Sweet Grown Alabama Blogs

Our farm has evolved over the last decade from poultry-centered to goat-centered since feed increases in 2020. That 40% increase in cost was a wake-up call for many farms and put some folks out of business. Since that time it has become apparent to me that I needed to be more resilient in the way we feed our livestock, by feeding more off the land and less commercially produced and purchased feeds. Goats have the ability, being herbivores, to live off the land, but poultry show a great decrease in productivity when strictly free-ranging because they can’t digest plants as well. This fact (as well as the superior cuteness of baby goats!) lead to my decision to change my focus for our farm. 

There are pioneers of this grazing-focused strategy and lots of resources to help us develop customized systems and techniques to improve our land and livestock. I am just scratching the surface here, there are many ideas to educate ourselves on and implement on our farms including:

• Cross-species grazing
• Pasture rotation
• Silvopasture with productive trees
• Animal-created compost
• Medicinal hedgerows 
• Companion planting
• Gathering and using rainwater both in containers and in the landscape
• Selecting breeds of livestock that feed and forage off the land
• Encouraging diversity of plants and insects on your homestead
• Growing plants for winter forage
• Building the soil for higher productivity 

I have been studying the ideas above and working on setting up these systems for years. With our move to new land last winter, I am starting over in my implementation and facing new obstacles including sloping land, soil with a higher pH, and wetlands. I love the challenges. Sharing my successes and failures with like-minded individuals is extremely rewarding. One of my goals is to share my experience with the homestead/farm community to engender success in my peers. I would love to see everyone growing food and if I can inspire or equip another person or family to be part of the solution of food production then that’s a win for me!

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Sweet Grown Alabama.