Here’s the weekly roundup from Watson Farms and your direct connection to your farmer. Enjoy the latest edition of Pasture Posts!
It’s been an eventful and productive week! Take a look at some things that have happened at Watson Farms this week!
Here’s the weekly roundup from Watson Farms and your direct connection to your farmer. Enjoy the latest edition of Pasture Posts!
As our direct-marketing efforts have expanded over the last couple of years it has required more team members and more from each member of our team.
Now our team is tapping into some new talent in the form of a willing new generation. Our goal at Watson Farms is for our farm to be one that the next generation can be passionate about being a part of. This often does not happen on family farms that rely on industrial methods as these farms operate on the tightest of margins while performing work in the filthiest of conditions. Our farm operated largely in this way before our transition to 100% pasture-based livestock so we have seen firsthand the detriments that the industrial system has.
There are definitely dirty jobs at our farm today, but at least they are usually broken up some from day to day by not-so-dirty chores. Industrial farms appear to be doing a great job of driving away the next generation rather than drawing the best and brightest. You can see some of the stories of this kind of thing in this article from about a year ago.
The fact is that through your direct support of our pasture-based farm, you are making Watson Farms more and more family-friendly. We believe that a farm should be, as our friend, Joel Salatin, puts it, “aromatically and aesthetically pleasing.” Farms should be operated in such a way that draws people to them instead of deliberately keeping people out as many confinement farms do. That includes being able to compensate the kids fairly and well enough to entice them to stay. For more information on this, check out Joel’s book Family Friendly Farming which completely changed my view of what a farm could and should be.
Thanks for your help in making our farm into a business that the younger generation can find a place in!
Continue reading Encouraging Signs: A New Generation Stepping Up – Pasture Posts 75Here’s the weekly roundup from Watson Farms and your direct connection to your farmer. Enjoy the latest edition of Pasture Posts!
This week we decided to do a video for you all which shows you what a typical summer day looks like for us here at Watson Farms. Very few farms today are multi-species, as it can require a diverse set of abilities and equipment to keep the different types of animals comfortable and performing to the best of their ability.
When it gets above 90 degrees we run the misters in the layers to help keep them cool. We also use our tractor and spray rig to spray down the broiler chickens. We spray the pigs down on hot afternoons as well. With the cows we strive to make sure that they have shaded areas anytime high temperatures are above 85 degrees. If they are going to be moving to a paddock that doesn’t have shade then we do it later in the evening so that they can have the evening and night to graze.
Watch the video below for some scenes of what a typical day is like tending to several types of livestock on a hot July day!
