Farm Kids
Sheep and Wulffs on the Same Farm

What do you think of when you think of a farm? Do you picture an old man in overalls with a stem of hay in his mouth putting around on a slow-moving, dusty tractor or do you picture kids just like you zooming around on ATVs, wranglin’ sheep and rocking out to Guns & Roses?

Well, welcome to the Wulff family farm where Gretchen, Holly and Chester raise sheep.

On the farm, Gretchen’s the eldest - she’s in her junior year at Woodland High and is active in Future Farmers of America, volleyball, track and art. 

Holly is the next oldest and wears converse sneakers she stole from her little brother. She’s in her first year of high school and enjoys extra-curricular activities including volleyball. She also enjoys entertainment from the early 90’s as she has scrawled “Guns & Roses” on the side of her stolen shoes and proudly announces that Wayne’s World is her favorite movie. In fact, Wayne’s World is quickly agreed on by all three siblings as the funniest move ever.

Chester is the youngest, he’s in 5th grade, and according to him, he does most of the work around the farm.  He ‘s quick to poke fun at his older sister’s – mostly Holly who he refers to as “the lazy one” (although she appears entirely unaffected by his insults).

Very few, if any, of the Wulff’s friends at school live on farms. They feel, even though they have to work harder than many of their friends, it’s to their advantage.

“We’ll be better off for it.  It’s good training for the future. We can tackle problems that a lot of other kids might not be able too” said Holly.

The kids are responsible for feeding, cleaning, shearing and showing the sheep. 

“Shearing” is like giving the sheep a haircut.  It keeps the sheep from getting too hot in the summer as well as for cleanliness reasons. 

“Showing” is when the sheep are displayed in contests and auctions.  Only the sheep are shown.  Chester says his favorite part of raising sheep is showing them. That’s when all the hard work finally pays off! 

The Wulff family raises sheep, but much of their farm is taken up by rice fields.  The family rents out its fields to another farmer.  For many people, farming has become a part-time occupation and they hold other, full-time, jobs away from the farm.  In order to remain profitable, it’s important to make the best use of the land and, sometimes, that means renting out field space.  If you like rice, learn more about it. click here

There is also one lone cow on the farm, affectionately named #308. A dust trail is all you see when Chester hops on his ATV and races around the farm looking for #308.  It’s a wild ride, but well worth it as #308 is pretty much the coolest cow ever.

The farm is a large part in their lives, but the Wulff kids have other interests as well.  Gretchen is really good at throwing discus on the Woodland High track team and she recently won an essay writing contest which earned her a scholarship.  Of course the essay was about the time she got detention for missing class when she needed to stay home and tend to sick sheep.

So what’s in store for the future?

“I picture myself making farming a part of my life. Probably not as an occupation, but as something I do on the side. I enjoy it.” Gretchen explained.

And her brother and sister agreed.

Like any other brothers and sisters there is a good amount of  fun being poked at each other and a little bit of bickering, but there are two things that they all agree on: growing up on a farm is awesome and Wayne’s World is the best movie of all-time. Party on!