Young Green County farmer adds to his family’s farming operation as he prepares to have his own.

As I traveled down Highway 68 to Green County recently, I couldn’t help feeling a bit nostalgic seeing the many traditional farms laced within the rural landscape.

The occasional tobacco patch, fields of corn and soybeans, and cattle grazing gave me a sense of a simpler time, thankful for a place where farm life is a way of life for so many.

It has been that way for generations in this part of the world. On this particular day, I met with a young man representing a whole new generation who not only has chosen to stay on a farm his great-great-great grandparents began, but is injecting something a little different, and all his own, in this traditional farm setting.

Caton Clark has grown up on his family farm and embraced the hard work, rural surroundings, and a lifestyle that seems to have been forgotten in many places.

“I’m 18 years old and have lived on this farm all my life, and I can’t imagine it any other way,” he said. “In fact, I just bought my first farm.”

Just that fact alone is quite unusual for such a young person, but Caton has his eyes set on a future in farming and is wasting no time in getting started. And while he readies himself to go to the corn field for harvest that day, he took the time to discuss one of the comparatively “newer” ventures on the farm, his flock of sheep.

“When I was younger, I didn’t like the cattle so much since they were much bigger than me, and that sort of led me to the sheep,” he said. “We brought them to the farm in about 2015 and right now we have 57 ewes and one ram.”

All the chores on the farm are shared by each member of the family, but Caton has gotten to the point of raising the farm’s sheep on his own, and has learned much along the way from animal care to livestock marketing.

“We’ve had as many as 84 head at one time but a lot depends on the market, and I’ll sell close to 80 lambs when I take them to the livestock auction,” he said.

Like any farmer, Caton watches the bottom line and realizes there has to be a profit in what he’s doing. And the number of producers in the sheep industry seems to be growing.

According to information from the Kentucky Sheep and Goat Development Office, the all sheep/lamb numbers between 2023 and 2024 grew by more than seven percent, with market sheep and lambs increasing by nearly 12 percent.

“There are about 200 sellers each time I take my lambs to the market, so there are a lot more people in the area raising sheep than I thought.” Caton said. “But it’s a good feeling to see other people in this area getting into this kind of livestock.”

While cattle will likely always be a part of the family operation, he plans to keep the sheep as a part of his new farm, saying he can raise sheep on less land than conventional livestock, something that could be an enticement for other young people who want to be involved in a farming career all their own.  

“If you're just getting started, in my opinion, sheep would be a good option because you can handle them all by hand and you can make the operation work on a lot less land and a lot less money starting out,” Caton said.

One of the things that impressed me the most about this young farmer is his willingness to learn even from his mistakes.

“I've had my share of failures, but that's part of trying,” he said. “But now I'm in a good place, having learned from past mishaps. I also try to guide others, so they don’t repeat the same mistakes I’ve made.”

When I asked him if he had ever been referred to as a shepherd, he answered quickly, “yes,” noting some people at his church have referred to him in that way. But it is a title that he reveres and caring for these animals is something he takes very seriously.

"Many times, in the middle of the night, I've checked on them when our Great Pyrenees guard dog was barking at something,” Caton said. “I also watch each one carefully to make sure they are healthy, and even though it takes a lot of work, I enjoy it.”

Like the good shepherd he is, Caton can peer back on history and recognize the importance of what he is doing with his sheep and on the farm.  

“It's a good feeling. And they talk about it in the Bible, how the sheep follow the shepherd and how they trust the shepherd,” he said. “It's fun just to see how that's true and the same even so many years later.”

Caton is truly caring on a tradition with biblical roots, adding to the rich agricultural history of this part of the world.

Luke 2:8-20

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”