Why Regenerative Agriculture?

Regenerative agriculture is a step beyond sustainability - while traditional western agriculture depletes natural resources, and sustainable agriculture seeks to conserve current resource levels, regenerative practices increase those resources in both quantity and quality for utilization by future generations.

Regenerative practices are not just better for soil, land, and the environment - food produced using these practices is actually better for you and for your community! Meat from animals raised on pasture is healthier for you than the industrial counterpart (not to mention better-tasting), boasting a higher ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids, higher levels of antioxidants, beta carotene, and vitamin E, as well as a greater array of other nutrients to promote healthy body and brain function.

While the price tag on pasture-raised meat may feel intimidating, there are additional economic benefits realized at both the farm and community levels when farmers employ grass or pasture-based systems. More independence in pricing, marketing decisions, and access to distribution channels keeps employment opportunities in small rural communities (on the farm, at the processor, and beyond), and attractive, consumer-facing small businesses draw visitors and money to local communities, building vibrancy and resiliency in a rural economy. In addition, the opportunity for “stacked” enterprises that comes with regenerative agriculture greatly increases the potential profit per acre on a small farm. Remember, all of your food comes from farms, so when your farmer is doing well, you’re doing well!

Our Pasture

At Rocklands, ruminants (grass-eating livestock) are the centerpiece of our pasture management and food production system.

We believe that ruminant (grass-only) livestock are central to regenerative agriculture. Using biomimicry in our high-density, multi-species, adaptive rotational grazing system, we integrate whole ecosystem functions, foster savannah style pastures, and focus on growing grass while building high-functioning and increasingly healthy soil.

Cattle are the heavy lifters of land regeneration. Their size, grazing habits, and large rumens (their grass-digesting stomach-fermentor) contribute to their enormous capacity for land impact. Rotated regularly on pasture, our cattle convert massive amounts of grass (photosynthesized carbon) into nutrient-dense meats and soil-building manure, restoring ecosystem function in our pastures.

Sheep and goats also convert grass into meat and manure and increase pasture ecosystem function. The diversity of the combination flock/herd (“flerd”) is key, as the more varied grazing habits of sheep and goats help convert less desirable, non-grass plants into regenerated soil.

Our chickens are pasture raised, spending their entire life on fresh pasture. Free to roam and forage, their diet consists of fresh pasture bugs and freshly-milled, local, non-GMO grain. They rotate behind the ruminants, spreading manure and reducing ruminant pests.

Finally, our hogs are raised on a woodlot, spending their entire life in wooded areas and savannah pastures. They are free to roam, loaf, and root (forage with their snouts), thriving on a balanced diet of plants, roots, tubers, bugs, and freshly-milled, local, non-GMO grain. Like our ruminants, our hogs are “conception-to-consumption”: from the day they are conceived until they make their way to your plate, they’ve been on our farm creating a unique bond with our ecosystem, management, and their mother. These intergenerational relationships between our animals are essential for their development, health, and optimal expression of animal-ness.