ON-FARM THOUGHTS: Zack Koscielny, MFGA Board Member
MFGA Board member Zack Koscielny owns and operates Green Beach Farm & Food with his parents Jason and Karen Koscielny and his fiancé Kennedy Moffat near Strathclair, MB. As the Province of Manitoba continues to develop the strategic plan around plant and animal protein, farms such as the Koscielny’s Green Beach Farm & Food that blend grain production with raising livestock will be key components of both sides of the Province’s protein strategy. We asked Zack to share his thoughts on regenerative agriculture and pastured proteins in the blog below.
A Third Alternative: Pastured Proteins
As a regenerative livestock farmer, I suppose it was only a matter of time before I waded into the ‘protein debate’ we seem to hear much about. A key focus of our farm is pastured proteins. Regenerative-managed, pasture-raised beef, pork, chicken and eggs offer a unique win-win-win situation in terms of farmer profitability, animal health and welfare as well as human and environmental health.
There has been a lot of discussion about whether we need to reduce our meat consumption due to the ‘significant environmental footprint’ of animal proteins. I put that in quotes because the environmental footprint of the beef, or any other meat for that matter, on your plate is entirely dependent on how that animal is raised – it’s not the cow, it’s the how.
I feel strongly that animals should be out on the land and functioning as an active part of the agro-ecosystem. Although not all of our animals are suited for a typical Manitoba winter, we strive to keep all of our livestock on the land for as long as possible. As we have continued with our journey into regenerative agriculture, it has become increasingly apparent to us that producing protein on pasture has a number of benefits
Although we have rotated cattle on pasture for 35 plus years at our farm, about seven years ago we started refining our pasturing system with the cattle to shorter graze periods and longer rest periods. This led to a longer grazing season with our ultimate goal of developing very efficient grass cattle. With that working at Green Beach, we then also started moving the pigs and chickens on to green grass near our farm homestead every five to seven days. This is slightly more challenging than with cattle, but has been successful nonetheless. Once our farm system was established, we found that animals on pasture will translate into more money in a farmer’s pocket from a couple of different avenues. First, access to fresh pasture every one to three days will reduce or eliminate the need for supplemental feed depending on time of year and species of animal. For a large part of the year, our cattle eat only what is in their paddocks with no extra feed supplied. Our pastured hens, broiler chickens and pigs still require feed supplementation on pasture due to the type of digestive system they have. However, they have a reduced feed intake as they are able to scratch or root around in their environment for other foodstuffs.
Regardless of animal, in our system, we have found we spend less money on animal feed at Green Beach Farm & Food. To offset the cost of supplementation for the pigs and chickens, our animals act as living, mobile fertilizer carts as we move them across the pasture. This is also somewhat true of the cattle, although their ‘fertilizer effect’ comes from nutrient upcycling (rather than addition of nutrients) and biological stimulation. As you have probably gathered, another benefit of pasturing livestock for as long as possible is that the cost associated with needing to dispose of manure is greatly reduced or eliminated. Instead, manure is distributed evenly and safely straight from the animal to the land where it will fertilize plants and stimulate soil biology.
Closely observing our livestock gives us the chance to monitor health, feed intake, feed preferences and many other things to optimize our farm management. One thing we have definitely observed with animals on pasture is they are happier and healthier. Lots of people, particularly in the farming community, balk at claims of ‘antibiotic free’ in livestock production, claiming it just isn’t possible or is ‘inhumane’. From our experience in the last 15 plus years, we very rarely have health issues with any of our pastured livestock. Justifiably, we feel ‘antibiotic free’ or ‘raised without antibiotics’ is a very realistic possibility.
Further to that line of thinking, there is a growing body of research suggesting that meat produced on pasture has validated human health benefits. Dr. Stephen Van Vliet of Duke University, for example, believes that pastured protein sources reared on a diverse polyculture of plants produce meat with elevated phytochemical levels. A significant finding in Dr. Van Vliet’s work is that the cattle that produced the grass-finished beef were bio-concentrating, or magnifying, the phytochemicals in their tissues, offering a bigger punch of phytochemicals with each bite.
With animal, farmer and consumer benefits in place, that brings us to the benefit that I enjoy talking about the most: benefits of pastured proteins on ecosystem health. Every ecosystem on this planet evolved with animals playing key roles in the ecosystem function. Here on the prairies, wildlife such as bison, elk, and deer grazed; the predators that chased them roamed freely and abundant grassland bird species nested in native prairie habitats. The Prairies needed these animals as much as these animals needed the prairies.
On our farm, we have cattle, pigs, chickens and wildlife moving across our lands. Our animals are stimulating soil life and plant growth by chewing, stomping, rooting, scratching and depositing manure. These animals are performing similarly to the wildlife that roamed the Prairies centuries ago. As farm managers, we are careful to leave good ground cover after grazing and allow for adequate rest periods for the forage to recover. We act as the predators would have on the Prairie pre-farming – we keep the animals moving. We have observed increasing plant diversity and biomass production over the last five years as we improve our land management. From a nutrient management perspective, our animals are rotated across the landscape, spreading manure evenly, and minimizing risk of of ground or surface water pollution.
At the end of the day, our regenerative-raised, grass finished beef, pork, chicken and eggs have a POSITIVE environmental impact by mimicking nature. And it appears they may be healthier sources of protein to boot. It takes all kinds of farms and food producers to keep this world running, but if you ask me, protein produced on pasture is a unique product that stands to benefit farmers, consumers and the environment. Feel free to check out some of the links below if this blog has piqued your interest!
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