In our neck of West Virginia, we're the only farm that claims to be regenerative.
Why are we the only regenerative farm in a 50 mile radius? Well, my first thought is that the life of a farmer isn't easy. My second thought is that farmers simply aren't paid like they used to be.
Most people nowadays view farming as a side gig instead of a career. They want it to be easy, and trucking in outside fertilizer and spraying and overgrazing sure are easy... at least in the short term.
Not me and my brother Phil. We want to take it back to the olden days when you could support your family 100% through farming.
To make a living with farming, you 100% need your land and animals to be healthy and productive. Since I want to work with nature (instead of against it), this means regenerative farming.
Although we're the only ones in our area, we're thankfully not alone in the movement overall. Allen Willians from Understanding Ag and the Soil Health Academy says that they're consulting on 35 million acres in the US and 55 million acres globally. Wow! There’s more and more interest and more and more land being converted every year. Wow and thank goodness!!
But any movement sometimes comes with an unfortunate downside. In the natural food world, the term "regenerative" has sadly become somewhat overused (dare I say greenwashed). So, to make what Triple E does super clear for you, I'm going to outline what regenerative means to us right now.
Here are Triple E's 5 principles of regenerative farming:
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Principle #1: We practice adaptive, rotational grazing.
Rotational grazing means that your animals move to fresh, new pasture often. It's kinda like it used to be when herds of bison or deer moved from area to area.
After the animals are done eating down a pasture, we allow the land ample time to regrow. We let our pasture rest 40 days at minimum.
When the animals move on, the new manure on top naturally fertilizes the land. The roots to spread and naturally til the soil (without mechanical tilling). The microbiology in the soil does its thing. And the plants take and fix back nutrients into the soil.
We don't overgraze. We have about 20 cows to an acre. We use moveable fences to move the cows at minimum 1x per day (this also keeps the cows fuller - every time you move a cow they eat more).
We practice adaptive grazing, which means we don't operate on a strict and set schedule. If grass it growing, they need less pasture. If it’s a drought, then they need a bigger space to graze. In the spring, they need less space because of the fresh growth. If the weather is in our favor, we sometimes move the cows 2-3x per day!
Principle #2: We keep cows outside, even in the winter.
This can be a contested issue when it comes to animal welfare. Some people think it's too cold and cows need winter jackets. But, in my experience, cows don't feel cold until it's below 20F.
So why not have the cows out in the fresh air an sunshine all year? That's what we do. They typically have access to indoors, but they rarely use it. In the warmer months, they're eating lots of fresh pasture. In the colder months or drought, we give them dry pasture (AKA hay).
With pigs, we do the same thing. But birds are a different story. They won't like it if it's too cold. So, we don't grow broilers in the colder months. And the laying hens are given inside space in the winter.
Principle #3: We don't use sprays. No crazy chemicals here!
That's right. We don't spray anything on our pastures... even certified organic ones. So no worry about chemicals on our land!
We do have our soil tested every so often. If the ratios of minerals are off, we'll have a special blend mixed for where it's needed. This is far from synthetic fertilizers many farms spread everywhere every year. They're simply ground rocks spread strategically and only where it's needed.
This helps us get the soil where it needs to be for better growth immediately. As the years of regenerative farming go on, less and less minerals are needed, since nature is naturally balancing itself.
Principle #4: We let nature do its thing.
Nature loves to be in balance. If humans were to disappear, nature would overtake everything, just like in those post-apocalyptic movies with vines growing on skyscrapers. We follow nature's lead.
Nature always tries to cover bare soil. A lot of people try to tear up the land and seed specific plants in. But is that necessary? Nature will let many things grow back. We almost always keep the soil covered and rarely til, only when absolutely necessary or for a specific purpose.
Nature always try to stay in balance. For example, if a field is deficient in calcium, you'll likely see more Canadian thistle growing. This is because it pulls calcium and makes it more available in the soil. Or, another example is that pigweed appears when there's a nitrogen imbalance, because it helps balance the nitrogen levels.
We respect nature a lot.
Principle #5: Diversity is everything to us.
We focus on the farm as a whole, not on individual little problems. We encourage many plants and insects and animals to thrive in our pastures.
For example, a weed is a plant that you don't want growing somewhere. To us, we don't have really any weeds. Because, as described in the previous principle, every plant has a purpose, whether for the soil or as a food or as a breeding area for beneficial insects.
As another example, when a farm uses a pesticide, they’re targeting a very specific pest. But for every one of those "pesky" plants, there’s 1700 beneficial insects that thrive with and around it. And we need those insects for the health of everything else.
We choose to focus on increasing beneficial insects instead of killing the handful of potentially harmful ones. We choose to focus on resilience, not destruction.
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To sum it up, regenerative farming means that we're naturally improving everything year after year. The soil improves --> the plants get healthier and bigger --> the animals get healthier and grow better and fertilize better --> the food becomes more nutrient-dense for you.
It's all an amazing natural cycle of health. When we farm naturally, we grow wellness.
And want to know one more amazing fact? When you eat regeneratively-farmed, nutrient-dense food, you actually want to eat less. That's because your body is getting more nourishment from each bite when compared to conventional food. No empty calories. Wow!
Thank you so so much for your support with our regenerative vision! We sure wouldn't be able to keep going without you eating the food we grow.
