SWOOPE, Virginia. Everything at Polyface Farm starts with the soil. And just about everything comes back to it. By keeping close to home and attending to the health of our land, my family produces food for more than 400 customers who come to us by appointment to pick it up. Some drive 150 miles to our farm, located in the Shenandoah Valley between Winchester and Roanoke.

By integrating forage, forest and livestock on 550 acres, we enrich the soil and make a comfortable living. Our farm relies on high levels of management, rather than expensive machinery and off-farm inputs. We've spent 30 years recycling nutrients and increasing soil fertility and forage diversity in our pastures.

While producing beef, broilers, eggs, rabbits and vegetables on just 100 acres of open land with no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, we try to keep these goals in mind:

• Produce the best food in the world at a reasonable price.
• Minimize marketing costs.
• Target time and money to our area of expertise farming.

Wood, Grass And Beef

We view our 450 woodland acres as the engine that powers the farm. The forest is our great solar collector and watershed protector. In addition, trees filter air and provide lumber, fuel and habitat for wildlife and birds one of our natural pest controls. Trees are even more efficient than forages in converting solar energy into biomass.

Trees are also the foundation of our fertility program. After forest-improving cuts in winter, we chip any leftover branches, compost them with livestock manure and spread the compost to fertilize perennial forages in our pastures.

Those perennial forages feed our cattle. We keep livestock off pastures in early spring when plants use stored energy reserves in roots to produce new shoots. If grazed or mowed before root reserves are restored, plants are weakened and regrowth is slowed.

During fast growth periods, forages can grow more than a half-inch per day. If grazing isn't controlled, livestock will regraze the most palatable plants and less desirable vegetation will thrive, mature and spread. The result is low animal performance, sparser grass, fewer legumes, more weeds and with shorter rest periods more livestock parasites. We allow regrazing only after a pasture's energy reserves are restored.

We boost pasture production by using short-duration grazing at high-density stocking rates in sync with plants' energy cycles. Each year, our pasture sward becomes thicker (with more tillers per square foot) and plant succession moves forward, rather than backward. We see more grasses and legumes, greater diversity and fewer weeds. Controlled grazing is a tool that can change the species complexion of a perennial sward. Such control requires flexible and portable electric fencing and water systems.

Using a minimum stocking density of 25,000 pounds of live animal weight per acre (but sometimes as much as 200,000 pounds), we have seen native switchgrass and Dallis grass return in recent years. These warm-season, drought-tolerant perennials produce in July and August the way cool-season fescue and orchardgrass do in May. Perhaps another 30 years out of cultivation will bring back even more native species maybe even the 8-foot-tall grasses the first settlers wrote about.

More Cow-Days

We measure pasture performance in cow-days per acre the number of cows multiplied by days on pasture, then divided by pasture acreage. Fields of blackberry vines and hawkweed that produced fewer than 50 cow-days per acre in '61 now produce as many as 400 cow-days far more than the county average of 70 cow-days. And those weeds have been replaced by grasses and clovers without any new seeding.

In terms of nutrient cycling, a 400-cow-day pasture receives 10 tons of manure and urine each year. To make sure those droppings go where we want them, we built a 1,000-square-foot portable loafing shelter. This shademobile accompanies the cattle through the paddock rotation and gives them a clean, shady spot to lounge.

Grazing duration in a paddock varies from 12 hours to three or four days, depending on the livestock's nutritional requirements and the forage's growth rate. Knowing just when to move stock is a critical grazier skill, as much an art as it is a science. In addition to monitoring regrowth, we watch manure condition. If stools are too loose, the grass is probably too immature and has not rested long enough. Hard stools mean grass is overmature and too fibrous.

Stools should look like pumpkin pies. During lush spring growth, pasture rest periods may be only 10 days, while slow growth during droughty times may stretch the rest to 50 days. Our goal is to graze or hay forages when palatability and nutrition peak and root energy is restored. This allows the plants to go through their "blaze of growth" cycle, the most efficient growing period.

We do not believe producing tasty, tender beef requires feeding grain. Our grass-fattened beef finds tremendous acceptance, and we have a waiting list of customers. As a rule, feeding grain to ruminants and ungulates simply compensates for poor pasture management. Cattle that walk long distances for picked-over food, dirty water and inadequate shelter will not produce palatable meat. But ours receive consistently fresh, high-quality forages, clean water and comfortable lounging areas.

