A goat stands next to a school bus at Prodigal Farm in Rougemont, North Carolina. Prodigal Farm is Animal Welfare Approved (AWA)—meaning the animals are raised in accordance with the most rigorous and progressive farm animal care standards in the world. Finding an animal on pasture at an AWA farm isn’t surprising—continuous pasture access is required whether the animals are goats, cows, pigs, chickens or other. Finding a school bus in the field, however, is a little unique. The bus is the clever solution by owners Dave Crabbe and Kathryn Spann to the problem of providing the goats with mobile shelter. When the goats are moved to a new paddock to take advantage of fresh browse, the shelter follows along. A closer look at Prodigal Farm, as well as its owners, goats, and buses can be found on page 6.
Photo by Mike Suarez