"Despite all of our accomplishments, we owe our existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact it rains" Paul Harvey |
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Kiss the Ground is a great sentiment for Earth Day. The natural systems we rely on for our very existence are so fragile but also so resilient if we do our part to protect them. By the way if you haven't seen it, "Kiss the Ground" is a great documentary focused on some common sense solutions that at a minimum could help halt the degradation of millions of acres of farm land under conventional management. This planet we call home is a truly unique and amazing life support system for all of us. Every year Earth Day comes and we all see the posturing of government and big business on all the great things they do to "save the planet". While we can't brag about millions of dollars paid to the "right' organizations, absolving us of all environmental crimes, how about we highlight a few of the dirt under the fingernails, sweat on the brow practices we employ everyday. |
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Self Sufficiency Supplying as much of our input needs from the farm and eliminating the need to haul those things on farm is better all around. Buying inputs brings the risk of pathogens, weed seed, chemical residues but also is just less friendly to the planet as a whole. All of the materials and energy it takes to produce inputs elsewhere and transport them adds cost and adds to the overall environmental footprint of the farm. To meet this goal of self sufficiency, we produce all of our own winter hay for the sheep goats, and beef. Each year we get a little closer to growing all of the supplemental non corn/soy grain we need for the pigs, over the last 12 months we have only had to buy about 15% of our pig grains. The straw we need for bedding animals is a byproduct of combining the small grains we raise for the pigs. Rather than replace the propane furnace in our farm shop we opted to but a wood stove in to utilize the dead trees that fall into hay fields. They have to be cleaned up anyway! |
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Preserving Wildlife Habitat A common practice on most farms seems to be constantly cutting down trees, pushing field boundaries and ripping out hedge rows. NOT HERE!! We enjoy having areas of the farm that promote a healthy wildlife population. Bushy hedgerows, wetland areas, tall grass field edges and diverse wooded areas all promote an abundance of deer, turkey, rabbits, waterfowl, birds of prey, etc. |
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Cover Crops I'm sure you've heard the term but what the heck are they? Simply put, cover crops are plants grown for the purpose of improving soil health, soil fertility and providing a protective cover during the non-growing season. We never leave soil exposed over our long wet winter. The risk of erosion on our sloping ground is too great! Every acre, that is not in hay field or pasture, is planted to winter hardy covers like triticale and rye. We will work to expand the number of varieties of cover crops we can include in the system as we get better at this! |
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Organic Chemical Free Management We live on this land. This is our home. We don't want to be living and working around chemicals any more than you want to have it in your food supply. Using our animal manures to boost soil fertility is a practice as old as human civilization and eliminates chemical fertilizers. We don't freak out over a few weeds!! If we have some weeds pop up in the grain crops we grow for the pigs, so be it. I'd rather some weeds in the grain than pesticide residue. Insecticides?? Who needs them? Proper crop rotations and frequent moving of livestock go a long ways towards keeping pest populations at health levels. |
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Rotational Grazing/ Mob Grazing These two grazing strategies are basically the same but mob grazing tends to focus on a higher number of animals in a smaller paddock for short periods of time. Both are great practices for creating healthier pastures, supporting habitat for beneficial insects like bees, and leaving ground cover habitat for a whole host of small mammals and birds. Over grazed, short, bare pastures are poor feed for the livestock, offer no wildlife refuge and don't retain the life giving rain water that can get in short supply during the heat of the summer. |
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We are far from perfect and constantly look for areas to improve upon. Earth Day is not just one day a year here on the farm. Everyday we try to make decisions that have a positive impact. The more in tune with nature we can align the management of the farm, the better the outcomes for us, the animals and the small chunk of this wonderful blue planet we've been blessed to be the caretaker of. |
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The power we wield to make change in the world around us has never been greater!! Every dollar we spend is a vote for the stewardship of the planet we value. If you're reading this you've already made an important contribution in supporting our vision for responsible food production here at Northrop Farms! Happy Earth Day!! Jon Northrop |
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