WHY ARE LIVESTOCK SO IMPORTANT FOR OUR SOILS?

       Our Mission Statement: We believe that healthy soil creates healthy plants, which leads to thriving animals supplying nutrient-dense food for you, our thriving customers. 

       Hundreds of years ago, bison, along with many other animals, used to roam freely on God's great earth. When those animals grazed, they would eat the tops of many plants, move on to the next great-tasting area, and do this day after day. The benefits of this are many. Walking through a grassland or pasture, they would knock seeds off of plants that fell to the ground, and their hooves would essentially plant those seeds, and new plants would grow. When an animal takes a bite of a plant, this stimulates the plant to regrow its foliage and also promotes the roots to grow longer and deeper into the soil, making a stronger plant. These plant roots will then put off exudates and sugars that the biology in the soil loves to consume, and in return, that biology will make mineral nutrients more available to the plant. When animals take a bite of the plants, they leave their saliva on the plant, which also has many different bacteria and biology. This also helps stimulate the plant. These grazing animals will urinate and defecate on these soils, which will fertilize the soil, feed the biology, and build stronger soil structure over time. 

       This was a beautiful system back then, and it was the way God intended it to be. In most agricultural systems today, we have taken the livestock and animals off of our land so that we can raise grain crops, which in return get mostly used to feed livestock that are standing on cement or in dirt yards. Does this sound natural to you?

       That's why at Back to Nature Farms, we try to bring back the impacts that grazing animals had on our soils and prairies years ago as naturally as we can.

       Yes, we grow grain crops, but we will plant cover crops as forages right after the grain crop is harvested. This keeps a living root in the soil for as long as we possibly can. These living roots or plants are what feed our soil biology, which in turn will increase our soil health and improve our harvested grains. This, as a result, will keep everyone and everything healthier. Animals that are allowed to graze and act like true animals are much healthier and more nutritious. Our goal is to supply those healthy proteins to you and your family!