Spring Pasture Update with Pictures

Spring is undoubtedly one of the busier seasons on the farm. Not only is there so much new life on the farm (as I'll detail below), but we are also cleaning up from winter and embarking on a number of new projects for the 2024 grass-growing season.

Again, while we're known for producing and selling clean, delicious and nutrient-dense meats for home delivery, when you're regenerative-focused farmers like my brothers and I, you first identify as a grass farmer. We are not only responsible for raising your animals with the utmost care and respect, but also building integrity and life into the soil and environment where they live and prosper.

With that note, let me dive into how my team and I are spending our time on the farm right now:
 

Lambs, Lambs everywhere...

We already have some 200 baby lambs, and within the next few weeks we'll have around 500 total baby lambs.

This means the team and I are completing regular pasture walks to check on the well-being of the mama ewes and the new arrivals. With the expansion of the herd we have to separate the lambs in two groups of 500 animals or so on the North and South side of our 550-acre farm.

Why???

It gets back to us being grass growers first.

The team will work to move them all to a fresh new paddock of grass every two days or so for the next several months.

The end result is happy, healthy well-fed lambs and flourishing pastures with abundant Carbon-sequestering capacity that bounces back with a period of planned rest after being grazed.
 

Operation Chick Brooder is a GO

In the middle of the night last month, my dad and I woke up to accept the delivery of our first 1,600 few-day-old chicks.

One of my biggest undertakings over the winter and early spring was transitioning an old barn into a brooder for our "meat chickens." A brooder is a temperature-controlled area with water and feed where baby chicks safely spend the first three weeks of their life.

Then, when they are big and strong enough, they'll make the transition to outside on pasture to our mobile coops where they'll forage, build strong immunity, and grow at a healthy pace on new section of pasture every few days for about 3-4 more weeks.

We will repeat the cycle many times for the next several months...Chicks arrive and begin their growth in the brooder --> then make their way outside to flourish and play their critical role in our regenerative ecosystem.

Their critical role includes providing (1) light beneficial turf disturbance as they scratch and forage, (2) pest mitigation as they love to dine on bugs and insects, and (3) fertilization of the grasses as they drop poop and pee throughout the day. It's a big job to move these mobile coops consistently throughout the week, but again...grass farmers gonna do, what grass farmers gotta do.

The end result is worth the effort, both in healthy delicious ethically-raised chicken for our customers and abundant soil biology that's possible because we use ZERO harmful synthetic herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers.

What About Hogs, Cows, Bison and Laying Hens?

Cows
The cows were happy to head out to the most lusciously thick green pasture they've had a chance to graze on since last fall! The "wintering" season of managed grazing and supplementation with hay has come to a close. For the next 5-6 months or so, the team will move the cattle to a fresh new paddock of grass daily.

Hogs 
We recently received a group of hogs from our farrowing farm partner. They're here to get NICE AND FAT on our farm as they enjoy time out on the woodline where they'll root around, bath in the mud and forage for good eats!

Check 'em out:

Bison 
Let's just say we had an "eventful" week last week when one of the younger bison hopped the FENCE over at grandpa Larry's property. There was no holding back my now 87 year-old Grandpa from helping usher the ambitious young bison back to safety with the rest of herd.

Truth be told, the bison are pretty hands off right now, which is fine because we have our hands full everywhere else.

Laying Hens 
This spring the farm team has been overseeding grass, and planting new annual plants and vegetables that our laying hens will enjoy for the coming months.

Spencer has been transplanting a handful of hedgeapple trees from different areas of the farm to over near the laying hens as we continue to grow "Silvopasture."

The Best of the Rest

I had to share this one of Fritz (our newest lamb security donkey) and Max, the farm dog, spending some quality time this week. Wouldn't you like to know what each was thinking?

In this picture Fritz was actually "off duty" up in our little pen adjacent to the farm store parking lot.

If you liked this email you may be asking, how else can I follow along with more farm updates???

Well, I'd recommend you follow the Seven Sons Farm account on Instagram. You'll likely see me, Spencer, Joseph and/or Jabez out on the farm, and my wife, Alyssa, does a great job sharing the videos and pictures we capture throughout the week.

Thanks for reading today, and have yourself a safe, happy Memorial Day tomorrow.

Your other farmer,

- Bruce (the 6th son) 😊