Selective Focus: Brad the Sheep

In the fall of 2024, Brad the Sheep was sold by a farm in Carlton to a farm in Two Harbors. Determined to return home, he wandered the North Shore of Lake Superior, through Duluth and back to Carlton. The journey spanned three weeks — from Oct. 29 to Nov. 20. Along the way, Braaaaaaaaaaad was occasionally spotted. Photos and videos appeared on social media — most famously of Brad tromping along the rocky shore at Brighton Beach. A series of Brad-based memes hit the internet at the end of 2024, and two children’s books were published in early 2025 telling Brad’s story.

For this edition of “Selective Focus” we’ve brought back an interview with Brad’s owner, Ryan Osvold, conducted shortly after his return home last year. For imagery we’ve added some of the altered photos from an anonymous source, speculating about all the places Brad wandered to during his 40-mile journey.

How long did you have Brad before he went off to his new home? Was he born on your farm?

“He actually was born at a farm I work with a little bit in Kerrick, Minnesota. And we bought him (along with) his mother and twin sister. They were pretty young when they came here, probably a couple months old. It was pretty easy to move them. I bought some other sheep from the other guy before, and he’s bought sheep before. And he’s always had really good animals.”

How long was Brad in his new home before he started wandering back or went missing? Did the owners contact you at all once it happened?

“We sold Brad, who’s an actual ram … He’s a couple years older than the other males, without the ability to breed anymore. We sold them to the farm in Two Harbors. And Brad never made it into his new pen. He bolted on him that night when they tried to get him from the animal trailer to his new spot … he knocked one of the guys over and there he went. He never made it into the fence. Sheep, especially being in a trailer after a while … especially these Islandics … they can jump over your shoulder. And they’re more on the wild side. Everyone thought he was going to be really tame. Icelandic sheep are not really that … For whatever reason he decided to make a jump for it and there he went.”

“It was actually really surprising … It went on almost about three weeks before I even knew about it. I didn’t even know it was the one we sold necessarily. I never heard anything about it … and then the other farm we had sold him to had sent us a few text messages about the news articles and photos on social media … In the pictures and online it was hard to tell … The farm called me and said ‘Hey, that’s actually the sheep you sold us.’ So I didn’t know until that morning. Ann helped try to track him and rescue him … Immediately he put me on a group text so that we could help track where he was. By Sunday he was in Proctor. I drove there on my way to another job site … By Monday night he was in someone’s back yard.”

What’s it like having “Brad the Sheep” back?

“I sure never thought we’d have one that would make it back that far. Or that he’d even survive, period. That’s pretty amazing in a lot of ways. We’re happy to have him back, and to have him here until he eventually dies of old age.”

What was it like Brad obtaining near celebrity status and the story getting so much news coverage?

“I think it’s really cool. I think people have thought it has been a really positive … kind of fun story. For us here … we used to have maybe 40 Instagram followers and we’re up over 1,300 now. So it’s kind of inspired me to put a little more on there and use that to promote what we do and what a lot of people like us do. To use it kind of as a teaching and fun thing. (Education about) animal farming or vegetables and the equipment we use and stuff. We sell wool socks that we have made from our sheep … I had a lady purchase six pairs in Western Australia. So it’s interesting how far social media will let people know about things that happen in the world. Pretty cool.

I believe I read that your farm uses felt and wool in their products. Are those products or images of some of that work available someplace online?

“We’re pretty small-scale still … As we grow we’ll probably have more of a web page and a web store. But people can DM me on Instagram if they’re interested in something. And we can figure out or do local pickup. We go to farmers markets.”

How get into farming?

“It’s not something I grew up doing at all. I was exposed to it … Me and my wife are from Cloquet originally. We found a great spot with some acreage and it seemed like the thing to do. We started with the gateway farming animals: chickens … A lot of our lard wasn’t getting utilized and (we had) brush and non-native things growing. So we decided to do some animals and large livestock. We started with five … The animals do a great job to help us do what we need to do with our property.”

Anything else you want to share?

“I really just want people to understand that most people, especially with livestock farming, really care about their animals. And that’s part of why they didn’t let them know where he came from right away. They were worried about the backlash. They had the best intentions for the animals and do a great job taking care of them.”

When asked about what motivated Annmarie Genuisz to create a Brad portrait, she said, “I felt inspired because to make Braaaaad fan art because that sheep’s freedom run brought so much joy to me and countless other Duluthians for weeks. It was the perfect combo of quirky absurdity and magic we all never knew we needed. Thank you, Braaad! I’m so glad you made it home safely.”

To learn more about Brad the sheep and Golden Hour Acres, visit @golden_hour_acres on Instagram.