Meat from forage-fed animals also has far less saturated fat and cholesterol than meat from animals fed grain in confinement. Pasture-fed beef is good for the grass, good for the cattle, good for our customers and good for us.

Even during winter, cattle need no grain. Ours eat only hay we've harvested from our pastures when they produce more than we can graze. Calves gain weight in spring and summer in inverse proportion to winter gain. Expensive artificial gain on grain in winter will eliminate compensatory gains on lush spring forage. Neither cost nor weight gain can justify feeding grain to calves in winter.

Matching calving and slaughter to seasonal cycles allows us to capitalize on forage growth and minimize our forage-feeding costs when pastures are dormant. For example, cattle slaughter follows lush forage growth in spring and fall. This, too, improves palatability. Calving should be about the time deer are fawning. Our cows cycle back into heat within 33 to 37 days, compared with an average of 55 days for most herds.

A good pasture water supply for cattle is important too. We fence our cattle out of our many pasture ponds to preserve water purity. A 12-volt marine bilge pump (commonly used in motor-boats) moves 2,000 gallons of water per hour from ponds to portable troughs, cheaply and easily. Our cattle receive free-choice kelp combined with coarse mixing salt as their mineral supplement, year-round. Kelp combats pinkeye and other maladies. When cattle need worming, we add one tablespoon of Shaklee Basic-H soap for every 5 gallons of water in the stock tank, and only let cattle drink from that tank for one day.

Folks told my father he would never be able to run more than a cow per 3 acres when he and Mom moved here in 1961. But the doubters didn't know it was possible to tie the resources of our farm tightly together to increase its productive capacity far beyond that of conventional methods. Dad invented the portable electric fencing system and shademobile structures that we still use. V-slotted feeder gates, wood-chip composting and portable chicken pens were all his ideas. I'm carrying on, making improvements as I go.

Chickens Clean Up

Building on my father's innovation, I devised the eggmobile, a 12- by 20-foot portable henhouse large enough for 200 layers. Nest boxes accessible from outside make egg-gathering easy.

Rather than dragging pastures after cattle leave a paddock, we roll in the eggmobile and put our layers to work. While the hens free-range around the eggmobile, they break up cow patties; eat fly larvae, grasshoppers and other pests; and generally sanitize the area before the next grazing. Heel fly warbles have virtually disappeared, thanks to our hens.

Using the eggmobile, we produce eggs for 25 cents per dozen. We supplement the foraged foods with whole corn, whole small grain, meat- and bonemeal, and oyster shells, all fed cafeteria-style inside the eggmobile.

Layers range out in ever-widening circles from the mobile structure. By the fourth day, their grain consumption rises and egg production drops. They have "creamed" the area within their effective foraging distance about 200 yards. Even though they have virtually unlimited access to pasture, they quit expanding the range and it's time to move them. Pasture always becomes stale to the animal before people can see it.

Timing is important when we use the hens to debug our garden, too. We let them in for two days, because if left longer, they start eating vegetables. The principle of high-density, short-duration grazing spans every type of animal and natural system from buffalo on the Plains to broilers in our pastures.

Yes, broilers. We raise them in 2-foot-tall, 10- by 12-foot floorless cages that hold up to 100 birds. (See "Profitable Poultry On Pasture," The New Farm, May/June '90.) We move the pens daily in a staggered V-formation (like migrating geese) across the pasture. Using a small dolly as a portable axle, one person can move a pen in less than 30 seconds. The chickens simply walk along inside to new ground.

We graze cattle ahead of the chickens if the grass is more than 6 inches tall. Tall grass mats down, making it difficult for the birds to scratch their droppings into the soil. Long blades are also harder for the birds to eat.

Forage grows back with renewed vigor following the broilers. A typical paddock rotation would have broilers in April, cattle in May, hay in June and cattle in July and again in fall. Broiler areas rest a year before the pens return. This controls pathogens and parasites and eliminates overloading the soil with nitrates.

