A Shepherd of Sheep and People

I had the privilege of documenting shepherd and farmer Doug Ashcraft at his farm in Winchester, Kentucky as apart of the 2026 Mountain Workshop. You can read the article here all photos were taken over a four day period and I was mentored by Dr. Liz Hansen and Kevin Walker for writing and photography respectively.

Doug Ashcraft, 60, talks to “Tim the Toolman,” one of his show lambs, while feeding him specialized show feed designed to help livestock develop the optimal ratio of muscle to fat for being shown at competitions.

Historically, agriculture is an occupation passed down through families who work together to feed the nation. But Doug Ashcraft, 60, has been passing along his knowledge of sheep husbandry and farming not to family, but to students all over Kentucky. After decades as a high school agriculture teacher and Future Farmers of America (FAA) adviser, he recently retired, but he hasn’t stopped mentoring the next generation.

“That’s my job,” Doug said. “I’m a shepherd, whether it’s sheep, the goats or kids.”

The animals hungrily jostle around the troughs to get their breakfast. The large open barn space is a part of the 35-acre farm he inherited from his grandfather and serves as a training ground for his mentees.

Carrie Wagner, 22, takes a show lamb out to be washed and conditioned. Now a senior equine science student at the University of Kentucky, she is minoring in animal science and has a certificate in distillation wine and brewing. She’s been showing animals with Doug since eighth grade.

Carrie and Doug was a sheep, the specialized halter and sheep stand keep the animal in place and calm. Show sheep are scrutinized over every last detail: from their wool, to their hooves, and fat coverage these animals have to be perfect for the show ring.

Carrie’s eyes lit up when she talked about Doug, her father figure for the past eight years.

“So Doug is, for all practical purposes, my dad,” Carrie said. “He kind of took over the role as my FFA adviser — and from there, not only has he mentored me in the sheep business, but he’s really taken me under his wing and is there pretty much no matter what.

“You know, I never thought I’d have the chance to be generational in any sense of the word,” she added. “I don’t come from a mom that was raised in the industry or anything like that, but he took me in as his own.”

“The passing down of knowledge is very, very important to me because I don’t have kids of my own,” Doug said, “and my mom (Janet Kaiser) is always like, ‘that’s not a problem. You’re leaving a legacy with all these kids that you’ve touched over your career.’”

A farmer’s breakfast, a Honey Bun paired with a cold Ale-8, gets Doug started for the day.

Doug picks up some ducklings from an agri-tourism farm in Lexington. The eggs they’ll produce will be sold all over the state. According to Doug, “if you give a duck two drops of water, they’ll make five pounds of mud.” Next to the ducklings sit power tools he’d been using to help build his mom a set of stairs after she recently moved in with his sister.

One of Doug’s never ending tasks is washing eggs. He sells chicken and duck eggs across Kentucky, but before they can go on shelves they need to be cleaned and sorted. Occasionally, eggs break in the process and have to be discarded.

Doug manages his farm of more than 200 animals, including ducks, chickens, goats, a bevy of barn cats, a cow, a donkey and hundreds of sheep. He also sells eggs to vendors around Kentucky, serves as the president of the Winchester-Clark County Farmers’ Market and helps former students and their children in the show ring.

His students are his legacy. Their photos adorn his fridge, their show ribbons hang in the barn, and their stories are permanently etched in Doug’s memory. Of all the students, former students, children of former students, and friends he has mentored through the years, one truly stands out: 22-year-old Carrie Wagner.

The pampered life of Bachelor, a show sheep: specialty diets, conditioned wool, perfectly coiffed legs and sometimes colored jackets. “They’re really treated like pro athletes,” Doug says.

Doug shears one of the lambs getting ready to be shown at the North American International Livestock Exposition. Shearing the animals for exhibition helps the judges to evaluate the musculature structure without the wool distorting the appearance.