July/August 2021 - 22

Sheep grazing appears
to have positive
impact on soil health
Washington sheep farmer studies effect of
grazing on rented potato farm land
By Jessica Gigot
GUEST COLUMNIST
T
he concept of regenerative
agriculture is popular these days.
The Rodale Institute states that
regenerative agriculture " prioritizes
soil health while simultaneously
encompassing high standards for animal
welfare and worker fairness. The idea
is to create farm systems that work in
harmony with nature to improve quality
of life for every creature involved. "
On the page, this sounds promising.
However, as an aspiring first-generation
farmer and former researcher, I am left
with a lot of questions about what this
type of agriculture actually looks like on
the ground.
Potato production is a dominant
sector of agriculture in northwestern
Washington.
In
Skagit
County,
potatoes are grown on 12,000 acres
and the average yield is 20-25 tons/acre
(Washington State University
Skagit
County Extension, 2019). Since potatoes
can detrimentally impact soil nutrition
22
Spudman.com
and organic matter, soil quality has
become an important priority for
potato farmers in this area.
Arable land is limited in northwestern
is
sharing
Washington and land
a
common practice in Skagit County.
However, it is often difficult for potato
farmers to find viable rotation crops
based on the extensive amount of
acreage they occupy.
My last name is French for " leg of
lamb, " so perhaps it is not surprising
that after falling in love with a few
pet sheep I dedicated our small Skagit
Valley farm, Harmony Fields, to all
aspects of sheep production - milk,
wool and meat. Fifty percent of our
land is rented from a neighboring
commercial potato farm. As our flock
has increased, we have increasingly
needed more pasture access. Our farm
became Animal Welfare Approved by
A Greener World in 2020, and pasture
is critical to representing our values as
well as maintaining certification.
Livestock rotations in crop production
systems is considered to be a regenerative
practice and can have positive effects
on soil health, which is defined as " the
continued capacity of the soil to function
as a vital living ecosystem that sustains
plants, animals and humans " (NRCS,
2012). There is limited information
about how this actually works, however.
Several years ago, I came across an
article from The Herald written by
the late Rog Wood, a Scottish farm
reporter, where he mentioned that
" sheep were regarded as 'the golden
hoof' that improved the fertility of the
land. Their diet was not supplemented
with valuable cereals or scarce fodder
during the winter months, and they
were left to scavenge over common
grazing and fallow fields to spread their
muck. " As a farm bordered on three
sides by commercial potato fields and
in need of more pasture, I wanted to
explore whether our sheep's grazing on
rented fields was perhaps improving
overall soil health. Instead of being the
needy small, startup farm neighbor,
could we have something valuable to
offer in exchange?
Harmony Farms, a small
sheep operation in the
Skagit Valley, is studying
the effects of grazing on soil
health on land rented from
neighboring a potato farm.
Photo: Jessica Gigot
http://www.Spudman.com
July/August 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July/August 2021
