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By LYT WOOD
Rappahannock New* Contrlbutinp Writer
Two cattle fanners, Christopher Bird and Joel Salatin, were the featured speakers at a Pasture Management workshop on Saturday at the Front Royal 4-H Educational Center. The workshop was sponsored by the Virginia Association of Biological Farmers and attended by farmers from all over the state.
Rappahannoc
perspective
Mr. Bird and Mr. Salatin operate 500-acre cattle farms located, respectively, in Rappahannock County and Augusta County, where they produce organically raised, grass-fed beef. They each produce a premium product that demands a premium price.
And they each recognize the conservation and health-related problems associated with modem farming — erosion of our topsoil, contamination of our water, and the questionable health effects of hormones, antibiotics and pesticides that persist in our food.
But at the workshop, the speakers did not focus on the bad effects of inappropriate farming. Rather, they described their own successful, innovative farming techniques: composting, pasture rotation, intensive grazing, and portable fences and loafing sheds. The practices they described for their farms were different, but it was clear that they shared a common philosophy.
That philosophy, as stated by Christopher Bird, is “to allow natural processes to work in your favor. They’ll work for you, for free, if you allow them to.”
Chris, together with his father, Lee Bird, operates Horseshoe Hollow Farm north of Washington. Instead of artificial fertilization, herbicide application and frequent overseeding, the Horsehoe Hollow farmers apply compost, mow when necessary and promote long-lasting, diverse mixtures of grasses and legumes.
Pastures intercept sunlight
Chris Bird believes it’s a mistake to think of a pasture as a producing unit. “The main function of a pasture,” he says, “is to intercept sunlight. A healthy pasture will transform sunlight into a nutrition package, soil-holding roots and a beautiful countryside.”
“Along with organic matter on the surface,” he continues, “there should be anchorage below the soil. This is at least as important as what you can see aboveground.”
He believes that the activity of earthworms and decomposing organisms among the underground network of plant roots must be respected and encouraged. He applies limestone, colloidal phosphate and trace minerals where soil tests indicate the need. “But decomposing organic matter,” he said, “is neci , essary to make these nutrients available to the '' plants.”
Rather than aiming for short-term production by applying fertilizers, Mr. Bird recommends promoting the natural decomposition process and a diversity of plants which includes shallow-rooted grasses and deep, penetrating, nitrogen-collecting legumes.
“If you provide these things,” says Mr. Bird,
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