Not that long ago, “animal husbandry” was the name of a branch of agriculture concerned with the day-to-day care of animals raised for meat, fiber, milk, and other products. Husbandry has a long history, starting with the Neolithic Revolution when animals were first domesticated, from around 13,000 BC onwards.
Now the very same branch is called “animal science.” According to Will Harris, owner of White Oak Pastures, that’s where raising animals got off track. “It put the humane welfare of the animal at a distant second to the economic interests of farming that grew quickly into Big Ag.” The shift didn’t do much for the land, water, and natural resources either. A few statistics from his book, A Bold Return to Giving A Damn: One Farm, Six Generations, and the Future of Food, support Harris’s contentions:
- 90% of the food Americans eat is controlled by multinational corporations.
- About 25 million “broiler” chickens are slaughtered every day; 1 million every hour.
- The biggest slaughter houses kill 400 head of cattle per hour.
- The use of super-therapeutic antibiotics and hormone implants in cattle is standard.
- Cattle are fed cheap and abundant corn (grown with pesticides and fertilizers) even though they are not designed by nature to eat it. Corn makes cattle fattier and preferred by fast-food restaurants for cheap ground beef.
After reading Harris’s book, I looked for more data on the issues he raised. At Animalclock.org’s website, among many facts, the site estimates that around 20% of U.S. retail meat is discarded by stores and consumers.
“In soil we trust. Farming must not only be sustainable; it has to be regenerative.” -Will Harris
Words Worth Learning
Here is what Harris has to say about the kind of farming he’s doing now – regenerative farming. “Land is meant to be a living thing, containing the natural order of all living things: Life, Growth, Death, Decay. Our passion is to create an environment that allows these cycles to flow freely: microbes feed plants which feed the animals which spread urine and feces into microbes which feeds the plants which feed the animals as they graze on grass.”
Beginning with Will’s father who was seduced by the use of cheap ammonium nitrate that made the grass turn green practically overnight, White Oak Pastures became a conventionally run commodity cattle farm. “We employed all of the industrial tools that science had developed to take the costs out of farming, including pesticides, chemical fertilizers, hormones, and antibiotics. Even while using these artificial crutches, our family never ceased to believe that we were good stewards of our land. We were completely oblivious to the grave consequences that can result from fighting against nature.” That all changed in 1995, when Harris began the process of returning the farm to its healthy origins.
“Today,” says Harris, “we are raising cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, and rabbits the same way my great-grandfather did a century-and-a-half ago. We proactively support nature’s food chain, using only sun, soil, and rain to grow sweet grasses for our animals to eat. Using Regenerative Land Management, we rotate complimentary animal species side-by-side through our pastures. The cows graze the grass, the sheep and goats eat the weeds and shrubs, and the chickens peck at the grubs and insects. All species naturally fertilize the land, and our soil is again a living organic medium that teems with life.”
Returning to Animal Husbandry
“The monoculture mindset of convenience and efficiency was highly promoted to small farmers: produce your product, call the feedlot, set a date for the semi to come, take the check, repeat, repeat, repeat.” Harris describes why he borrowed heavily more than a few times to begin the regenerative process. First came creating healthy soil and then came the issue of animal welfare. Harris said that the sight of the double-decker stockyard trucks, “the top layer of traumatized cattle shitting on the bottom layer,” made him rethink his cattle and their final hours. “I kept asking myself, how would nature husband these animals if I weren’t in it strictly for profit? It’s the question that keeps you honest.”
As Harris became more certain that he was on the right track, White Oak Pastures built their own USDA-inspected abattoirs on the farm rather than shipping their stock out to a slaughter house. They have two zero-waste facilities, as all animal remains are composted on the farm and used as organic fertilizers for their pastures.
The cattle facility was designed by Temple Grandin. She is the author of Animals Make Us Human as well as Thinking in Pictures. Dr. Grandin’s humane livestock facility designs have been adopted all over the world, especially for small farms. Grandin urges farmers to “Keep your animals calm and safe. Understand the behavior, fears, and instincts of cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep, and set up humane, healthy, and productive systems and facilities.”
