The Chesapeake Bay Program put a great piece together for their Restoration Spotlight. It’s about Troy Bishopp and his work with Endless Trails Farm and why if he visits your pastures he’ll likely check for manure first.
Troy has worked with the Endless Trails Farm for about eight years, setting up conservation practices, helping with fencing and providing rotational grazing advice. He describes the results this way:
“There was no real system of fencing or paddock rotation [on this farm]. And so usually in July and August there wasn’t a whole lot of grass here. Implementing strategic fencing, water spots around the farm, water tubs, and then allowing the grass and the pastures to rest for a month or two, always made a lot of grass which actually sequestered any rain that came, which is huge up here.”
“Generally speaking, we want to retain our topsoil, have good water infiltration and keep the waters clean,” Bishopp says. “When you produce a lot of feed and you do those things that make you money, conservation comes right along with it.”
The results are clear at Endless Trails Farm. They’ve increased water infiltration which means more grass for cattle, and they were able to switch to an all-grass system and diversify their business to include agro-tourism opportunities. Their work reduced sediment and nutrient runoff and even led to the farm being named Conservation Farm of the Year in 2011 by the Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District.
You can read the full article here, and enjoy the video they put together below!
