YAK TRACKS: "Yak to the Land" in VERMONT LIFE magazine

Thanks to writer Sky Barsch Gleiner, photographer Curtis Savard, and our friends at Vermont Life magazine for this winter 2011 feature article on Steadfast Farm and Vermont Yak Company.

YAK TRACKS: "Yak Pack:" Deadline Poet (courtesy Vermont's Dana Jewell)

Yak pack arrived intact.

Still frozen in fact.

Steak and ribs and sausage in sacks.

What, no yak Big Mac?

I'm going to cook it on the deck out back.

My grill came with a nice yak rack on a track, so I'll give it a whack.
I guess poetic skills I lack.

I'm a hack, a quack, like the duck from Aflac, I don't have the knack.

And so ends this yak crack attack.

Excerpt from Dr. Seuss, "Horton smacked a yak, and put him in a stack.'

YAK TRACKS: Sausage at Sugarbush - Winter 2011 Season!

We are pleased to have our yak sausage featured on the menu at Sugarbush Resort's beautiful TIMBERS restaurant.

Here's a photo of the menu, shot while skiing at Allen Lodge, midway up the mountain at Lincoln Peak.

YAK TRACKS: Seeking Yak Hide for Brussels Museum...

Note: You just can't make up stuff like this email we received from Belgium. We'll get that hide right over the Pond...

Dear Miss/Mister,

The Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels (Belgium) is looking for a
hide of a adult yak to mount it for display in an exhibition called,
Extremes.

Therefore, I'm contacting you: do you have a complete yak hide (head,
tail, etc) available, that would be suitable to mount?
If yes, how much would this cost? And how long would it take to get to
Belgium?
If no, could you prepare one? And again how much would this cost? And
how long would it take to get to Belgium?

I look forward to hear from you,

Have a nice day,

Kind regards,

Sophie Boitsios

YAK TRACKS: Yak Rodeo! November 2010.

Here's a quick look at the fun and excitement that is yak rodeo. Don't miss the yak testicle at the very end. Thanks to Emma Laskaris for FLIPping our adventures in yakking.

Our first YAK CSA 2011 Investor!

Thanks to Kristin Sorenson,our very first 2011 Vermont Yak Company C.S.A. Investor.

Here she is writing us a check for $100. She'll get 10 pounds of tasty yak meat come June 2011.

Yak to the future!

YAK TRACKS: Training Yaks to Come When We Call...?!

Stuck In Vermont: Vermont Yak Company

Thanks to Seven Days' videographer Eva Sollberger for getting "Stuck in Vermont" with Vermont Yak Company.



Yak it up, Eva!

YAK TRACKS: Meeting Tashi Sherpa, the GM of our Biggest Yak Buyer

Two weeks ago, the GM of Himalayan Yak restaurant took his day off, and drove up from NYC to Steadfast Farm to buy some yak meat to take back to their popular Jackson Heights eatery. Turns out, he was born in urban Nepal, and had never actually seen a live yak before. We remedied that immediately.



Here's an email from him of a few days ago - always good to strengthen our relationships with our business partners.

Hi Rob,

Sorry for replying late because of the busy july 4 weekend. We also included yak menu this time and people are loving it.

Our chefs has thanked you for your caps and shirts.Also, your souvenir (Yak skull) looks great in our displaying area. I have attached our picture taken by myself . Thank you once again for showing and introducing your yaks. It was fun.

Hoping to visit you soon to get more when we ran out of it.

Take care.

Tashi L. Sherpa, General Manager
Himalayan Yak Restaurant
72-20 Roosevelt ave, Jackson Heights
NY 11372

YAK TRACKS: Yak is Back (at the Summer Farmer's Market)

Say no more!



Come yak with us from 9:00 to 1:00 every Saturday in Mad River Valley on the Green.

The best place to come eat, drink, shop, and of course, purchase yak meat.

Yak to the future.

YAK TRACKS: The calves are coming!

Christine is our fifth mama to birth this spring.

Here are some photos of her with her newborn - an all-black calf.

Spent part of the week-end clearing grass from 20 acres of fence line - go team!

YAK TRACKS: Yakking About Bees at the Farm

YAK TRACKS: Celebrating our YAK MAMAS on MOTHER'S DAY!

We;'ve got four proud yak mamas and four new calves at the farm, as of mother's day. Here they are - posing.

Left to right: Lady Slipper, Ilia, Black Magic Woman (BMW) and Kunga.



