A constant challenge for farmers is minimizing erosion. Erosion often happens when bare soil is exposed and heavy rains occur. The soil structure in fields that have been conventionally cropped for decades often doesn’t lend itself to good water absorption, which means that when rainfall events occur, what should be a blessing in the abundance of water cannot be used by the soil, but instead, runs off to the creeks, rivers and eventually the seas.
Of course, this run off doesn’t just consist of water, but the water brings topsoil and nutrients with it. These transported nutrients cause many problems in bodies of water, but we’ll leave that discussion for another day. Let’s focus on the topsoil that can be lost for today’s discussion.
As you can see in the photo below, water can move a great amount of soil in a very short time. This soil that had been there for centuries was moved in one rain event.
Rain events like we had yesterday are pretty common. Here at the farm we received about 1.5 inches of rain, and at times it came very fast. The photo and video below were shot on one of our farm roads shortly after the rain stopped. You can see that the water running directly off a 70-acre section of pasture was crystal clear. We saw virtually no erosion in our pastures. Why?
It comes down to not having bare soil exposed. Like we have talked about in several editions of Pasture Posts, (#12, #30, and #41), this is done in part by allowing our cattle to trample about one third of the grass as they are rotated through the paddocks. This trampled grass is not wasted like many cattle producers would contend, but rather it is put to good use as insulation and a source of organic matter for the soil.
This kind of management is hard to verify as you shop for beef online or in the grocery stores. Good questions to ask any producer would be:
- How much grass do you allow your cattle to trample?
- How often do you rotate your cattle?
- Do you ever have bare soil exposed in your pastures?
I hope that you have been able to see the importance of retaining our topsoil and that cattle can be an excellent tool in doing so.
Farm Day is Coming!
If you’d like to see some of these animals in person, we have the perfect opportunity to do so coming up.
We will be hosting another Farm Day on Saturday, April 30 from 10am – 2pm. This will be much like the last one we held in October. It was a great success and we hope this one will be the same.
We will be offering hay rides where we will show each group as many of the animals as possible. We love the discussions that break out on these hay rides and it re-assures us that our customers are the most-informed and enlightened people on the planet.
Vendors will be set up as well so that you can stock up on some locally produced arts, crafts, and other unique products. A food truck will also be on site!
Stay tuned for more details!
Help us spread the word!
It’s now easier than ever to Give $15 and Get $15 through our Referral Program. We don’t spend a lot of money of advertising, but rather we focus on producing products that people love and are willing to tell others about. So we depend on word of mouth to find new customers and ultimately to heal more land.
So in an effort to streamline this process we have made it easier to tell others (via email, Facebook, or Twitter) about Watson Farms. And it’s all automated on the backend, so you don’t have to rely on us to issue the store credits manually. Just head over to our Referrals Page and start sharing!
Product Spotlight
Coupon for a Free Ground Beef!
We’ve got a special coupon for you! Get 1 pound of free Ground Beef when you purchase $100 or more through our online store!
Here’s how it works:
- Add your products to your cart on our website until your cart total is $100 or more.
- As you checkout enter the coupon code FreeGB31321
- Hit the Apply Coupon button.
- A pound of Ground Beef will automatically be added to your cart free of charge!
For some of our recommended products, check out our Featured Product Page. You might find something that you didn’t even know we had!
We re-use packaging!
We’ve seen a good response to our efforts in re-using packaging! Thanks and keep it up.
You can help us reduce our carbon footprint by returning your CLEAN egg cartons and meat boxes.
The main reason that we switched to plastic egg cartons a while back was because they are so much more durable than paper which could only be used once. They also protect the eggs much better!
So if you have some egg cartons or boxes to return, you can just place them on your porch on your home delivery day. Farm pickup customers can, of course, drop them off when you come to pick up your new order.
***We can only re-use OUR cartons or boxes. Please re-use or recycle other boxes or egg cartons elsewhere.***
We redact your personal information found on your meat boxes when we re-use them, but feel free to redact to redact it yourself without damaging the box if you would like.
Thanks for helping us re-use our packaging!
Order Deadlines and Store Hours
Charleston and Columbia Areas: 12 noon Mondays
UPS Orders: 12 noon Mondays
GSP: 12 noon on Wednesdays
Charlotte/Fort Mill/Rock Hill Areas: 12 noon Fridays
Farm Pickup: Please wait until you receive an email stating that your order is ready to be picked up (usually 1 business day from when you place your order). Farm pickup is done during store hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 10am to 6pm
Saturday: 10am to 2pm
Closed Sunday and Wednesday
Did you know that we have a webpage that displays all the reviews we have received?
Check it out!
Check out this ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review:
“I can’t say enough great things about the products from Watson [Farms]. The quality is second to none, and my family has a hard time buying any meats from the grocery store because it is so good. Do yourself a favor and get one of their mixed boxes.“
We would greatly appreciate it if you would be kind enough to leave us a review. It helps first-time customers purchase with confidence.
Thanks again for being partners in this endeavor of local, pasture-raised proteins that has truly transformed our farm. We look forward to continuing this transition while serving you long into the future.
Sincerely,
The Watsons
Pasture Posts is written by Matt Watson.