What makes our farm sustainable over conventional beef and pork operations? We have jumped on the crazy train and followed the world-famous, self-proclaimed "Lunatic Farmer", Joel Salatin of PolyFace Farms.
Located in Swoope, Virginia, the Salatins have become known for their high-quality pastured poultry, pigerator pork and salad bar beef, which is produced with the welfare of the animals as a top priority, alonside the goal of healing and protecting the land on which they are produced. 3 generations have farmed the Virginia property and proven over the decades to REVERSE the negative impacts that conventional farming practices have, while protecting and enhancing the soil structures and integrity of the land. Without ever tilling, plowing, fertilizing* or seeding** their pastures, they have successfully produced quality beef, pork and poultry and shown that the production of meat for human consumption can be done in harmony with nature and actually heal the land that it's raised on. See the short YouTube Video below for more details on who PolyFace Farms is and why their production methods work.
Click HERE for Joel's Bio and PolyFace Farms Webpage.
Here at HERITER FARMS, our goal is to ride on the crazy train with the Lunatic Farmer and mimic his management strategies, which allow the animals and plants to express the genetic characteristics they were born with. A critical component of this plan is to use MOB or Intense Rotational (IR) grazing to improve the quality of pastures, build new topsoil and improve underground soil structures. Like Permaculture practices, the Salatin method creates a sustainable relationship between the livestock, soil organisms, and the surrounding ecosystems such as forests and wetlands, that EMBRACE DIVERSITY and encourage poly-culture (growing more than one crop or species). Our farm is fairly new and we are still working on building our soil to achieve the levels seen by PolyFace Farms and other pioneers like Gabe Brown, but check back often as we continue to add new info on our farm's progress.
The Canadian Organic Standards (COS) is the GOLD STANDARD for animal treatment. You will see farms listed as Certified Humane, but the COS covers all of the animal welfare concerns, along with land management practices and health requirements. For a copy of the COS, Click HERE
We have decided to certify the farm through EcoCert Canada, but will being going above and beyond the Canadian Organic Standards and AMPLIFYING the Organic methods to include Joel Salatin and Gabe Browns land management practices, which are proven by scientific data collected over decades to be healing on the land. Click HERE to go to Brown's Webpage
We raise only heritage breeds known for their hardiness, resistance to disease and their ability to withstand the cold Canadian winters. They are also known to be docile, gentle and produce a more flavourful, tastier meat that surpasses the pork and beef produced by factory farms and CAFO (concentrated animal feed operations); not to mention that we treat them with love as well.
If you live in our region, then you probably drive by a farm everyday on your way to work. Next time you are out running errands or on your daily commute, look around and see if you can spot any pigs on a farm. Once you begin to look for them, you will notice they are nowhere to be found. Why is this? Massive pork operations keep the pigs inside on metal-grated or concrete floors, with no access to sunlight, fresh air or bedding to sleep on. They are kept confined in tight quarters, and bred to be lean, fast growing and often have their teeth clipped or tails docked just to make life for the farmer easier. Here at Heriter Farms, we NEVER perform unnecessary procedures, do not use antibiotics or hormones, and treat our pigs to sunlight and fresh air YEAR ROUND, as well as belly rubs and ear scratches on demand!
Below is the trailer for PolyFace Farms. Please watch this short clip on what makes a farm sustainable, and how important it is to get everyone on board so that future generations can have food security while enhancing and healing the land it's produced on.
SO WHAT ARE WE DOING DIFFERENTLY?
EVERYTHING
Here at Heriter Farms, we are following the practices of revolutionary (and "crazy" farmers) like Joel Salatin and Gabe Brown, who are using science-based farming practices to change the way we grow and produce meat and other foods.
Here is what we DON’T do:
Till or plow fields and gardens
Use chemical sprays (herbicide or pesticide)
Use commercial fertilizer
Use GMO seed
Have mono-species fields
Feed our cows grains or animal bi-products
Confine our livestock
Here is what we DO:
Seed fields with diverse species to mimic native grass and "weeds" that thrived here previously
Allow most weed species to grow, providing nutrient-diversity for our cattle and pigs, and habitat and food for native birds
Plant seeds using a no-till seed drill to minimize soil disruption and prevent damage to fields
Use composted manure from our own animals to improve our fields - not tilling it in - to build the soil year after year and reduce outside inputs to increase sustainability
Mimic nature by moving cows daily onto fresh pasture to improve the soil, control weeds and reduce/eliminate any health
risks to our animals from parasites and disease
Encourage birds that naturally follow grazing animals, such as starlings, sparrows and swallows, which eat harmful insects and help sanitize the grazed paddocks
TREAT ALL OF OUR LIVESTOCK AND NATIVE SPECIES WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT AND LOVE
*Fertilizing: PolyFace farms uses only animal manures to enhance the soil and has never applied chemical fertilizers to their land
**Seeding: They allow plants to self seed, and by MOB grazing, they disturb the top layer of soil, releasing the seed bed that is dormant
Our Story (2018). Joel Salatin. PolyFace Farms., Our Story. POLYFACE FARMS WEBSITE Retrieved on January 12, 2018.
Image Courtesy of POLYFACE FARMS WEBSITE