And here's my favorite yak - Kunga the Wooly - with her day-old calf. Fetching, aren't they?

YAK TRACKS: Yakking in our "Satellite" Pastures - Vive Spring!

A big morning this morning. We moved eight of the weanling and yearlings to two small grass pastures.

Four - Uno, Carl, Nox, and Roxanne - to new a temporary pen with fine grass on the southwest side of Dave's farm.







And another four - Tashi the Wonder Yak, Natasha, Jessie, and Isadore - to the Yellow Farm Inn.





Good to have yaks out on pasture.

YAK TRACKS: Cinqo De Mayo - Yakking About Summer Grass!

...Thanks to warm weather, and a nice mix of moisture and sun, the yaks are on their summer grass/pasture - and wickedly happy to be there. Look closely - see them grinning! And what a stunningly beautiful afternoon in Mad River Valley.

YAK TRACKS: Yakking with the FLIPpin' Young 'Uns...

Here's what happened when I passed my 8-year-old son Theron the FLIP camera for 10 minutes the other day.



I ought to give him the camera more often.



Yak on, and stay cool, four-leggeds, in this 85 degree humidity!

YAK TRACKS: Good to be Back on Grass

I spent two hours this afternoon in one of my favorite places.

The little fenced-in pasture on the Loop Road by Mike and Sandy's Yellow Farm Inn.

Got the hoses hooked up, the yak trough filled with water, the temporary fencing and wires installed, and the pasture cleaned up.

In time for the four-leggeds arrival on spring pasture next week.

Good to be back on grass.

Yak to the future.

YAK TRACKS: The Russians are Coming!

We had a whole posse of Muscovites drop into the farm last week - guests of Champlain College in Burlington.

Thanks to my colleague Gary Scudder for the photos.

And could Lady Slipper's new calf be any more cute?

And why is it that all the yak farm kids only turn out to help when we have guests at the farm?

YAK: "The Best Alpine Bovine You'll Ever Eat!"

We couldn't make up a better headline.

Thanks to Atlantic for publishing this story on our farm.



And welcome to our first calf of the spring!

YAK TRACKS: Montpelier's Skinny Pancake features new YAK IN A BLANKET special

Take Vermont Yak Company Beer Bratwurst...
...wrap the wiener in a Butterworks Farm cornmeal "blanket."
Add Greenfield Highland Beef Chili, and Cabot Cheddar, and pickled red onions.

Voila!

Pass me a napkin...

Yak on, chef Jeremy and the SKINNY crew!

YAK TRACKS: Our TOP THREE 2010 Marketing Slogans - PLEASE VOTE!

Our TOP THREE new MARKETING slogans for 2010.

1. Yak: Like beef, only better.

2. Yak: The planet's GREENEST red meat.

3. Yak: 1/6 the fat, 40% more protein. Lean, keen, and grass fed green.

Tell us which one you like best, and why, and we'll mail you a FREE 'Yak To The Future" bumper sticker.

Email me at rob@vermontyak.com.

YAK TRACKS: Can You Spare Some Hair (Yak)?

Every day brings new adventures in yak. Here's an example, an email we received today...



Hi Vermont Yak:

I am a gifted and talented teacher in Iowa. I have been teaching a unit to my kindergarten classes about yaks and have been desperate to find some yak fur (hair?) to use as a sensory exhibit. Can you aid me in this search? I don't want to purchase a whole hide (which I saw on your website). I just want a handful or so of the fur/hair or part of a tail or something similar in a small quantity. I don't know if you would be able or interested in securing a sample for me? I would pay you of course, through paypal or through a shopping cart if you have one on the site....Hope to hear from you soon! If you do not have something like this, can you point me in the direction of someone who would? Thanks!

Ruby Bodeker

We'll be mailing Ruby some hair tomorrow.

YAK TRACKS: Meet Betty the Yak Calf

YAK TRACKS: First Big Snow of 2010!

YAK TRACKS: We love emails like this one yakking with us!

We love getting emails like this one we received today:

Hi there!

This will be our 3rd annual trip to the Inn at the Round Barn farm - last year they served your YAK sausage for breakfast one morning and we were hooked! Drove past your farm and saw your YAKS way off in the distance. I was curious as to whether you offer tours or???

Would love to see your farm and meet some of your yaks! It is fascinating to me and my husband - we are not only animal lovers but also love to support local farms!

I didn't see anything on your website but figured I would contact you - we will be staying Jan 23rd-26th.

Thanks!

CK