From Airfields to Farm Fields - Retired Air Force Veteran Soars into Second Career As Farmer
Raising sheep, goats and poultry on a small farm in Lanexa, Virginia is a far cry from commanding security forces around the world in the United States Air Force. But it’s just the kind of new assignment retired Air Force veteran Jim Marry was looking for after his 29 years of service. He was offered other career opportunities when he retired, but they were too similar to what he had been doing, so he decided to soar in a different direction.
Marry, who grew up in Michigan and joined the Air Force when he was 18, wasn’t raised on a farm, and farming was not in his blood. So what led him to take the leap from airfields to farm fields? “It was kind of a big notion we had in the Air Force while we were moving around that it would be kind of nice to have a permanent place to settle,” he said.
After moving 14 times in 20 years, he and his wife, Jan, decided they liked Virginia and wanted to stay, so they began looking for the right spot to make their dream a reality. They found that spot on 25 acres in Lanexa, and Pomocray Farms was born. The operation is named after historical county property records that identified the land by that name.
Marry began farming his new land in 2014 and now raises pasture-fed, free-range animals for meat, eggs and fiber. He has about 80 sheep and lambs, about 10 goats and upwards of 400 chickens and ducks.
As a new and inexperienced farmer, he had a huge learning curve to overcome. In an effort to educate himself, he attended an event held by the Virginia Beginning Farmer & Rancher Coalition, a state-wide, coalition-based Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) program. That event provided him access to additional learning opportunities through VCE.
Though new to farming, Marry had a general idea of what he wanted to accomplish. He wanted to raise sheep and lambs, and sell the meat, wool and pelts to produce a steady revenue stream. He shared his mission with an agent at his local Farm Service Agency, who recommended he visit Virginia State University, which raises sheep and goats on its 416-acre Randolph Farm. It was there he met Dr. Stephan Wildeus, small ruminant researcher with VSU’s Agricultural Research Station, and Dr. Dahlia O’Brien, small ruminant Extension specialist.
He recalled that it was Dr. O’Brien’s first day on the job, and they were all looking at VSU’s sheep, and he realized he had no idea what he was looking at. “Dr. Wildeus and Dr. O’Brien were discussing hair sheep and wool sheep, and this breed and that breed, and I’m thinking, what are you talking about here?” He added, “They kind of looked at me and said, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ ”
As O’Brien and Wildeus were explaining some of the basics about breeds, Marry realized he needed more education so, he went back to researching online. He also attended multiple Extension workshops at VSU.
Marry said he’s grateful for the Extension training workshops VSU offers, the expertise from the specialists and the support VSU gives small famers. “Many of the people [who attend VSU’s Extension programs] are small farmers, who first had a career, and farming was a second thing. And you have to make up for lack of experience with training, and that’s the benefit of VSU.”
Marry attended Wildeus’ annual lambing class, which he found “extraordinarily helpful.” He also learned a lot from O’Brien about how to worm. “The impact she had on my farm is huge,” he said. “She changed the worm problem probably by 80 or 90 percent, just with the education and training I got from her.”
Marry has experimented with different breeds of sheep, trying to find the right balance for his operation. He initially wanted to get hair sheep, but he couldn’t find any available. So he bought some traditional wool sheep and Icelandic sheep. He later bought some Barbados Blackbelly sheep, like the ones raised at VSU.
“So then I had this eclectic mix of sheep and a bunch of crossbreeds and didn’t really have a plan.” So he visited VSU again and acquired some of its heritage Barbados Blackbelly sheep to breed with his stock. “Later,” he said, “I actually figured out that what I really wanted was really big sheep and that breed is kind of small.” So, he went back to the drawing board and replaced those sheep with bigger ones. He now has a mix of Tunis, Rambouillet, Katahdin and Leicester Longwool sheep.
O’Brien said, “Because of this experience, I believe he’s a good example for other farmers, because he has raised different breeds and types of sheep and can provide feedback to others on what breeds he believes work best in his type of operation.”
Marry’s decision to get bigger breeds boiled down to business. “Farming is a business. If it’s not, then you’re homesteading, not farming.”
For example, Barbados Blackbellies are typically processed when the lambs are a year old and weigh 70 to 80 pounds, and the return is 25 to 30 pounds of sellable meat, Marry said. But he hopes the larger breeds will get up to 100 pounds before processing, and produce 40 to 50 pounds of sellable meat.
Breeding is another business decision. “One recommendation is to go out and buy the best ram you can afford,” he said. “But I can’t bring myself to spend a whole lot of money on something that dies easily, so I buy sheep that basically other people are getting rid of.”
How to market his sheep is yet another business decision. Marry has found success in selling his products at farmers markets. “I seek out markets where there is no one else selling lamb. Because of the volume I’m doing, it’s the place that I can get the best return on the sheep,” he said.
Marry has been a vocal advocate for what types of small ruminant research and Extension programs are needed to help Virginia’s small and limited-resource producers. And he further supports Virginia’s sheep industry by participating in an on farm research project to test the effectiveness of deworming treatments in reducing parasite loads in sheep.
O’Brien said, “I enjoy working with Jim and appreciate his feedback from the point of view of small ruminant marketing and programming.” She added, “His first-hand knowledge of marketing through local marketing systems places him in a good position to share specific challenges and provide feedback on how we can best help the industry and promote profitability and sustainability.”
And what about all the training he got in the military? Marry said it really comes in handy. “There are all kinds of skills you learn in the military that have a big effect on how you work the farm.”
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