose mum wants them to clean up their room.

Our Etsy shop is always open, too.

Stay warm and safe this week.

🦙