It takes about 6.5 person minutes to produce each broiler and 5.5 minutes for processing. Our total expenses other than labor are a little under $2 per bird, and we sell them for $1.25 per pound. At eight weeks, the carcasses average at least 4 pounds, so our income is $5 per bird and our profit $3. Producing 6,000 birds in a summer nets us $18,000, or about $15 per hour for our time.

These birds receive our custom-blended ration of grains, animal proteins, kelp, brewers yeast and probiotics, but no hormones, synthetic vitamins, appetite stimulants or medications. They are neither vaccinated nor debeaked.

We do not purchase organic grains for our poultry because the cost is prohibitive, and it would put us in the grain-storage and feed business. That investment and the inevitable price increases would put our eggs out of reach of most consumers and reduce our market.

Stress is far more basic to health than is diet. Production models like ours that reduce stress accomplish more faster and cheaper than changing to organic grain. We also believe that it's morally and ethically inconsistent to say folks should eat clean food and then price it out of reach of the average consumer. High prices don't merit pride.

Point Of Sale

We go against conventional marketing wisdom, because alternative food should be marketed alternatively. Small operations like ours can't compete with Madison Avenue. We must make an end run around the system by finding its weak point and making that our strong point. Corporate giants do some things extremely well, like mass marketing transportation, packaging. assembly-line processing and advertising. So we don't do any of these things.

Instead, our customers come to us. We direct-market everything right from the farm. We don't bag, ship or deliver. All we do is mail a newsletter and an order form to our customers each spring. This allows us to focus our energy on producing and processing the highest-quality food in the world. The plum to our customers is that we keep prices more in line with supermarket prices than with inflated specialty-food prices. For example, health food stores in Virginia sell chicken for $2.89 a pound more than double our price.

But customers have to meet us half-way, or they don't get our food. Virtually all of them have been to our farm, petted the cows, held the chickens or had picnics here. We enjoy the personal relationships, and we feel such close ties foster loyalty and trust almost unheard of in other businesses.

Customers order beef by the quarter, half or whole. They pick it up cut, wrapped and frozen at the local slaughterhouse on a cash-and-carry basis. That way, we always get paid on time. Purchase is by hanging weight, which is the same hot or cold. We've never lost an ounce, because this is real meat, not meat with lots of fat and water.

We make sure our customers legally own broilers before processing starts. Our on-farm processing is a gift that allows buyers to have the freshest possible meat processed under customer inspection a standard far more stringent than the USDA's. On chicken days, we dress broilers in the morning and customers pick them up by appointment before 5 p.m.

Because our customers pre-order, we know exactly how many broilers we will sell on what dates. This lets us plan production and coordinate sales of our son Daniel's rabbits, and of turkey and lamb from our neighbor, Jon Moreshead. We also sell vegetables grown in raised beds permanently mulched with waste hay.

A+ Food

People want pure food. But hardly anyone will drive to the farm to buy something that doesn't taste good. We make sure all our products are premium quality. Comparing our firm, orange-yolked eggs with the standard runny ones, our customers know they're not just getting another version of supermarket fare. Ours are totally different.

We're not interested in becoming certified-organic by passing some minimum standards, even though we follow organic principles. Seeking certification would be like an " A " student settling for a Pass/Fail grade. Our customers know firsthand how we operate and they trust us. Certification also undermines regional food production. It's ludicrous that many Virginians buy certified-organic chickens air-freighted from California. Aren't there untapped local markets in California ?

We have a wonderful life, full of discoveries, tragedies and joys. The annual farm cycles give us balance in our family life, our income, our soils and our work. Seeing how each enterprise fits with the others gives us a gratifying model of synergism. We are merely conductors, orchestrating an amazing system where the whole is really greater than the sum of the parts.
_________

Editor's Note: Joel and Teresa Salatin have two children. Daniel, 10, and Rachel, 4. Joel's mother, Lucille, also lives and works on the farm. Joel is a contributor to The Stockman Grass Farmer, and recently wrote and published the 48-page "Pastured Poultry Manual." To order, send $14 payable to: Polyface Inc., R.R. 1, Box 281, Swoope, Va. 24479. If you'd like to visit the Salatins' farm, they will host a field day July 11, 1992.

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. The New Farm, Sept/Oct. 1991 p. 8-12.