Sustainable farming: Nurturing land and livestock

Learn how mixed farm operations can help support the environment, from wildlife habitat to water quality to soil health.

Transcript

00:00 Both Catherine and I went to university and got our degrees in science.

00:07 She did animal, I did plant science, so it kind of gave us a basis to run the mixed farm

00:12 operation.

00:13 We've kind of embraced and encompassed the environmental sustainability on our farm as

00:19 well and we've been doing that for quite a number of years and we definitely see the

00:24 benefits.

00:35 We started with our water courses.

00:38 We fenced them out so that the cattle didn't have access to the water itself.

00:43 By doing that we've provided shelter belts for lots of the wildlife here.

00:48 We've also created a much better water quality.

00:51 That water quality is important to us because we use it to grow our vegetables as well as

00:57 watering our livestock and all the aquatic species.

01:01 It's a fresh, clean source for them.

01:06 With rotational grazing, instead of having a great big large pasture, we divide it up

01:10 into smaller pieces so that they eat the grass in that area.

01:14 We get animal impact on the land and the beauty of that is you're knocking that grass seed

01:20 down into the soil again, starting a whole new regeneration of a plant seed population.

01:26 The other part of that too is creating that wildlife habitat and biodiversity because

01:31 you can leave pieces of the grass for some of your species at risk, birds and nesting

01:37 habitats.

01:38 So, rotational grazing really fits well into our operation.

01:43 We've extended our grazing season so that we can keep our cattle out on pasture a lot

01:48 longer through the season and with the goal of, if we can, year-round outside grazing.

01:53 It's much healthier for the animals and the environment as well.

01:59 Some of our crops we're using cover cropping so that cattle are grazing the cover crops

02:04 in November and December before snow falls.

02:07 The beauty of that is you're feeding the animals, you're keeping them outside, but you're also

02:11 providing their green living material for carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas mitigation.

02:21 I think that kind of completes the cycle because you're adding some things to the soil biology

02:26 by adding the animal on there.

02:28 Just with its grazing, its hoof action, and the soil and the microbiomes that all interact

02:34 and have a role to play in that complete life cycle on soil biology in a healthy environment.

02:41 Farming has kind of taught us a lot of things.

02:48 I think probably first and foremost is Mother Nature rules the roost.

02:53 [Music]

03:04 you

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