{"id":33455,"date":"2019-10-24T04:00:48","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T09:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/civileats.com\/?p=33455"},"modified":"2020-03-31T10:20:25","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T15:20:25","slug":"biodiversity-and-animal-welfare-are-paramount-for-second-generation-north-carolina-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/civileats.com\/2019\/10\/24\/biodiversity-and-animal-welfare-are-paramount-for-second-generation-north-carolina-farmers\/","title":{"rendered":"Biodiversity and Animal Welfare are Paramount for These Second-Generation North Carolina Farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHey pigs, we brought you some cucumbers!\u201d yells Hillary Kimmel from the driver\u2019s seat of an off-roading golf cart. The 21 young hogs who had been lazily rooting around the hardwood forest floor flee as the vehicle approaches, rustling leaves and branches as they scoot further into the trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll be back\u2014it\u2019s their routine to run away and slowly return,\u201d says her husband Worth Kimmel. \u201cThey\u2019re both skittish and curious,\u201d adds Hillary.<\/p>\n

Since 2014, Worth and Hillary have run Pine Trough Branch Farm<\/a> (PTB) in rural Rockingham County, North Carolina on 118 acres of pasture and forest land that Worth\u2019s family has owned since the 1950s. The farm draws its name from Pine Trough Branch Creek, which runs along the property and flows into the headwaters of the nearby Haw River. In addition to hogs<\/a>, they raise sheep<\/a> and cows<\/a>, as well as vegetables<\/a>, shiitake mushrooms, and a variety of flowers<\/a>\u2014with a focus on building healthy soil and raising animals by the highest standards of animal welfare.<\/p>\n

\"Harvested

\u201cDiversity is important on our farm,\u201d says Hillary, wearing a denim button-up shirt and her hair in two long braids. In addition to enabling them to offer customers a variety of plant and animal products, she says, \u201cwe want to mimic the natural systems, and in natural systems, there\u2019s biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

While they’re not certified organic, the Kimmels describe their approach as \u201cbeyond organic.\u201d They use ecologically centered practices\u2014including composting, cover cropping, and natural mulching\u2014which require minimal external inputs, including no synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides<\/span>, even those permissible in certified organic production. \u201cWe\u2019re all about working with the resources we have here on the farm,\u201d says Worth, his voice quiet and steady. \u201cWe have grass and shade and water\u2014and all the things our animals need. We\u2019re just trying to manage those things in a sensible and productive way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hillary

The hogs and sheep at PTB Farm are Certified Animal Welfare Approved<\/a> by the nonprofit A Greener World<\/a> (AGW), and audited annually. (Their production system for cattle would also meet the criteria, Worth says, but because they purchase weaned calves from a nearby farmer who is not AWA certified, the cows do not hold certification.)<\/p>\n

Emily Moose, director of communications and outreach for AGW, has been following PTB for years and admires the farm\u2019s approach. \u201cAs second-generation farmers, [the Kimmels] have a very holistic perspective of how farming impacts communities and is impacted by communities,\u201d Moose says.<\/p>\n

As someone who happens to live downstream from them in a town that draws its water from the Haw River, Moose appreciates their stewardship on a personal level, too. \u201cThey\u2019re farming in ways that consider the water, land, people, animals, and overall environment for future generations,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Two Paths Converge<\/h4>\n

Both Hillary and Worth, who are now 35 and 32, respectively, were raised on working farms and felt drawn back to the land after they graduated from college.<\/p>\n

Worth\u2019s grandfather, Owen Lindley, purchased the PTB property in the early 1950s, and Worth and his two sisters grew up on the land after their mother took over the operation in the 1970s. For three decades, they leased some of the land to a neighboring farmer who grew hay.<\/p>\n

\"Worth

\u201cMy dad grew most of our vegetables, and my mom canned tomatoes,\u201d Worth says. Between chain-sawing trees into firewood, operating the tractor, and other farm tasks, he says, \u201cI got a basic skillset from as far back as I can remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the daughter of 1970s back-to-the-landers, Hillary grew up on a farm in the North Carolina mountains, where her mother taught school and her father raised salad greens for restaurants.<\/p>\n

Both studied at Warren Wilson College<\/a>, and graduated two years apart\u2014Hillary in 2007 and Worth in 2009. By the time they met at a winter solstice bonfire party in 2011, Worth had moved back to his family\u2019s land and was raising animals and doing carpentry work on the side, and Hillary had moved back to her family\u2019s land and was growing vegetables and waiting tables on the side.<\/p>\n

