Join Our Journey: Better Farming, Better Flavor

Innovation in the Broiler Field + Ag+Art Tour 🐓☀️

Hello friends,

April is wrapping up here in Chester, though it’s looking a little more dusty than vibrant lately. We are staring down a significant drought, so the pastures aren’t exactly the lush green we’d hope for this time of year. That said, the grass is holding its own and the cattle are doing just fine. We’re just staying observant and hoping for a good soaking rain as we head into May.

🎨 Mark Your Calendars: The Ag+Art Tour is Next Saturday!

We are thrilled to announce that Watson Farms will once again be a featured stop on the South Carolina Ag+Art Tour for Chester County!

The tour takes place Saturday, May 2, from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

If you aren’t familiar with the tour, it is the nation’s largest free, self-guided tour of farms and markets that features local artisans at every stop. It’s a wonderful opportunity for you to see first-hand where your food comes from, watch artists in action, and enjoy a day in the country with the whole family.

What to expect at Watson Farms:

• Wagon Rides: We’ll be running the tractor and wagon to give you a front-row seat to our regenerative grazing practices.
• Meet the Animals: See our grass-fed cattle, pastured pigs, and our newest flocks of broiler chickens in action.
• Local Artisans: We will have several talented local creators stationed at the farm showcasing their work.
• Farm Store: Our store will be open and fully stocked with your favorite pasture-raised meats, honey, and more.

It’s a “rain or shine” event, so grab your boots and come see us! You can find the full map of Chester County stops on the official Ag+Art website.

🏠 New Chicken Houses: From Construction to Deployment

If you remember back in Pasture Posts #264, we shared that our team was in the middle of constructing two brand-new pasture broiler houses. We are happy to report that these houses are officially finished and deployed!

Our team did an incredible job with the assembly and setup. Seeing these structures out on the pasture—especially knowing they travel through fields that are just a stone’s throw away from the old, empty confinement turkey barn—is a constant reminder of why we transitioned to this regenerative model.

The birds are already moved in and are loving their “salad bar” of fresh grass and bugs, with the houses being moved to a fresh patch of ground every single day.

🚿 High-Tech Comfort: The Solar-Powered Sprinkler System

The Pyramid Just Got Flipped! 🥩 🔄

Hello friends,

April is in full swing here in Chester, and the pastures are hanging in there although the hot weather and worsening drought this past week has put some strain on them.

But while we’ve been busy moving the herd each day, something massive has been shifting in the world of nutrition. If you’ve been following the news lately, you might have seen that the federal government finally did something many of us thought we’d never see: they flipped the food pyramid.

A “Gift” for Real Food Believers

For decades, we were told to build our diets on a foundation of grains and carbohydrates, while viewing animal proteins and fats with a side-eye. But the new 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines have turned that old model on its head—literally.

The new “inverted” pyramid now places high-quality animal proteins, full-fat dairy, and whole foods at the top of the priority list. It’s a move toward recognizing what you, our savvy customers, have known for a long time: Real, nutrient-dense animal protein is the pinnacle of human nutrition. You can read the official announcement from the USDA on this “historic reset” here.

Insights from a Friend of the Farm

Joel Salatin recently called this a “gift” in his latest column. As many of you know, Joel is a long-time friend of Watson Farms—he even spent a day here back in April 2020 helping us navigate our transition out of the turkey business. In his latest article for The Stockman Grass Farmer, he wrote:

“The new inverted pyramid placing animal protein on top represents not only a return to historic normalcy but a renewed narrative of affirmation and acceptance to a demonized segment of American agriculture. All sectors of the livestock industry stand to benefit, but pastured livestock producers even more.”

While some of you may have written off government guidelines years ago (and we don’t blame you!), this shift is a massive win for awareness. It brings the conversation back to real food and away from the ultra-processed “fake meats” that have been pushed so hard recently.

The Pinnacle of the “Spring Flush” Even During a Drought

The air in Chester is crisp and the sun is hanging a little longer in the sky each evening, but this spring feels a bit different. We are currently navigating some of the driest conditions on record, with the U.S. Drought Monitor classifying nearly 94% of Chester County in a Severe Drought (D2). Year-to-date, our local precipitation is down about 4.25 inches from normal, and South Carolina just came off one of its five driest Marches in the last 132 years.

While the drought has certainly put some pressure on the “Spring Flush,” we are still at the height of it, and I’m happy to report that our cows are doing great. We would love to see some rain to help things along, but our decision to not overstock our pastures is paying dividends right now. By keeping the animal-to-acre ratio low, we are maintaining plenty of stockpiled forage to carry us into the warmer months. We are hopeful the weather pattern will change soon, but in the meantime, the work we did back in November is providing exactly what the herd needs.

The 6th Grazing Milestone: Biomimicry in Action

If you’ve driven by our farm store lately near Lowrys, you’ve likely seen the cattle working their way through the pasture right beside the building. Believe it or not, that specific piece of ground is currently on its 6th grazing event since we planted it last fall. The hard work of getting those winter annuals into the ground in early November is now at the absolute pinnacle of paying off.

This isn’t just about feeding the cows; it’s about a process of biomimicry that feeds the soil. When the cattle “prune” the tops of the plants, the plants respond by pruning their root mass to match the biomass remaining above ground. This phenomenon, famously documented by researcher Franklin Crider in 1955 (USDA Technical Bulletin No. 1102), shows that when a significant portion of the top growth is removed, the plant sloughs off a portion of its roots. This “root sloughing” creates a massive, instantaneous pulse of organic matter and carbon directly into the soil profile—feeding the microbes and building topsoil from the bottom up.