FARM PRACTICES

Rotational Grazing: We rotate livestock regularly to fresh pasture (once or sometimes twice a day). Resting grazed areas for a period of time allows root systems to grow deeper, increasing plant nutrients and reducing soil erosion. In turn drought resilience, soil health, and carbon sequestration all improve along with herd health.

Silvopasture: Silvopasture is the practice of introducing pasture to managed timber stands or vice versa. Animals then rotate through the pasture. Benefits of silvopasture include: improved soil health, reduced heat pressure on animals, carbon sequestration, livestock fodder and wildlife habitat. 

No till: Birdsfoot is managing our pastures and growing crops without disturbing the soil through tillage. The benefits of no till include: better water holding capacity of the soil, decreased sediment runoff, decreased soil erosion, improved soil health, and less CO2 released from the soil.

Cover cropping: Cover cropping achieves many things at once. Keeping soils covered when not in production prevents the loss of topsoil and nutrients by minimizing soil erosion. Nitrogen fixing crops such as clover, vetch, birdsfoot trefoil, and peas improve overall soil health. Birdsfoot is incorporating cover crops as green manure and weed control.

Composting: Three types of compost are produced with the aim of keeping and building the nutrition in the farm’s soils. Food scraps, crop residue, deciduous leaves and wood chips are composted either thermophilicaly or mesophilicly. A portion of these composts is further digested in our vermiculture system. The worm castings we harvest from this system is bio complete and produces the perfect extracts to apply to our soil. 

PROJECTS

Chestnut Grove:  On April 29th, 2024 Birdsfoot began our involvement in the restoration project of the American Chestnut. The search for a blight tolerant cultivar has been in the works ever since the collapse of this keystone species in the early 20th century. Working with the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry we welcomed 60 American Chestnut seedlings onto the farm. These trees were planted in a half-acre clearing that was once overtaken with invasive species. Our focus is to create a specific soil biome that will support optimal tree health and increase blight tolerance.  In the near future we plan to expand this test plot with American Chestnuts that are transgenic, or gene edited.

Cider Orchard:  Historic records show orchards along the Shep Jones Lane property edge.  In spring of 2025 we established a new orchard along this edge. Choosing to focus on cider varieties that can be fermented into hard cider and eventually included in our CSA offerings,  we planted 2-3 year old young trees, called “whips”, which can bear fruit in about 5 years. Cider apples fall into several different taste profiles (sweet, bittersweet, bittersharp, and sharp); blending these profiles together creates a unique flavor experience. 

Bees: OHoneyBeeFarm has managed hives on our land since before 2018. The honey is primarily from nectar of local locust trees here at Birdsfoot Farm and is available exclusively at our farmstand.

The bees also pollinate our fruits, vegetables, and flowers, supporting our harvest and seed-saving efforts. OHoneyBeeFarm raises their own queens from locally adapted stock, promoting healthy, gentle, and high-producing bees that are also shared with other local beekeepers.

Pollinator Habitat:  Generally when we think of pollination we think of bees but birds, bats, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, and small mammals all play a role.  At birdsfoot we are integrating as much pollinator habitat as possible as we build out our growing areas.  This includes pollinator strips in our production garden, coppicing and pollarding locust trees, healthy hedgerows and forests and creating pollinator hotels (maybe a better word).

Forest Edges and Hedgerows:  Birdsfoot is working to restore our forest edges and hedgerows back to a healthy state.  Our herd of Spanish goats rotates through areas dense with invasive species and completes the first pass of clearing.  We then mechanically remove any large debris and unwanted woody plants.  Restoring these areas with species such as oak, white pine, juniper, mulberry, persimmon, pawpaw, dogwood and elderberry creates diverse wildlife habitat as well as shade and fodder for our livestock.

Wool Production:  Our flock of 10 Southdown Babydoll sheep not only help us by maintaining our pastures and improving soil health, each spring they are shorn and their fleece is sent to be processed into roving and yarn.