Time warp:
Same field, 16 years apart

Welcome to the pasture! And welcome to the past, present...and future.

Because although the pastures in the photos are the same field, they are also, decidedly, not.

To us, these photos show how decisions made on farmland truly make a difference to soil and plants—and therefore make a huge difference to your food.

In June 2010 (top photo), Jordan & Laura had just added this acreage to their farm.

This piece of land had been a monoculture hayfield for years, with only one predominant species of grass (fescue) crowding out any others. (mono: one, culture: species)

One difference now, 16 years later?

Today, this field is home to over 50 species of plant life.

With over 50 species in our pastures, we're getting there :)

And there are other differences as well.

Check out the color of the grass in the 2010 photo (shown again below), and the color from Jordan's 2026 video (below also).

2010 had a yellowness to it.

2026 is dark green.

Deeply pigmented grasses are a sign of soil health and fertility. The darker color in 2026 is also indicative of the vitality and nutrient-density of the plants.

Before...and after

Of course, the nutrient-density of the grass matters to you because when you eat meat from grazing animals, the quality of the grass IS the quality of your food.

Another difference:

In the color-comparison photo above, you can see how much the plant biomass increased from 2010 to 2026.

In other words, if you were to extract all of the plant life from an acre of the 2010 field, and all of the plant life from that same acre in 2026, the plant mass from 2026 would weigh a LOT more.

You can see that just from looking.

And greater plant biomass anywhere on earth is a good thing for us all.

A few reasons to care about healthy soil & healthy grass

Here are two other differences you can't see in the photos, but which are indicative of the health of the soil (and therefore the quality of food produced there):

1️⃣  In 2010, the soil was capped—meaning it had a hard crust on top and was quite stiff, cracked and non-absorbent.

Capped soil occurs when land isn't adequately protected by healthy vegetation, and is thus exposed to the elements.

It also happens when herds of hoofed animals aren't passing through every so often to fertilize, graze, and "chip" (disturb and break up) the soil.

Capped soil is depleted soil.

In contrast, today the soil is gently spongy.

It's made so by millions of fibrous plant roots and a living soil biome that houses helpful microbes, beneficial insects, dozens of minerals and nutrients essential to humans, and plenty of absorbed moisture.

Again: before & after

2️⃣  The second thing you don't see in either of the photos—but which said a lot about the health of the land when they were there—are the thousands of thorny briar bushes that covered much of the field when Jordan and Laura first arrived on this piece of land.

These briar bushes, called multiflora rose, are both a noxious weed and an invasive species that form impenetrable hedges on cleared farmland.

They thrive in depleted soil—which tells you the field wasn't robust or particularly healthy when Jordan and Laura began farming it in 2010.

And why aren't there any briars in either of the pictures?

Simple: Jordan and Laura put pigs on the land first thing when they arrived.

Pigs ADORE multiflora rose—especially the roots.

Every briar bush and root ball was eagerly dragged out of the ground as the pigs rooted for delicious snacks beneath the surface.

So those are a few of the differences between the single-species hayfield that was here in 2010, and the thriving and diverse pasture of the present day.

The high quality of the soil and grasses today has everything to do with the land management decisions Jordan and Laura have made over the past decade and a half+.

And healthy soil & grass is a key reason why the meat produced on our farm consistently provides the unmatched quality, nutrition and taste that it does.

The food we raise is great for the planet. It's great for you. And it gives the animals who are raised here a truly great life.

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