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Animals integration is essential for a great farm

There are no healthy ecosystems without animals in them.  They are an essential part of the balance that keeps a system functioning.

At Summer Roads animals are essential to make our farm great.​

  1. A diversity of animals help return nutrients to the soil to keep nutrients cycling

  2. They also improve microbe populations when their gut health and thus manure is healthy and returned to the land to decompose

  3. Animals such as chickens can help reduce pest and parasite loads as they are omnivores that will eat insects and bugs

  4. Ruminants are herbivores that can efficiently convert indigestible plant matter into a high protein source while keeping grassland ecosystems functioning and stable when managed well.

  5. Because of these factors, animals when managed well can increase the productivity of a system, not decrease it.

  6. If animals are not managed well they will destroy a landscape, select for weeds, cause soil erosion, perpetuate parasite problems, and destroy grasslands.

When looking for great farms, look for farms with a variety of  healthy animals that are integrated into the landscape and are predominantly fed from that landscape.

For full details about how we manage animals on our farm please sign up for our video series on our farms fundamentals.

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