Our Story
In 1989 Matthew bought his first Shropshire ewe, Patty, from Verne Hoffman of Mokelumne Farms in Acampo, CA. Verne was a family friend and lived only four miles from the Anderson's. Over the years Verne was Matthew's mentor not only with the sheep but in life as well. Matthew helped out at Mokelumne Farms every chance he got and earned a wealth of knowledge from Verne's many years of raising livestock.
Christie purchased two Shropshire ewes from Andy Edmondson of Lazy E Ranch in 1995. Eileen Aggi, of Chico, CA was Christie's sheep mentor. Eileen spent countless hours teaching Christie the ins and outs of showing and breeding sheep, as well as taking Christie and her sheep to lots of fairs including several very memorable trips to Cow Palace. Christie went on to buy a fall ewe from Verne Hoffman and met Matthew.
Matthew and Christie competed in the show ring at California State Fair Junior show for several years. In 1998 Matthew showed Anderson Farms 5 Friendly Frank and Christie was interested in breeding her ewes to the ram.
Matthew and Christie were engaged at the 1999 Butte County Fair, which was Christie's last junior show. They were married in June of 2000 and combined their flocks of Shropshires.
Emily was added to Anderson Farms in 2003. She attended her first National Shropshire Show in Ohio when she was 4 months old. She loves the sheep and her favorite things are showing and spinning. Emily and Christie are co-owners of Barnyard Notions, an Etsy boutique that sells wool products and related items. She doesn't let a Congenital Heart Defect or a pacemaker stop her from doing what she loves!
Andrew was born in 2005. Ten days later we took a trip to the National Shropshire Show at the Puyallup Fair in Washington State where we exhibited the Reserve Junior Champion Ram. Andrew chose Lincolns as his breed and got his first ewe from Beverly Boersma. He expanded with ewes from North Valley Farms and an Estes ram. He is an expert wild sheep tamer and enjoys the Lincolns for their calm temperaments. He enjoys building things and being outside when he's not busy battling Lyme.
After moving back to our homeland of California we quickly realized how much we missed the Midwest. Not even the mild winter temps could keep us so we found 80 acres in North West Missouri and packed the sheep and kids up one more time.
