Nick Hazelton Shares About His Experience Becoming a Yak Farmer.
Every day Nick Hazelton wakes up to tend and care for the yaks and other animals he has on the farm. Making sure each animal is healthy and happy. However, this journey to becoming a successful farmer is not an easy one. Pushing through difficult lessons, having successes and losses along the way, and keeping a keen eye on a myriad of things.
The journey to becoming a yak farmer began when Hazelton dropped out of high
school in his Sophomore year, and pursued starting a yak farm in Hoskins Oregon. Along with a few other animals such as pigs, goats, and some gardening with the intention of becoming more independent. The land he uses now for his yak farm is the very land in which he grew up, is now filled with the herd of 21 yaks meandering abouts.
What made you choose yaks?
I was interested in large livestock and I really wanted something unique. I was sort of thinking along the lines of getting a versatile animal. They are also gorgeous animals, they have a very high quality fiber, lean meat, and high fat percentage in the milk. I was thinking, if I could get all three of those things, then I have my dairy cow, meat cow, and potentially sheep, in one animal. So that was kind of what brought me to it.
How did you pursue becoming a yak farmer?
It's complicated because I decided not to take a formal schooling route. I had to learn in different ways and kind of teach myself and use professionals in the area for their expertise. Basically it started out with my 4-H experience. I knew how to raise the animals and I understood some of the care. As I did it, things popped up, I learned things as I made mistakes. I also researched a lot as well. Most of my learning has come from talking to people in similar professions, in livestock or farming, and trying to use my network to learn things and exchange information. OSU vets have been very friendly to me and have given me a lot of information and the local veterinarian that I use that is out of Philomath. I would say that the learning process is failure and responding to those, and then reaching out to other people and exploring what they are doing. Now I think I have gotten to this point where I have enough knowledge and experience where I’m starting to look at things and make proactive decisions and learning.
What is it like raising yaks?
Most of the time it's very calm, and easy. I just go feed them hay and watch them. Then, once in a while, something crazy happens. Usually all happening in a string of events. Like a gate gets left open, and then they go run down to the neighbors, then you get them back, but now they’re all excited about having been on an adventure. So again, most of the time it is serene and nice. Some physical work, a little bit strenuous lifting hay bales. You have to be on the ball, and you have to be careful because they are big, they have horns, and they are pretty quick. To me, it makes it very interesting and dynamic. I appreciate getting to have those moments of excitement but also have some space to be able to have other projects. That’s where pigs, goats, and gardening comes in or whatever else I figure out how to spend my time.
What do you do with the yaks?
I mainly sell them for meat. I raise them out to about two years and that’s usually right about a good size. I butcher them and sell the meat. Right now I am selling bulk orders. As small as a quarter share of a yak to a full share. Then soon, at the end of the month I will have retail cuts. Where I will be able to sell individual packages and hopefully can make some deals with small grocery stores or some restaurants, we’ll see about that. I do also sell fiber but as a resource they don't produce as much fiber as meat. Also we don't sheer them, we brush them out, and the hair just falls off. You also have to time it with the animal. Some animals need to be harvested one week while waiting two weeks for the next one. It's something I’m still figuring out. But even for the time that it takes to collect the fiber, and they only drop hair once a year, it is definitely worth it. It has been fun to do, it's a cool little community in the fiber arts.
What are some challenges that you face?
The big thing is that yaks are Tibetan yaks, and because they are from the Tibetan steppes in the Himalayas. It is a very different, dryer, climate than western coastal Oregon. We have a very wet climate. That plays a role in a couple different things. It means that the soil isn't as mineral rich. Yaks are more designed for vegetation with high mineral content but not a very high calorie content. Here in Oregon, in the Willamette Valley, we have the opposite, where we don't have many nutrients or minerals because it gets washed out by the rain. But we have a lot of sunlight and carbon for plants to be able to make those macronutrients. It’s very easy for yaks to get too rich of food. They need more fiber than regular cattle. I figured that out by unfortunately losing some yaks to diarrhea. If they don't get enough dry forage, like some hay in their diet at the wrong time in the spring, then it can really wreck them. There are also parasites that play a role, too. That was the one thing that was a hallmark of an issue that I’ve dealt with. It was a painful, and unfortunate experience but it definitely taught me a lot about being an amature veterinarian, having to take care of animals in a sickened state. Now I have learned some ways to bring animals back from the edge.
What advice would you give to others?
If you want to do this, I would really recommend before starting out on your own, just buying animals whatever you’re doing. Definitely take some time to explore what other people are doing in that field. I think it makes a lot of sense to get some experience before you start a business and become reliant on your own. That was something that I didn't do, I decided to try to figure these things out on my own.
What is something you wish people knew about being a yak farmer or being a farmer in general?
There really is a very interesting flow about being a yak farmer or being a farmer in general. It's dynamic in the sense that there are a lot of different things to pay attention to and work with. Not everybody is suited for that, and not everybody needs to do that. I think it is important to understand that farmers are dealing with a lot of different variables. It’s a complicated system. Also farming is not just a job for hicks. There is space for creative people, in the field of agriculture, particularly innovation.
At a Glance:
Who: Nick Hazelton
Occupation: Yak Farmer
Hometown: Hoskins, Oregon
Age: 22
Hobbies: Foraging, spending time in the outdoors/woods, hosting/ going to music shows
Education: Kings Valley Charter school up until Sophomore year
Email: hazeltonfarm@gmail.com
Website: Hazeltonfarm.com