The two fell in love, and three years later, they joined forces on Worth\u2019s family land, which they opted for because of its close proximity to several farmers\u2019 markets and the surrounding community supportive of local food. While both make long-term decisions on the farm today, Worth oversees the animals and mushrooms and Hillary tends the vegetables and flowers.<\/p>\n

PTB Farm sells weekly at farmers\u2019 markets in Greensboro<\/a> and Winston Salem<\/a>, to area chefs and butcher shops, and to members of its co-op<\/a>, who buy farm credit early in the year and then spend it on whatever they want from the weekly market stands.<\/p>\n

\"Freshly

Managing Animals to Benefit the Soil<\/h4>\n

As predicted, the young hogs change their minds and come rustling through the woods toward Hillary and Worth to accept the cucumbers. Their reddish coats match the clay soil, and they sniff and snort as they devour the treats.<\/p>\n

A mix of the Tamworth and Duroc breeds, with long heads and efficient snouts ideal for foraging acorns, hickory nuts, black walnuts, earthworms, grubs, and grass (supplemented by local, non-GMO grains), the pigs are integral players on the diversified farm. \u201cThe hogs’ [manure] is a real fertility input,\u201d Worth says.<\/p>\n

\"Pig

Because the farm grew tobacco and hay for much of the last century, the soil was worn out and eroded when Worth and Hillary took over. By carefully managing the pigs\u2014as well as the sheep and cows\u2014moving them between pasture and forest paddocks daily or more using portable electric fencing, the couple has slowly rebuilt the soil\u2019s health.<\/p>\n

Unlike unmanaged grazing systems, which give animals access to all the land all the time, management-intensive grazing more closely mimics natural systems in which cattle, for example, storm onto a piece of land, eat all the grass, and then move on, returning perhaps once more in the growing season, once the forage has regrown, Hillary says.<\/p>\n

\"Moving

\u201cThere are massive benefits to multispecies grazing, for animal health and land productivity,\u201d Worth says. \u201cCattle, sheep, and hogs graze different strata of the pasture,\u201d eating different levels, amounts, and types of forage, and they each offer specific benefits. \u201cA 1,200-pound cow hoof has a different impact on the pasture than a 60-pound lamb hoof,\u201d Hillary explains, and their manure isn’t the same either. \u201cIt\u2019s up to us to try to be quality managers and use their impact to a benefit,\u201d Worth says.<\/p>\n

\"Sheep

While the animals serve the land and ecosystem, they spend their time engaging in natural\u00a0behaviors<\/span>\u2014and they have favorite sleeping spots and daily routines.<\/p>\n

Five years of rotating animals over a field that at first had thin, weak soil has transformed it, they say. The soil now holds moisture, and it has “some of the best grass on the farm, for sure,\u201d says Worth.<\/p>\n

A Minimalist Ethic<\/h4>\n

In all they do, Hillary and Worth try to avoid consuming more resources than they need. Right now, they\u2019re standing in a field with the cow herd, the early evening sun casting a glow on the animals\u2019 red and black coats. \u201cOne of my guiding philosophies is working with what you have,\u201d Worth says. \u201cSometimes that\u2019s fixing something out here on the farm with a piece of twine or a stick that I pull out of the woods rather than driving back to the top of the farm to get exactly the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He and Hillary live in one of the original structures on the farm, a near-century-old log cabin built as a hunting lodge in the 1920s; all of the farm’s fenceposts come from black locusts, red cedars, and other trees that grew on the property; the pair stockpiles grass from their pastures rather than bringing in hay to supplement the cows\u2019 diets; and rather than maintaining their fence lines with Roundup or some other synthetic herbicides, they spray them with vinegar and keep them mowed.<\/p>\n

\"Inside

In the minimalist spirit, one of Worth\u2019s first tasks when he took over the farm was build a low-input water system that\u2019s both solar-powered and gravity-fed to distribute water from the well out into the fields for the animals\u2014something he was able to do with the help of an $8,500 grant from the Rural Advancement Foundation International<\/a> (RAFI).<\/p>\n

To create the system, which he designed himself, Worth elevated an empty 1,000-gallon stainless steel milk tank onto a pedestal inside the former corn crib on the highest point of the property. A solar-powered pump fills the tank from the nearby well, and from there, gravity carries it through about 4,000 feet of buried pipe to about 20 different distribution points out in the pastures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to make use of as much solar energy as possible,\u201d Worth said. \u201cThe pasture itself is solar powered; that\u2019s where all the energy for the grass production comes from. We\u2019re taking that one step further with the water system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The

