What the farm has taught me
There is an overarching concept in nature, profound in its simplicity: As below so above and as above so below. Whether you are talking about the human spirit or the land we farm, the essence of this concept is about how what is in our hearts shapes our actions and those actions in turn shape our community. Likewise, what is in our soil shapes our planet and how the planet thrives or falters is tied to the health of that soil. As regenerative farmers, both are inextricably bound together.
What farming has taught me is that it takes many different kinds of creativity and intelligence to a make a farm. Marketers, business people, processors, partners and wonderful customers complement the hands-on farming to build a thriving regenerative farm. This diversity of thought is not only foundational to the farm but also to any thriving community.
Beyond that obvious connection, is what I call the macro biome of life or simply put, nature. Originally the word nature comes from the Old French. Its meaning encompassed the powers of growth and the restorative powers of the body. The root is from the Latin natura which literally means birth. Somewhere along the line people were written out of the definition of nature, perhaps by our desire to dominate it, who knows. But if we’ve learned anything in this era of extreme climate and upheaval, it should be that nature isn’t something out there. It’s us and everything around us.
Our world is truly holistic, from every soil microbe, from every plant to every tree, from every animal to all human beings; we are all responders, interactors, communicators and stewards. We need to work together to foster diversity and understand the roles we play in the health of our holistic organism.
On the farm, diversity starts at the soil. It is incredibly biodiverse, teaming with all kinds of microbes. Wherever there is water and microbes life evolves. Soil health is foundational. Why? Because first and foremost we are multispecies grass farmers. Think of it this way. Anything that grows in the ground is basically like a solar panel collecting sun, pulling carbon out of the air allowing water to penetrate the soil.
Like us, animals like variety in their diet so we plant twelve different types of grass for them. Animals self-select for different nutrients. Forcing our animals to graze on a single species would be as dangerous as us eating only french fries every day. That’s part of the reason planting different types of grasses is so important. Additionally, just like the communication that exists between trees, there are studies that demonstrate communication in the soil microbiome between the roots of plants. When you have a multitude of plant species you create biodiverse soil just like the diverse community we all aspire to as people.
Layer onto this the role animals play in multispecies rotational grazing. Each microbe has a relationship with a certain plant and they feed on certain things in the soil. Each animal species that rotates through the pasture contributes its manure. The manure of each species is different from the others because they are eating different things and their digestive tracks are different. The different types of manure from chickens, cows and pigs feed different microbes in the soil which in turn feeds different types of plants and all the way up the food chain.
The combination of multispecies grass farming with multispecies rotational grazing is all about creating resiliency. Without this diversity, you are vulnerable to blight or an infection of mildew or something else. With broad diversity no one thing can take over.
It’s about letting the animals do what they do best. Each one has a niche, things they like to eat, things they like to do and when you combine all of those, you create more diversity. Without them you deplete the soil of all the other microbes that could live there.
What farming has taught me is we all fill a niche. We are all integral in different ways as part of the holistic organism we call earth. As regenerative farmers our niche in this organism is as students of the natural way of things and stewards of water, land and animals. We work with our land to restore the natural water cycles foundational to life. We work with our animals to enrich the soil with diverse microbes. Together we cultivate biodiversity, resilience and health while also providing nutrient-dense food to our community.
