What is Regenerative Agriculture?  This a very good question.  Some people confuse regenerative agriculture with organic certification or practices.  Organic and regenerative farming practices may be related, but they are not the same thing.  On our farm, we implement regenerative agricultural practices.  We are also certified organic.  Guidelines for organic certification are specifically defined by the USDA.  Regenerative agricultural practices currently have no specific guidelines or parameters.  The practice of regenerative agriculture is more of a “philosophy”.

Regenerative agriculture strives to have farming and ranching practices be in alignment with nature instead of being in competition with nature.  These practices include but are not limited to:

• Preserving and enhancing soil health.
• Reducing erosion.
• Supporting multiple plant and animal species (biodiversity) rather than focusing on mono-culture.
• Conserving and enhancing natural areas in addition to cultivated areas.
• Preserving and enhancing wetland and water resources.

For more details on the history of the regenerative agricultural movement, refer to this article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regenerative_agriculture

Two recent celebrity produced documentaries – Kiss the Ground and Common Ground – provide compelling evidence that the “conventional” approach to agricultural is not in our best interest.  According to the Natural Resources Defense Counsel …

“The industrial agricultural system that dominates Western food and fiber supply chains incentivizes practices that promote soil erosion at a rate of 10 to 100 times higher than soil formation; nutrient runoff and harmful algal blooms in freshwater and coastal systems; and monocropping and other threats to local biodiversity, including critical pollinators. These systems compartmentalize natural resources and focus on the yields of individual crops.”

How does this relate to Otsquago Creek and our farming practices?

Rotational Grazing:  Our cattle are on pasture from early May through mid-November.  We have perimeter fencing around our grazing areas (pastures).  Within the perimeter fencing, we set temporary paddocks using mobile fencing.  Our cattle are moved every one to three days.  By rotating our cattle through the available pasture, the distribution of fertilizer (manure) occurs naturally.  They eat the grass which causes them to gain weight.  The nutrient rich waste product is returned to the land to enhance future forage.  Frequent rotation of our cattle simulates the migration of grassland species – which cattle are descended from.  In the process of moving across the landscape, their hooves help to aerate the soil.  In addition to supporting our cattle, our pastures support a multitude of other creatures.  We are lucky that we live in an area where we do not need to irrigate.  The amount of rain that we receive and the aquifers beneath our pastures are more than enough to produce the grass that causes our beef to be so tasty.  We do both soil testing and forage testing.  Once in a great while if deemed necessary, we will add organic soil amendments to our pastures.  We also, on occasion, do a bit of frost seeding to enhance the mix of forage available to our cattle.

Hay Harvest Practices:  As an agricultural crop, hay requires almost no tillage.  Erosion is not an issue on this farm. The hay grows.  We harvest and store the hay.  Then we have high quality forage to feed our cattle in the winter months when they cannot be out on pasture.  As with our pastures, we do both soil testing and hay testing.  When deemed necessary, we amend with organic fertilizers and/or additional seeding to enhance the blend of hay forage.  At the end of the winter, we clean any residual manure out of the barn and spread that on our hayfields for added nutrients.  We don’t feed our cattle grain.  So we don’t need to grow corn, or other grains.  Crops like corn require tillage an significant quantities of fertilizer.  But that is not our hustle.

Conservation Easement, CREP Contract and Water Resources:  The headwaters of the Otsquago Creek (a blue line trout stream) are formed by six tributaries, five of which either originate on our farm or pass through our farm.  Water is key.  Our farm is under a Conservation Easement with the Otsego Land Trust.  This ensure that the natural areas and wetlands will stay as they are – as habitat for non-domesticated plants and animals.  In addition, we participate in a CREP (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program) Contract with the USDA.  Our livestock is fenced out of any water courses that cross our property.  Our cattle drink from tanks that we keep refreshed with fresh well water.  The cattle never set foot in any of our streams.  The issue with livestock in streams and rivers is less about “pollution” and more about erosion of banks and destruction of riparian habitat.  On our farm, our wetlands and water resources are protected.

Mob Grazing to manage Invasives:  One of the challenges in organic farming is managing weeds and pests.  Believe it or not, cattle – when given a choice – can be a bit finicky about what they choose to eat.  However, if we have an area of pasture that has an overabundance of an undesired-able and non-native species – in our case, knapweed, knotweed or burdock – we can create small temporary enclosures within that pasture.  Once we have these smaller grazing paddocks, we crowd a significant number of cattle into them all at once.  When cows are feeding in a densely populated space, they become much less picky about what they will and won’t eat – because they are competing with other cattle.  Suddenly they will mow down just about anything that is in front of them.  Unlike our gentler rotational grazing practices in our regular pastures, we actually want the cattle to destroy these invasive, undesirable plant species.  Using this practice, we have successfully eliminated non-native invasives from significant tracts of our farmland.  And we have done this without having to use herbicides … unless you consider a cow an herbicide.

Bugs:  When we refer to “bugs”, the biggest threat and annoyance to cattle are flies.  Flies torture cows and potentially carry parasites, including but not limited to pink-eye and various intestinal ailments.  On the flip side, there are all kinds of beneficial “bugs” on our farm.  Think Dung Beatles and all kinds of Bees and other pollinators.  Thankfully, most of our detrimental bug issues are managed through the rotational grazing process.  Our cattle are not confined to a feedlot.  They move from space to space all the time, leaving the cow pies and fly larvae behind.  In our location, we are also blessed with consistent westerly breezes which help to “blow off” the flies.  In addition, we have a healthy population of bug-eating birds.  The few seasons we’ve had when things have been really rough, we have purchased and deployed wasp larvae, placing them in the cow pies.  The wasp larvae consume the fly larvae.  Our cattle also receive a mineral supplement that can also contain cinnamon and garlic which, when ingested, repels flies.

We are proud of what we have accomplished on our farm since purchasing it in 2006.  We think of it as a welcoming for all creatures, not just our domesticated beef producing creatures.