It was a pleasure last week to visit SkyPilot Farm and Creamery at 10384 Airport Road in Longmont. Located across from the airport, SkyPilot Farm is a wonderful 40 acre agricultural oasis in a growing suburban area.
In the last year Chloe Johnson and Craig Scariot have been working on the new farm. Improving the pastures, renovating an old farmhouse and building the infrastructure for their expanding Creamery and Farm operation. Their main focus is growing their raw sheep’s milk creamery and meat operation and to get all animals on pasture full time. Currently they offer herd shares of raw sheep and cow’s milk, raise and sell chicken and duck eggs, lamb and pork, and for now have beef available from a partner farm. In the near future they will also expand their herd share to include cow’s milk. They recently obtained two dairy cows, one jersey (A1/A2) and a Guernsey (A2/A2).
Chloe and Craig are in the middle of a long lambing season. They lamb from mid-Winter through May in order to provide herd shares of raw milk from February through October/early November. Cow shares will be available year round. During our visit, I asked Chloe why a raw dairy. And more specifically, why raw milk.
“I liked the idea of sheep milk. It’s a high quality milk and great for making cheese. Even though sheep’s produce a quart a day to a cow’s three gallons, cheese makers get two times the yield from sheep’s milk than from cow’s milk for cheese. It’s also a great alternative for folks with issues with dairy,” she explained. “It’s really diverse in minerals and vitamins.”
High quality seems to be the mantra for small dairies. SkyPilot works closely with the Colorado Dairy Service to ensure proper sanitation and processes. They test regularly, and as a member those test results are available for the asking. Chloe and Craig are proud of the fact that their milk results are consistently better than Grade A. They attribute this quality to maintaining high standards rather than relying on pasteurization as well as their ability to control the entire process from field to table, like taking the extra effort to double filter. Craig explained they don’t think twice about dumping a questionable batch, sanitizing the equipment and starting over. There also virtually no waste, as pigs love milk!
Sheep’s milk is the original dairy choice for pecorino and a variety of Spanish cheeses like Manchego. It’s also the original dairy used for greek yogurts with higher protein than other options. And, Chloe finds the taste preferable.
At any given time during the season, SkyPilot is milking about 20 ewes. During lambing the newborns are not separated from their mothers at all for the first few days to ensure they receive an adequate amount of colostrum, and then, the 20 ewes being milk for shares are only separated from their lambs for part of the day for milking. A luxury of small dairies.
While several herd share members are cheese makers, there are many other folks who sign up to enjoy the many benefits of sheep milk. One of those benefits is that sheep’s milk can be frozen, thus extending the season to a full year. The milk won’t lose any quality for up to six months in a home freezer, and a year under the right circumstances. That’s a great bonus for cheese makers who need consistency in their supply.
Now, a natural result of dairies is a consistent and major increase in herd size. As a result, SkyPilot has a consistent availability of lamb. One of the benefits to purchasing half or whole shares of lamb, besides an amazing and delicious protein source, is the share size is manageable. You can fit a share in a home freezer. Something you can’t really do with a half share of pork or quarter of beef. Those require additional freezer storage, which doesn’t work for everyone. It also means your share costs are affordable as well. As the cows regularly calf, the farm will also have their own beef available.
With every half or whole share of lamb ordered from the farm, customers receive a recipe booklet and a Savory spice mix. That’s especially welcome for folks that are new to cooking lamb. The farm also sells individual cuts and sausages made with a great recipe of their processors (apparently a huge hit!).
If you want to learn more about SkyPilot, visit their website, where you can sign up for a herd share (then receive your contract for signature at your first pick up). They are also working on adding an online meat order sheet where you can choose your pick-up location. You can find them at the Loveland City Farmer’s Market this season, their farm store (open from 8-6 daily), and pick up locations in Fort Collins, and coming soon, Boulder.