We stand on the lands of the Great Sioux Nation, Wahpeton, Sauk, and Meskwaki people. We’re committed to honoring these people who came before us and their sacred agricultural practices as stewards of the Earth. We practice gratitude for this place, soil regeneration, carbon sequestration, and sustaining people and our no-plan-B-planet in a perennial, never tilled, beyond organic prairie pasture ecosystem. We’ve been harnessing sun, water, milk, and grass into lamb, beef, and eggs as a family for twenty-five years and plan to for many more to come.

Sheep Improvement Company was established in the early ‘90s, although Kelley O'Neill started breeding purebred old-style Hampshires in 1972 on his family's farm, Spruce Shadows where Kelley's grandfather had raised Guernseys, Durocs, Shropshires and turkeys. He was the first person in Minnesota to raise White Holland turkeys. This is where Kelley's love for animals and natural ability expanded into raising his own sheep.

Cindy Wolf, DVM, taught at the College of Veterinarian Medicine for 35 years after coming to the University of Minnesota to intern in 1984. At the U of M she cultivated her knowledge into specializing in small ruminants and has become well known nationally as a strong advocate in the sheep and goat community.

Kelley and Cindy established their farm in Rushford, MN in 1994.  They use sheep, cattle and goats to graze steep ground, much of which is unsuitable for cropping. Most lambs are born in May and June out on pasture. The lamb and beef are sold directly to customers at the Rochester and Bloomington Farmers' Markets, as well as through the Dakota Lamb Growers Co-op. The farm also supplies meat to restaurants in Winona and the Twin Cities.