Kevin Bloomquist of Bloomquist Lambs, has a very different back story from most successful agriculture entrepreneurs. “I think the thing I’m most proud of is that I was a city kid who always wanted to be in production agriculture, and now I sell lambs all over the country.”
Kevin grew up on a one-acre piece of property in a mini-ranch community on the outskirts of Phoenix. He had extended family members who worked in ag, and always loved going to visit and helping out. He joined his local 4-H club and so he started raising lambs. By the time he was 12 years old, he was raising and selling wethers. “It wasn’t a problem when I had 6 or 7 head, but as it grew to 20 or 25 it overtook our property!” he says, laughing. “My lamb operation now is basically a 4-H project gone wild.”
After he married, Kevin and his wife moved to a 5-acre section of land with a more extensive barn so he could grow his numbers. Eventually, he also bought a feed store, and has grown that business to four feed stores in Arizona. “Having the store gives me a lot of satisfaction. I love talking to producers all over the area.” he says.
Not satisfied with just two successful businesses in agriculture, Kevin Bloomquist went back to school and got a degree in bio-medical science. With his degree and experience with raising lambs in Arizona, Kevin started to examine some of the special problems producers face in his area. “My history with Hi-Pro started with customers coming into the store and requesting their feeds.” He says “I didn’t know much about it, so I went to some of the fairs and saw how great the lambs and goats looked. I started getting their feeds in and testing it.”
While pleased with the Hi-Pro ration, he couldn’t stop wondering if there were additions that could be made to the formulation to tackle the Arizona heat. Over time, Kevin worked hand in hand with the Hi-Pro nutritionists to do just that. They tried out four different formulations before finding what worked best. “We call it Arizona Heat and Lamb Grower.” he says, explaining “We wanted to use vitamins that make a difference, and Vitamin E is really important for helping with heat stress. We also added some things to the feed that sheep like to taste, but also keep them drinking in the hot weather.”
Kevin recommends the Arizona Heat and Lamb Grower to all his Show customers. “On the Arizona heat ration, the performance is the same or better. They drink and they have extra Vitamin E. It’s a complete feed that competes with the best of the other brands.” Kevin says proudly.
Interested in trying this feed? Stop by Kevin’s feed store The Stock Shop. If you’d like to check out his lamb operation, click here.
Hi-Pro Feeds is proud to partner with our producers to find solutions to problems facing their unique challenges. For more information on our products, click here.
