Unexpected Fame

Ewetopia Farms' YouTube channel turns Lynn McKay and Arnie Droogh into sheep celebrities.

by Lorne McClinton

Lynn McKay and Arnie Droogh never dreamed their passion for sheep and their quirky affinity for sheep puns would lead to internet fame. But that's exactly what happened when Lynn began posting the videos she was making about life on their Joyceville, Ont., sheep farm on their YouTube channel, @EwetopiaFarms.

Lynn started raising purebred sheep in 1999. After the two became a couple in 2006, Arnie sold his dairy operation and joined forces with her. Two years later, they created Ewetopia Farms. The name is a whimsical play on words that reflect both their love of sheep and their determination to fully enjoy farm life.

"We enjoy our sheep and our farm so much that we said it's like living in Utopia and the name Ewetopia just clicked," Lynn said. "We ran with it. We got a personalized Ewetopia license plate for our car and a Ewehaul one for our livestock trailer. I spend a lot of time thinking up names that suit each ram, too. It's the silly stuff that other farmers might think is crazy."

She started saving videos of their life at Ewetopia Farms on YouTube as a way to preserve their memories without filling up their home computer. She knew nothing about YouTube and was surprised to find that people watched her videos. The channel accumulated 1,000 subscribers without her knowledge.

Above. Lynn McKay and Arnie Droogh began making videos of their sheep and their daily life at Ewetopia Farms as a way to record memories. YouTube was just a convenient place to store them. The couple unexpectedly became celebrities thanks to the popularity of their YouTube videos featuring daily life on their sheep farm.

Out of the blue. "I got an email from YouTube out of the blue saying, 'You've got 1,000 subscribers, do you want to monetize it?'" Lynn said. "I called my son and asked 'is this a scam?' I thought this isn't real. Why would people want to pay me?" She monetized it on the advice of her son.

"The two of us are having a lot of fun," Arnie says. "We raise purebred Dorset and Suffolk sheep with a small commercial flock as well. We now lamb just once a year over the winter months. This allows us to market our registered lambs to customers as breeding stock over the summer months." (And frees up their spring and fall to concentrate on their cropping operations.)

"I know we could be making a little more money on the sheep, but we make enough to have the lifestyle we want," Arnie adds. "Pushing our sheep to make more comes with a cost and I don't think that cost is worth it. I think what we're doing not only produces a better finished product, but it lets us enjoy what we're doing and we're not working 365 days a year lambing."

The couple's goal is to have the best breeding lines of Suffolk and Dorset sheep in Canada. Lynn and Arnie are continually searching for better rams for flock improvement and genetic diversity. They have bloodlines from across Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. This also gives their existing breeding stock customers a reason to keep coming back again and again to see what they have on offer.

Others enjoy what the couple is doing, too. They tune in to watch their daily vlogs (video blogs) and many buy their Ewetopia Farms merchandise from their online store to show their appreciation.

"Our vlog got its start because I love taking photos and videos," Lynn says. "I don't have fancy gear, but my phone is always with me so that's what I use."

Ewetopia first got noticed on Instagram. Lynn and Arnie never realized how popular they'd become until people began treating them like celebrities. When they went to the All Canada Classic sheep show in Humboldt, Sask., people came up to them wanting to take photos and complimenting them on their Instagram presence. Even people from the U.S. recognized them.

"It was shocking, and rewarding to see the effect social media can have on the public and the lives of those engaging in social media," said Arnie, bewildered. "I told Lynn, 'are we really branching out this far? Are we actually reaching that many people?'"

They now focus on their own YouTube channel. "It's really just the two of us walking around the farm and talking to the camera and to our viewers," Lynn says. "It's at the point where if I don't post a video the next day, I get tons of people calling to see if we are doing okay." The couple isn't making a living off YouTube. It's just something they enjoy doing.

"I don't think what we're doing is normal," Lynn says. "Hobby and city people might think we have this wonderful, beautiful life. Other farmers might watch us and think, 'Are those two clueless? What are they doing?'

"So, I guess we're a couple of eccentrics. We want to be the best producers and have the prettiest sheep, the best sheep, but we're going to do it our way. If people [they now have 23.4K subscribers] want to watch me roll around with the sheep saying things like, 'Oh aren't you the cutest thing ever,' that's awesome. Because what's not to love about sheep?" ‡