(post by Jason) Since this is a horse blog it’s no surprise that we talk a lot about caring for the horses entrusted to us by their owners. It may come as a surprise that in spite of sixteen hundred or more blog posts....most of them directly related to horses....our success in caring for our charges has at least as much to do with the grass growing on this farm as it does anything else that we do.
The very best way to maintain healthy animals is to have healthy soils and the very best way to have healthy soils is to have healthy grass.
If soil building, which in this instance means maintaining and enhancing soil fertility in a natural manner, is an integral part of sustainable agriculture, it is my belief that we as a society will have to rely heavily on crop rotations that involve many years of grass for each year soil is put to the plow to grow any sort of grain crop. Since humans don't have digestive systems designed to utilize grass in an effective manner, if we are to utilize all the grasslands in America effectively we will have to use livestock and horses to do so. As such, I think the future for a very different brand of equine herbiculture...one that is respectful of the animal and it's natural cycle in improving the grass and the soil...is strong. We practice this concept every day here at Paradigm Farms.
In industrial agricultural settings today, it's common to talk about grasslands as being inherently less productive than land planted to corn, beans, wheat, etc. Less productive than what? Using what metrics of measurement? I’d say that's more of a commentary on the persons issuing the proclamations than it actually is on the long term productivity of well managed grasslands. That’s especially true if you believe that soil under grass is constantly improving, whereas bare soil or soil under crops is deteriorating at some level.
At the end of the day every successful agricultural operation I’ve been a a part of in the last fifteen years relies heavily on grass as it's foundation. Despite the number of cows we used to raise I never really was a beef farmer and despite the number of horses we board today we’re not really horse farmers either. What Melissa and I really do is manage grass. If we manage it correctly the animals we also manage will thrive. It’s a dance we’ve done for decades and it’s one that can always be improved. There are many things that influence the outcome and productivity of grasslands. Some are well within our control and others are completely out of our hands. We work with what we can and I am going to expand on this topic further in future blogs.
At the end of the day every successful agricultural operation I’ve been a a part of in the last fifteen years relies heavily on grass as it's foundation. Despite the number of cows we used to raise I never really was a beef farmer and despite the number of horses we board today we’re not really horse farmers either. What Melissa and I really do is manage grass. If we manage it correctly the animals we also manage will thrive. It’s a dance we’ve done for decades and it’s one that can always be improved. There are many things that influence the outcome and productivity of grasslands. Some are well within our control and others are completely out of our hands. We work with what we can and I am going to expand on this topic further in future blogs.
Bear, Quigly and Happy
Doni and Silver
Romeo and Lotus
George and Moses
Gibson and Ralph
Donneur, George and Moses
Doni and Fendi
Cocomo and Gus
George, Ralph and Fendi
Sebastian
Indy and Happy
Ascot and Taco
Sam and Johnny
Elf and Blu
Digby
B-Rad and Paramount
Sebastian and Lighty
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