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WELCOME TO THE WHITE POST FARM!
We have a small farm of 88 acres, approximately 20 miles Northwest of Rockford, Illinois, and 4 miles south of the Wisconsin state line.
After 40 years of raising and showing Columbia Sheep, we decided to sell the Columbia sheep.
In 1999, we had an auction. The sale went really well, with the sheep sold to 16 different states. The reason we had a sale was because the price of wool dropped to an all time low of $0.15 a pound. On top of that, the sheep shearers were charging more per head increasing it to $4.00 per sheep shorn. It was during that time that the sheep shearer announced his retirement, while John and Steve made the tough decision to sell the sheep. For the first time in 40 year’s the White Post Farm had no sheep. However, that did not last for long.
This time around, the goal was to find some wool-less sheep! After researching all the different breeds of sheep, the Katahdin sheep became the choice breed for White Post Farm. But, one catch was that we were told in order to find the sheep we wanted, we would have to go to Canada to find them. After many emails and phone calls we found the breeders that we felt had the sheep we were interested in purchasing. The arrangements were made with the USDA to cross the US/Canadian border. Next came the drive to the Alberta, Canada area to the farms of Julie Rosgren, Bruce Thompson, and Allen & Jane Dau’s. The sheep were all DNA tested on the Codon 171. There were 14 ewes, and 2 rams that were all QR or RR on the Codon 171 that took the drive across the border to their new home. Over 2700 miles later, they arrived safely in their new home in Durand, Illinois. The flock has now since expanded into 60 head of ewes.
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STROMQUIST-KATAHDINS.COM
WHITE POST FARM
John & Steve Stromquist
10956 Freeport Rd.
Durand, ILL 61024
Phone: 815-629-2159
info@stromquist-katahdins.com
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How the name came about?
White Post Farm
It was 45 years ago and we had planned a summer vacation. John was working as a police officer in Rockford, Ill, and Marian was a school nurse in the Rockford Public Schools.
It was a hot day in June and our family started on a 2 week vacation to Virginia. We wanted to take our kids to Washington D.C. and the surrounding area. We were coming down a Mountain road and we could see a small town down in the valley. The kids were "fussing" in the back seat of the car, and the verbal warnings were not working! In frustrations, John turned around to discipline the kids and at the same time, Marian yelled out, "Look Out!" In the crossroads of this very small town was a large white post, and we almost hit it! John stopped the car and walked back to look at the post. It was about 3 feet square at the bottom and 7 feet tall. There was a window about 2 feet square, and looking into the window, we could see a post approximately 4 feet tall and 3 inches in diameter. Under the glass window was a brass plaque that was placed there by the U.S.A. Department of Interior and it read:
The original white post was placed here by George Washington to tell his friends how to find his home.
It was then that we decided to name our farm, "White Post Farm." If President George Washington put up a white post to tell his friends how to find his home, we would do the same! So for the past 45 years and to this day, we have a a large white post with a sign that reads, "Stromquist White Post Farm Katahdin Sheep"
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Katahdin