The Dirt on Sustainability

Dear Friends,
Recently we had a visitor to the farm from the NY business world. He is concerned about environmental sustainability and is learning about organic food production. We walked our farm with him and showed him the boundary of our farm to our neighbor's. Our piece of ground had been kept seeded in grasses for many years, whereas the neighbor's land had been tilled and planted in corn and soybeans for decades. Our piece of land was over one foot taller than the neighbor's ground! The visitor was amazed. He saw how rich and black the soil was, then asked troubled questions: Where did the soil go? Why is this seen as acceptable?

The Leopold Center estimates Iowa soil erosion as 5 tons per acre. That means 10,000 lbs of soil moves off the farm per acre. When compared to the yields of corn and soybeans per acre, it computes to 2 lbs of soil leaves the farm for every one lb of soybean grown, and one lb of soil for each lb of corn grown.

The American Midwest gained its fertility from a millennia of being covered in prairie soils. It has been opened up recently in the geological timeframe, and organic matter is still rich in the soils. However, estimates are that organic matter is only 50% of what it was when the prairies were first tilled.

This disturbs my husband and myself, and for this reason, we have a long rotational plan for our farm that includes the majority of time seeded in grasses. We also keep more areas of our farm permanently seeded in pasture to slow erosion of sloping land.

When you buy meat that has been grazed on grasses in the Midwest, you aid the slowing of erosion of our natural resources. The growth of sales of grass finished beef and pastured pork and lamb and poultry supports the planting of grasses in the Midwest and helps move the production of meat away from the industrial and feedlot models of production.

Please remember that "free range" poultry and meats does not mean pasture production or grass finishing. Please see the educational table on our website to easily track the characteristics of the meat you buy now. http://www.wholesomeharvest.com/servlet/the-template/whatisorganic/Page Free range poultry really only means "uncaged" and there is no diet protocol or legal space definition for free range beef, lamb and pork.

Please feel free to write us with your questions as you seek out the best meat for yourself, your family and the planet.