AGW\u2019s Emily Moose points to the low-input water system as a sign of Worth and Hillary\u2019s innovation\u2014and forward thinking. \u201cThey\u2019re thinking about not just in how to get from this week to next, but how to make sure they\u2019re setting up systems that are going to thrive in a world in which climate change is increasingly impacting agriculture,\u201d she says. \u201cThey\u2019re creating a resilient system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunrise to Sunset<\/h4>\n

Hillary and Worth work sunrise to sunset nearly every day except, checking on all the animals at least once, moving them between paddocks, feeding them supplemental grains or grasses, managing irrigation when it hasn\u2019t rained, watering seedlings in the propagation house, harvesting vegetables from the gardens and tunnels houses and mushrooms from the logs down by the pond, and working the markets every Saturday. Aside from a part-time helper in the garden, the pair works the farm pretty much by themselves.<\/p>\n

They acknowledge they\u2019re in a privileged position in that they own the land they\u2019re farming and have close access to a supportive community. But it sometimes feels exhausting. \u201cIt takes all of our time and then some,\u201d Worth says. \u201cThere\u2019s almost always something going undone, which can be a little bit mentally taxing when you\u2019re trying to be finished a workday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, the couple live on below-poverty wages, do not have any long-term savings, and rely on the Affordable Care Act for healthcare\u2014\u201cbasic things like that that weren\u2019t as big of a deal when we were 25,\u201d Hillary says. \u201cThere\u2019s a financial sustainability element we haven\u2019t exactly worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, they plan to keep going: \u201cWe can exist on very low wages,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re only exploiting ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Worth

Another difficulty the pair faces is the processing part of raising animals. \u201cWe put so much care and effort into raising the animals really well, and the slaughterhouses do a really good job, but it\u2019s out of our control for that short amount of time,\u201d Hillary says. Occasionally, the facilities do not cut the meat exactly like she requests on behalf of certain customers, for example. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s one of the most challenging parts of the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the Conversation<\/h4>\n

Kau<\/a>, a restaurant, bar, and butcher shop stationed in a former mill in the nearby city of Greensboro, began sourcing meat from PTB after its butcher, Taylor Armstrong, met the Kimmels at the Farmers Market and later took them up on their offer of a farm tour.<\/p>\n

He appreciates the thought Hillary and Worth put into the animals\u2019 well-being. \u201cI\u2019ve been cutting meat for 16 years now, and it\u2019s the best pork I\u2019ve ever tasted,\u201d he said. \u201cHappy pigs are important to them, and it\u2019s reflected in the quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also appreciates the nature of his relationship with Hillary and Worth. \u201cI talk to them on the phone directly when I order, and Worth delivers everything himself,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s as personal as it gets.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair enjoy being a meaningful part of their customers\u2019 diets and spend a lot of time talking with customers about their practices, in addition to offering recipes. \u201cWe\u2019re increasing consumer education and being a part of a nuanced conversation about ecological, sustainable, organic farming,\u201d Hillary says.<\/p>\n

\"Pine

Like Armstrong, Greensboro resident Christi Helms first encountered the Kimmels at the weekly market and soon began volunteering out at the farm. As a co-op member, Helms buys most of her meat and veggies through PTB\u2014and gets especially excited when she sees shiitake mushrooms, padrone peppers, and their green salad mix on the table, as well as their pork sausage and ribeye steak.<\/p>\n

A big fan of Joel Salatin<\/a>, Helms says the Kimmels approach farming in a similar way, by creating a continuous cycle of reaping and restoration: \u201cThey\u2019re farming basically like he does, rotating the animals on a daily basis and making sure the impact on the land is minimal and the animals are very, very happy,\u201d she says. \u201cThey’re an excellent example of the way farming is meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the sun drops lower in the sky, a red steer tagged E1 approaches Hillary and Worth, likely hoping for a treat. \u201cThis is a beautiful bovine animal,\u201d Worth observes of the steer, who truly is quite handsome. \u201cHe\u2019s not bothered by flies or the temperature. And he\u2019s got quite a sheen to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

With their chores complete, the pair jumps in the golf cart to return to the top of the farm, leaving E1 and his companions to continue munching the grass and enriching the soil. They\u2019ll be back tomorrow, to lead them to fresh ground.<\/p>\n

Except where noted, all photos \u00a9 Christina Cooke<\/em><\/p>\n

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