Eat Our Beef for MORE Birds!

The beaming sun warmed my face as we set out for the pasture in single file...

One of our employees, Silas, is an avid bird watcher and photographer. He was leading us on a birdwatching trip through our pastures. Close behind him were my brothers Micah and Philip, while I took up the rear. As we began wading through the knee-deep grass, Silas began pointing out birds. 

"Hear that over there? That is a Dickcissel. Oh, and that is the song of a Savannah Sparrow." 

"In this pasture over here there are a couple pairs of Eastern Meadowlarks that nest every year. They are not nearly as common as they used to be here in the Midwest since they need several acres of grassland to nest, and around here, most of the original grasslands have been almost completely turned into corn or soybean fields!"

"In addition to that, most of the pastures that are here are "set stock grazed", where the cattle are left in one pasture for up to months at a time. This, along with mowing the pastures basically eliminates any chance for the Meadowlarks to successfully raise their young in those pastures."

I recently learned about how the Eastern Meadowlark is a indicator species for the health of grassland ecosystems, where their absence is a signal that something is "off" with the ecosystem. Research has shown that regeneratively managed pastures invite the meadowlark back and allow them to flourish since the system works with nature instead of against it!

Here are a few of the benefits that come with a healthy ecosystem:

• A working water cycle where the water soaks in rapidly and is stored well = Less flooding and more resilience in droughts

• Sequesters large amounts of carbon and stores them in the soil which has tremendous benefits for the soil - and is good for the environment!

• Produces MORE food WITHOUT destructive fertilizers and chemicals! 

• Focused on promoting LIFE vs dominating and killing.

• For a deeper dive, check out my two-part blog post on "The Striking Contrast of Two Systems" 

 
An easy way to see if all this is happening? LOOK FOR MEADOWLARKS!

Eastern Meadowlark populations have gone down by around 70% since the 1970's and they continue their steep decline!

The documentary "Roots So Deep" shows the fascinating research that a team of scientists have been doing on the incredible impacts that regenerative grazing has on the environment. 

They found that farms that employing regenerative grazing principles had over 30% more birds than neighboring conventionally grazed farms! 

Silas says that our pastures help sew together a patchwork of different habitat types, creating a unique ecosystem in which he has seen over 170 different species of birds! 

I'm glad I took the time to walk through our pastures with Silas and see the beautiful impact that our regenerative grazing is having!

It's exciting to me that by eating our beef, you can be part of creating a healthy ecosystem that results in MORE birds and a healthier environment for everyone!

Your Farmer,
Corbin
Prairie Creek Pastures