Image 1 of 6

The O'Neill family, back row: Haley, Kelley; front row: Cindy Wolfe, Hanna, Harper; raise sheep and cows on their farm in Rushford, Minn. They began selling at the Winona Farmers' Market three years ago. (Photo by Kate Carlson/Winona360)

Alice approaches new visitors on the O’Neill Family Farm in Rushford, Minn., like a member of the family. Her small bell rings as each tiny step marks the gravel driveway, nipping at the heels of youngest O’Neill daughter Harper, 10, like a trained puppy. Only this young animal doesn’t fit in with the handful of guard dog Mastiffs or the seven Border Collie working dogs on the farm: Alice is a 3-month old lamb.

Despite owning 500-acres of land and several barns on the property that Kelley O’Neill and wife Cindy Wolfe purchased in 1993, the family of five lives in a renovated historic home in the city of Winona and travels nearly every day to their farm to tend to the 1400 ewes, hundreds of cattle and a dozen dogs. The couple’s three daughters—Haley, 14; Hanna, 12; and Harper, 10—have grown up on the farm and seem right at home feeding the animals and driving four-wheelers like trained professionals.

“When these guys were young, before they were in school, they were here all the time,” remembers Kelley. “They would take naps in a wood tool box on top of a sheep skin on the back of the four-wheeler. Now that they have such social calendars they don’t really have much time.”

The family took to the field Sunday afternoon, playfully “racing” to check in on the flock. When a ewe with a broken leg was spotted, the O’Neills immediately took to their specialized roles to herd the sheep and catch the injured animal to take back to the barn for treatment. Even during the chase, talk of Haley’s first high school dance rang out sporadically as the girls joked with one another—their dad focusing intensely on roping the sheep, yet allowing a smile to creep up every so often.

“It’s tough—we’re loath to cram more farming down their throats,” Kelley said. “We don’t want to make it even more unpalatable to them.”

Despite inching ever closer to their teenage years, the comfort and ease in which the girls conduct themselves on the family farm is hard to ignore. Snuggling with the most recent litter of guard dog puppies, or hand-feeding the “leader” sheep Charlotte, the O’Neill daughters take after their parents when it comes to a passion for the animals.

Kelley O’Neill grew up on a farm just south of the Twin Cities and cultivated an interest in the sheep business through multiple jobs during his adolescence.

“Sheep are less formidable to a 12-year-old than anything else,” Kelley said with a smile.

Kelley attended college briefly following his high school graduation, but realized the training he received on site with local farmers was far more beneficial than any classroom setting.

“Those three employers were my schooling more than an institution,” Kelley said. “There’s a lot to be said for a master-apprentice training program.”

Cindy Wolfe began an internship at the University of Minnesota in the early ‘80s, and has continued her employment there part time as a trainer in the veterinary school. Juggling work and family has always been a tug of war, but certain things about the family business make the hard times worthwhile.

“Lambing is my favorite time of the year,” said Cindy. “There’s something about being in a green field and looking at the beauty of these sheep doing what they’re supposed to be doing. I travel to many farms with the vet students and I see the good and the bad. It’s a nice reflection to know you had a hand in managing something that makes nature be able to do what it’s supposed to do.”

“There’s a lot of promise in spring,” Kelley said. “These lambs are born pretty close to perfect. The hard part is keeping that potential.”

The sun dipped lower in the sky as longer shadows began creeping across the lush green landscape of the O’Neill Family Farm late Sunday. The injured ewe was safely in the back of one of the four-wheelers as the family drove over a small creek and back toward the barns, laughter filling each of the two vehicles.

“An unexpected benefit of what we do has been watching the impact the farm has had on our girls,” Cindy said. “We receive a lot of compliments about how they are self-sufficient and great problem solvers, and when they are here, that’s what they need to do. We just say to ourselves how lucky we are.”