We are part of nature and we are not at war with it.

Feb 21, 2022

My neighbor who's gotta be pushing 90 often stops by the fence to tell me how I'm doing things wrong. He's been around a while and has learned a certain way of doing things.

Today he told me:

My hay was bad.
That the broomsedge was going to take over my whole field
That I needed to paint the schoolhouse
To make our pasture healthy I needed to mow it and seed it every year.

I tell you this to tell you two things.

Be a good neighbor. Encourage your neighbors. Help them be better people. Point out what they are doing right! We all have different practices and different ways of doing things. Just because you think your way is right doesn't mean it's the only way.
There are a lot of people that think we are at war with nature. As farmers we hear a lot of war words. "at war with the weeds, fight it back, kill it, don't let it take over...etc"

Soil science tells us that broomsedge is just doing a job, that if we feed hay on top and increase fertility it will go away.

We don't need the best hay there is we need animals and genetics that can live of "good" instead of "the best" select your genes for that and you will resilient animals on an amazing property.

Oldtimer farmers might seem like they know a lot and like my neighbor, they don't hold back. I enjoy hearing about the olden ways. BUT hold strong to new ways that work with nature in a way that supports nature and livestock.

We are part of nature and we are not at war with it.

My challenge is to think about not using those kinds of words. Catch yourself when you use a war word and instead use a community word.

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