Over the past ten years, we have worked hard to build climate resilience and sustainable practices into our farm system. As farmers and land stewards, we actively participate in protecting our landscape. We manage our woods to keep the ecosystem healthy and balanced. Each tree we harvest for heat is part of our careful management plan. It is a humbling privilege to know that the actions we take will actively shape the landscape for generations.
On the most basic level, this resiliency is evident in our barn designs and grazing systems; these systems help us manage extreme weather, sequester carbon in the soil, and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Less obvious but more important to our daily resilience are the investments we have made to increase our efficiency.
One of these investments is our feedpad. Our feed pad helps us cut down on our carbon emissions, reduce feed spoilage, and improve efficiency. The feed pad also allows us to be even more carbon-negative as we don’t have to travel down the road for our bales and are able to use the least amount of plastic to store our feed.
As we work intimately with our land to bring forth a crop, I can’t help but notice how careful attention to our farm has reinvigorated it - bringing a cacophony of life to the soil, land, and air. Our fields are home to all sorts of wildlife — deer, turkey, neotropical songbirds, and a healthy abundance of insects — that did not grace our land when we first moved here. I believe that the return of wildlife to our fields is a physical indicator of the efforts we have made to improve our soils and work with our ecosystem. Our soils practically hum with subterranean life. Biodiversity is so important to farming not only for maintaining fertile soil but also for the ability to handle change and events like flooding or droughts, especially in a time of ever-changing climate. This is just one area where small farms consistently beat out large farms.
Dairy and Beef organizations are constantly pushing us to “share our story” and highlighting super convoluted examples of sustainability. Sustainable farming shouldn’t require complicated contracts with Walmart or the power company — sustainable farming simply requires that you prioritize the needs of your land, your soil, and the wildlife that calls your farm home.
To learn more about small farm sustainability and why small farms matter:
Comments