Why Regenerative Farming Should Be Important To You

From the perspective of a city girl, I had no idea what farming entailed let alone regenerative farming. It has taken me the better part of seven years to truly understand the transformation our farm has gone through over the last 100+ years. My father-in-law's (Paul's) ancestors worked with nature because they did not have another option. They had chickens, cows and horses... some raised for food and dairy products and others used to help work the land. It was only fairly recently that large equipment and chemicals were brought in to help work the land and develop consistent crops. 

Paul had the foresight to see what chemicals were doing to our land and made the decision to begin the process of turning our farm land into certified organic land 24 years ago. While that has shown a significant difference in the health of our soil and the crops we produced, there was still a desire on our hearts for further change.

We then felt led 2 years ago to put our faith into action and do a complete 180... and did we ever! We switched our row crop farm land into pasture, all still certified organic. We started selling off most of our farming equipment, pairing it down to the essentials. Our focus is now, how can we work with nature instead of forcing it or just completely working against it. Here are a few ways that we have put into practice so far:

Planting: There are a variety of grasses in our pasture, some warm and some cool season to ensure we have plenty of growth and healthy nutrients to feed our cows. My husband, Brandon, and father-in-law could go in to the details of our grass mix and why we plant certain ones. If this is something that interests you, I would encourage you to come out in person to see it and talk with us!

Grazing: We operate a graze on rotation to allow our cows the top section of the grass which has the most nutrients and moving them frequently through many smaller paddocks to keep our soil happy too! We also move our mobile chicken coop behind our cows so that they can help to break down the cow pies, spreading the manure and pecking the fly larvae. I know, I know, GROSS... but it really does help to keep our fly count down, which makes our cows happier. :) Speaking of chickens, our mobile coop also stays out on pasture year-round with a door open, so that they have access to pasture and winter grazing along with our cattle herd. 

Growing: We have two bulls and allow them in pasture, with the exception of a few months in the summer time, to naturally breed. This is timed so that we can calve with nature, out on pasture. Our calving season is just getting started right now, with 7 babies out there as of today.

While we know we still have much to learn, this has been such a fun process to watch how happy and healthy our livestock are and how big of an impact these changes can make.

So why are all these details important?? In short, more nutrient dense soil creates more nutrient rich forage which, in turn, gives us 2-3x higher nutrients in our beef, chicken and eggs. Like myself, I am sure many of you go to the grocery store trying to find nutritious foods that we know our families will eat. So why not buy meat that takes care of your nutrition needs while also getting to see how it is raised and the comfort of knowing this pasture land will be here and thriving another 100+ years from now!

One way we are working to further diversify is by introducing several tree varieties into our pasture. This has taken a lot of planning and preparation so be on the lookout for a future blog with all the details!

Warm Regards,

Nicole Mattison

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