Mad Sheep: The True Story Behind the USDA's War on a Family Farm

Mad Sheep by Linda Faillace is a compelling true story about one family’s fight to protect their Vermont farm, their livelihood, and their flock. In the mid-1990s, Linda and Larry Faillace set out to breed sheep and make cheese, carefully following regulations as they built a small farm business. Their dream was shattered when the USDA claimed their imported European sheep might carry a disease linked to fears around mad cow disease.

What followed was months of surveillance, government pressure, and the eventual seizure and destruction of their flock by armed federal agents. Faillace tells the story of a family caught between bureaucracy, politics, food-safety panic, and the power of industrial agriculture.

A strong choice for readers of farm memoirs, food politics, government overreach, sustainable agriculture, and true stories of ordinary people fighting powerful institutions.

Hardcover, Very Good