- Location
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Last night I attended a fascinating (but fairly high brow) conference around #sustainablelivestock at the University of Bristol. The key note speaker was Joel Salatin with some great supporting speakers. Of note, Dr Zoe Harcombe ; a well researched proponent of red meat.
Today I had an impromptu invitation to attend a more practical on-farm talk around Polyface Farm from Joel Salatin and then a tour of Fir Farm, Lower Swell as guests of Lady Jane Parker, home to Firbosa Hereford cattle and who are embarking on farming systems following those of Joel Salatin.
I am told that there will be a video released of last night's and today's talks and I will re-post those; mainly because the information was as rich and deep a seam as Joel's compost and I'm not sure I can do it justice with a stream of notes
A few things do stick in my mind:
Joel is not organic - he wants to set his own bar and doesn't like paying in to a Government assurance program(me)
When Joel started out, his Father had land that was so thin they had to make concrete supports for electric fencing stakes, the soil was so thin.
Joel's organic fraction in his soil has gone from 1% to 8%
If the US farmland went from 1% to only 2% all of their carbon output could be sequestrated
The Salatin model is based on livestock, folded around pasture, minimal overheads and entry costs
All livestock equipment is portable to maintain soil condition as well as business flexibility
Joel earns a premium selling his own hybrid hen pullets to backyarders, gorilla and flexible marketing and delivery streams direct to the consumer with as many products as possible.
Joel prides himself in being people centric; urban direct customers and conversion, encouraging new entrants, exchanging capital for labour intensity and often resourced via "Fiefdoms" i.e. species / additional farming partnerships
Mob grazing
Ultra portable electric fencing to fold turkeys, layers, rooting rotovating pigs and cattle over pasture. The average acre supports 80 cow days in his valley. His system supports 400. Mob grazing, compost spreading, water storage and gravity irrigation, feeding shades to maximise urea retention are just a few techniques to get to this.
Joel's Son started young raising meat rabbits. These are line bred with no imported blood and selected like his poultry for functionality
The cattle are now entirely closed with "functional" Heinz 57 of breeds, only bulls from the oldest cows (12 years plus) are retained as future stock bulls.
Joel eschews investment in machinery save for multi-purpose general farm machinery; compact 4wd loader tractors, flat bed manure spreader, pto chipper to create bedding for cattle composting and a weird and impressive array of trailers and functional in-field housing, shelters, feeders and laying stations.
Hay is made by neighbour / contractors.
Joel's herd has a 40 day hay feeding Winter. His neighbour's average is 120 days. The alternative winter forage is based on foggage and undersown crops.
Composting is an art but a serious one. Hay is stored centrally in simple pole barns with covered cattle courts with open sides. Woodchip is used as bedding and the hayracks wind up as the compost level builds up. Maize is added to the woodchip bedding so that when the cattle are removed, pigs are penned in to root and turn the compost. Ditto poultry.
Joel uses space creation in animal housing to increase the capacity of his facilities without prejudicing health of any species by too many in one confined area. Polytunnels house hen laying boxes above pigs and with tiered rabbit cages on the sides. The latest format for polytunnels comprise concrete floors with irrigation channels to facilitate crops to be grown on the animal compost as a second phase; tomatoes, salads, mushrooms.
Joel is an evangelist with an enquiring mind, open, an optimist, creative, passionate and neutralises the "we can't do that because" argument. Even if you doubt some or all, I would commend that folks watch the videos when they are released; I guarantee there's something for everybody.
Thank you to the Pasture Fed Livestock Association www.pastureforlife.org and Sustainable Food Trust www.sustainablefoodtrust.org and hosts Fir Farm and Firbosa Herefords www.firbosaherefords.co.uk
A few photos to follow and I will update the thread with videos when I can
Today I had an impromptu invitation to attend a more practical on-farm talk around Polyface Farm from Joel Salatin and then a tour of Fir Farm, Lower Swell as guests of Lady Jane Parker, home to Firbosa Hereford cattle and who are embarking on farming systems following those of Joel Salatin.
I am told that there will be a video released of last night's and today's talks and I will re-post those; mainly because the information was as rich and deep a seam as Joel's compost and I'm not sure I can do it justice with a stream of notes
A few things do stick in my mind:
Joel is not organic - he wants to set his own bar and doesn't like paying in to a Government assurance program(me)
When Joel started out, his Father had land that was so thin they had to make concrete supports for electric fencing stakes, the soil was so thin.
Joel's organic fraction in his soil has gone from 1% to 8%
If the US farmland went from 1% to only 2% all of their carbon output could be sequestrated
The Salatin model is based on livestock, folded around pasture, minimal overheads and entry costs
All livestock equipment is portable to maintain soil condition as well as business flexibility
Joel earns a premium selling his own hybrid hen pullets to backyarders, gorilla and flexible marketing and delivery streams direct to the consumer with as many products as possible.
Joel prides himself in being people centric; urban direct customers and conversion, encouraging new entrants, exchanging capital for labour intensity and often resourced via "Fiefdoms" i.e. species / additional farming partnerships
Mob grazing
Ultra portable electric fencing to fold turkeys, layers, rooting rotovating pigs and cattle over pasture. The average acre supports 80 cow days in his valley. His system supports 400. Mob grazing, compost spreading, water storage and gravity irrigation, feeding shades to maximise urea retention are just a few techniques to get to this.
Joel's Son started young raising meat rabbits. These are line bred with no imported blood and selected like his poultry for functionality
The cattle are now entirely closed with "functional" Heinz 57 of breeds, only bulls from the oldest cows (12 years plus) are retained as future stock bulls.
Joel eschews investment in machinery save for multi-purpose general farm machinery; compact 4wd loader tractors, flat bed manure spreader, pto chipper to create bedding for cattle composting and a weird and impressive array of trailers and functional in-field housing, shelters, feeders and laying stations.
Hay is made by neighbour / contractors.
Joel's herd has a 40 day hay feeding Winter. His neighbour's average is 120 days. The alternative winter forage is based on foggage and undersown crops.
Composting is an art but a serious one. Hay is stored centrally in simple pole barns with covered cattle courts with open sides. Woodchip is used as bedding and the hayracks wind up as the compost level builds up. Maize is added to the woodchip bedding so that when the cattle are removed, pigs are penned in to root and turn the compost. Ditto poultry.
Joel uses space creation in animal housing to increase the capacity of his facilities without prejudicing health of any species by too many in one confined area. Polytunnels house hen laying boxes above pigs and with tiered rabbit cages on the sides. The latest format for polytunnels comprise concrete floors with irrigation channels to facilitate crops to be grown on the animal compost as a second phase; tomatoes, salads, mushrooms.
Joel is an evangelist with an enquiring mind, open, an optimist, creative, passionate and neutralises the "we can't do that because" argument. Even if you doubt some or all, I would commend that folks watch the videos when they are released; I guarantee there's something for everybody.
Thank you to the Pasture Fed Livestock Association www.pastureforlife.org and Sustainable Food Trust www.sustainablefoodtrust.org and hosts Fir Farm and Firbosa Herefords www.firbosaherefords.co.uk
A few photos to follow and I will update the thread with videos when I can
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