After coyotes killed some of his
lambs, Mike Polis invested in llamas
to help guard his flock.
farm. Focusing in on niche markets can make small farming
more lucrative for part-time farmers. But the trick is finding
the sweet spot between passion and profit to make sure a
small-time hobby doesn’t turn into a big-time headache.
Polis purchased his property when the price of land
dropped during the Great Recession. “The one thing about
farming is that land prices are very, very expensive,” he says.
“Most small farmers in California either inherit the land or
buy at a lower rate. The prices were really depressed in 2008,
2009 and 2010, so I was able to pick up three different parcels
for one-third the normal cost.” Polis calls farming his pas-
sion hobby and says it only continues because his wife is sup-
portive. “I have a really unbelievable wife who knows I love
doing it,” he says. “She is really, really considerate.” But the
enterprise has also become a family affair with Ethan, who is
studying animal biology at UC Davis, frequently on the farm
to manage livestock and construct the new barn. Matthew
designed the farm’s website, manages the electric fences and
assists with input for the lamb database.
Polis started with pomegranate and olive trees since he
had some experience with orchards growing up, but the pro-
longed drought made that unsustainable. He then switched
to livestock, purchasing cattle, sheep, yaks and chickens.
But he found that the meat from cattle is difficult to sell on a
small scale. Yaks are a specialty meat, and the niche demand
didn’t cover the cost of maintaining supply. He eventually
settled on just lambs.
Polis found that the ease of raising lambs made them the
best small rancher animal stock and a good fit for his part-
time schedule. “On average, most of the lambs are on my
property for eight months, and then are ready for market,”
Polis says. “They have very few vet issues, they eat the grass-
October 2018 | comstocksmag.com
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