Thank a Farmer: Josh and Shannon Vignolo grew Southdown Acres with homemade products, well-honed marketing skills and helpful homesteaders on TikTok

Jun. 20—Depending on your thoughts on the matter, Southdown Acres — located in Crane Hill, Alabama — could either be a cautionary tale of what can happen after the purchase of a single goat, or a model for how break into (and be successful) within the increasingly crowded agriculture industry.

Shannon Vignolo said the vision for what would become Southdown Acres originally began when she and her husband, Josh, purchased the property in 2021. Both had retired from the U.S. military — Josh from the Navy and Shannon from the Army — and were looking to stretch their legs after living on roughly a one-quarter acre in Florida.

"We knew we wanted land. We were living in a really thickly settled area where we were basically on top of each other," Shannon said.

Their new home came with plenty of pastureland well-equipped for grazing, but the couple had not seriously considered raising animals. That changed after they decided to try their hand at maintaining a small flock of chickens. Shannon said she quickly realized the reality of "chicken math" which lead to an overabundance of eggs which they decided to sell to neighbors and friends. Eventually, this led to the idea to create a small homestead.

The family did have one pet dairy goat, Bonnie, but Shannon said the real inspiration for the business came one day as she was scrolling through TikTok and ran across a video about Babydoll sheep.

"I came across a guy who raised baby doll sheep and they were the cutest things I had ever seen. They were like walking stuffed animals," Shannon said.

She began researching how to breed and raise a flock of Olde English Babydoll Southdown Sheep, as they are officially recognized, and began "sewing their seeds," but admitted it was difficult in the beginning living in a new state with no nearby family members. Instead, she said they utilized the resources at their disposal, an equal blend of trial and error as well as online homesteading communities.

"I would watch other homesteaders on TV and TikTok. I learned so many things from other farmers on how to do stuff. That played a huge role for us as first-generation farmers because I didn't know exactly what I was doing or have a ton of people I could openly go talk to," she said. "It's hard to include yourself in a community when you are new."

The Vignolos began developing not only their flock of sheep, but building a herd of dairy goats and using their milk to develop products the family was already using at the time.

"You know we were already drinking their milk and I just thought I would try to make some lotion myself. I ended up doing that for some family members and they all really liked it and encouraged me to start selling it," she said.

Until recently, Shannon had maintained a high-level marketing position for a company Atlanta, Georgia. She would work six days a week for six months out of the year and make the three hour commute to spend her only day off with family at the farm. In February, Shannon decided to prioritize Southdown Acres full-time.

"It was just getting harder every year to see Josh taking care of the kids and the animals. I was really missing home. Every time he would send me a picture of these beautiful sunsets while I'm sitting in some cubicle in an office I would think 'This sucks,' and I just wanted to be home with my family and my animals and live that slow steady life," Shannon said.

Having worked for more than a decade in sales and marketing, Shannon knew how to develop a successful brand. She began utilizing that knowledge to learn about agriculture. She said she updates the Southdown Acres Facebook page daily and shares videos on TikTok (@southdownacres) of her and her family interacting with their animals to showcase their attributes and temperaments to others looking to start their own flocks.

She is aware that to continue being viable, the farm needs to be treated like a business, but the main difference for her now is that she is marketing a product for more than just a paycheck. It's something she is passionate about.

"I could sell a car to anybody. I could sell an apartment, whatever it may be: home improvement products, windows roofing, moving packages. But it is so much easier to sell something that's yours because you believe in it 100% and it's a passion. When you have that passion, you can sell it tenfold," Shannon said.

Shannon is able to speak so confidently about their products because, apart from the animals, the majority of them were born out of either necessity or a genuine curiosity for how to use the ingredients they were surrounded by on their property. Southdown Acres offers a naturally derived, organic sunscreen largely due to the fact that Shannon became concerned about recalls on the commercial sunscreen she was putting on her son. Their healing salve came after she noticed an abundance of purple deadnettle growing in their yard and began researching its medicinal properties.

"That is probably an every-other-day conversation. For example, when we go to the pasture we get bit by fireants like crazy. I was tired of getting bit by them and being constantly itchy. Sure, we could go spend $15 on a tube of no-itch, but it doesn't work that great and it's not very good for you. So, I started getting into herbalism and foraging and stuff like that," Shannon said.

The Vignolos are in the process of developing a middle pasture to expand their flock, they are also looking to begin breeding a herd of miniature Nubian goats next year in addition to growing their fluffle of angora rabbits.

All of this may seem ambitious but, at least for the moment, they are content and are happy enjoying what they have accomplished during the last few years.

"I don't have a huge desire to do anything different for now other than maintaining what we have and continuing to grow," Shannon said. "I just want to know that our efforts are being put back into our family. Josh and I work really hard every day so that we can make this work and not go out and pay someone else's bills."

Patrick Camp can be reached at 256-734-2131 ext. 238