Two Celebrated Outcomes . . . Among Many
One. White Oak Pastures and Will Harris became humble celebrities as word spread. People began to come to the farm’s store to shop and later the restaurant. After many weekends of Harris appearing at several Florida Publix markets serving meatballs and other farm products, White Oak Pastures earned national sales. Whole Foods stores followed suit as well, offering several White Oaks products and cuts of beef. Many farmers who were interested in regenerating their land and returning to animal husbandry consulted with Harris. All of the interest and activity generated the need for more well-paid workers and interns and brought new life to very rural Bluffton, Georgia. The town grew from only a tiny post office to new houses for the workers and Harris’s expanding family, visitor cottages on the farm, and his ability to purchase more acreage. Today, Bluffton is a hopping small town and a go-to destination for tourists, farmers, and others.
Two. According to publications like Earth.org and others, scientists warn that 24 billion tons of fertile soil is being lost per year, largely due to unsustainable agriculture practices. Degraded soil, resulting largely from intensive farming practices, is low in “organic matter,” which means it does not retain water as effectively, making farms vulnerable to droughts, wildfires, and water shortages. Regenerative agriculture can help bring the organic matter, or the ‘life and health’ back into soil.
In 2019, Will Harris got wind of one of the largest solar energy companies acquiring 1,425 acres not far from his expanded farm’s additional pastures. The land was nearly destroyed after decades of intensive row cropping of peanuts, cotton, and corn. He also knew that solar companies were known for destructive practices: “The construction project of 355,000 panels would require massive amounts of industrial materials and then an aggressive program of vegetation control using mowers and pesticides to keep the panels clear of foliage. It would obliterate whatever biological life was left in the soil, rendering the land sterile and unable to absorb water.”
Harris lured the company’s CEO, Reagan Farr, down to Bluffton. Harris said, “My crew put on a real dog and pony show for the executives, taking them all over the farm to see what a holistic program of managed grazing can do.” The goal was to convince the CEO of a more economically sound way to achieve their goals and make them better neighbors to the farmers and the community. Harris pointed out all of the drawbacks to what they had planned – mowing and spraying to keep the weeds and plants down. Instead they came to a healthy agreement – Harris’s sheep would graze on the land and keep the weeds and grasses in check, giving the panels maximum light exposure and creating a “precious by-product of manure,” feeding the microbes into the soil among many benefits. Harris agreed to take the financial risk of investing half a million dollars into the project by purchasing 1,000 head of sheep, hire more people to manage the flocks, and increase the purchase of pasture-raised lamb. It was a win for everyone, especially the land.
In the Fall of 2021, Will Harris founded the Center for Agricultural Resilience (CFAR) to share what he has learned in rebuilding rural communities and the soil. He created a partnership with the Hinterland Institute to train veterans to graze livestock on Department of Defense land so that ”We can feed our soldiers fresh food with great nutrition. Strengthening our food system with those who have dedicated their lives to protecting our country is a win for all,” said Harris.
I first saw Will Harris on a Joe Rogan podcast and admit to falling in love with his cowboy attitude, knowledge, and his incredible commitment to regenerative farming. His book is a vibrant history of Harris, his community, and his rethinking of what farming could and should be. I’ve never read a book like it. I’m no farmer, but I do eat meat and “give a damn” and will never think about slaughter houses or look at animal products at the grocery store in the same way.
Fortunately, our Coop has a small selection of grassfed beef and humanely raised poultry. It takes a lot longer to shop, reading labels more carefully, and using Will Harris’s helpful guide and resources at the end of the book. An added bonus is supporting the regenerative farming movement – essential if we are to survive as a nation what Big Ag and a few companies are currently allowed to do to our soil and our food.
The first post in January will address the price we pay staying with the current economic model and how much of the remedy will have to come from consumers demand.
Photo credits: The farmer and his cattle – steven weeks, Rich soil – gabriel – jimenez.