Pastured Poultry Field Trip

This afternoon was field trip day for the NCAT (National Center for Appropriate Technology) annual sustainable ag conference. Our first stop was at Across the Creek Farm, a vertically integrated pastured poultry producer just outside Fayetteville, AR.

Spence, our host and owner, talked to us about their evolution to becoming ever more vertically integrated, mostly out of necessity. The same dilemma faces small livestock producers in all areas of the country, especially when it comes to finding abattoirs (meat processing facilities), but also sometimes true for market access and feed procurement.

The need for reliable, fresh and honest feed ingredients, led the farm to begin milling their own chicken feed. They now grind and sell feed to other local poultry producers. It looked and smelled so much better than the bags I used to buy from the feed store! And yes, pastured poultry needs grain. Depending on the species (turkey, goose, chicken) and life stage, the amount of calories from feed vs. pasture can range from nearly 90/10 to 10/90.

Due to our 1-hour time limit, the rest of our tour was focused on the actual pasture portion. One day, I’d love to go back and see their processing and marketing operation! The first thing that caught my eye was the lush, diverse field.

This lush diverse pasture was once bare, weedy red dirt. The power of livestock on the landscape!

The thigh-high stand was sprinkled with a variety of legumes and forbs (broadleaves), with a significant number of grass species, including orchard grass, timothy, rye, bluegrass and several I couldn’t identify off-hand. No chemicals are used on these fields. Spence tells us this rented property was scrubby, with largely bare, red soil, lots of weeds and little organic matter when they started. Now, he cuts hay as a way to off-take the excess nutrients he’s adding through the poultry grazing process. And he reckons he’s added more than an inch of topsoil in just the few years they’ve been using the property. A quick dig through the surface where the turkey pen had been a few weeks ago revealed an abundance of earthworms and nice, crumbly soil.

Rich in organic matter, this soil where the turkey pen passed a few weeks ago was teeming with earthworms and other beneficial organisms

I was surprised to see that all the birds were under cover. Spence explained that the houses are moved at least once a day, always giving the birds plenty of fresh forage. They found that predation by neighbors’ dogs and hawks was causing quite a bit of loss. There are also fears of avian influenza, if the pens are open to allow wild birds in to feed, as well. The farm is converting to all larger houses, but still is using some small ones this season. (If you’re in the area, they are selling their small houses—perfect for a smaller operation!).

The houses are covered by billboard tarp, and a layer of shad cloth helps eliminate ripping and flapping. It takes about 30 minutes to move one of the big houses, as it needs to be done slowly and carefully to allow the birds to move along with the house. The houses move in strips, with plenty of space between strips. A strip won’t be regrazed until it has fully assimilated the manure from the prior grazing and the forage has recovered.

Our host, Spence, shows us one of the laying hens

Spence says they generally break for the worst of the Arkansas winter, with the exception of laying hens. He emphasizes that after 17 years in the business, he’s still learning every day, which is part of what he likes about the business.

The second stop on the tour was a pastured beef, lamb and beef operation. That will need to wait for another post. I’m looking forward to the 2 days of regular conference sessions, starting first thing tomorrow morning. I’m sure my head will be stuffed full by the time I head back to Texas!