Do I Have What it Takes to Raise Animals?

I wanted to share some thoughts I’ve had about our Animal Husbandry program at Hidden Villa recently. Maybe some of you have seen our eggs and meat at the Los Altos Farmer’s Market. Or you’ve visited Hidden Villa and stopped at Scarlet in her pigpen or watched Cleo the dairy cow graze in the pastures. The animals, overseen by the Animal Husbandry Department, are seemingly separate from our produce farming. However, it’s becoming clearer to me that animals are critical to an organic farming operation. For instance, we make our own compost and worm castings from the manure of our cows and pigs. These are the inputs that make our soil black gold, teeming with life from microorganisms in the dirt to the nutrients our crops absorb to grow. We are essentially creating a closed cycle in which the byproduct of animal production results in robust organic agriculture production; the compost and worm castings we make on site are better than anything we could buy (and they’re free). And though we do buy feed for our animals, their diets are supplemented with grazing in our pastures and the byproducts of our agriculture production. They happily eat our vegetable scraps, such as the sweet corn stalks that were left after you received corn in your CSA basket. Creating a closed cycle is a boon to the farming production- a win-win that is cost effective and minimizes waste.

As I consider the important role of animals on a farm, I wonder what it takes to raise animals. The Animal Husbandry department at Hidden Villa raises a variety of animals for meat, eggs, and dairy. In addition to daily chores of milking, feeding, and egg collecting, I’m learning that an inherent part of their job is managing the cycle of life of these domesticated animals. When do they breed and give birth, and if and when do they go to slaughter?

But do I have what it takes to raise animals? Yesterday I participated in my first slaughter of an animal, overseen by the Animal Husbandry Manager as education for the interns. The interns that participated felt a wide range of emotions, but I think all of us were very grounded by the experience. We had very thought provoking discussions afterwards. One idea particularly rang true for me, which was that knowing where our meat, or produce for that matter, comes from is a very powerful thing. It builds gratitude and connectedness to our food, something we find ourselves detached from in our modern food system.

When I’m farming, I’m aware of the cycle of the seasons and the ecological system of which I’m a part. Gaining insight into the management of the animals and knowing that it is tied to our farming practice even deepens that awareness. I’d like to share a quote with you that the Animal Husbandry Manager likes to read when an animal on the farm will  be eaten, which I feel honors the place we all have in the cycle of life and the interconnected role we play. “I am of this world, carbon and breath like my parents, my siblings, the creatures great and small, single celled or green, that create the miracle the rest of us consume. They gave me this body and the air it needs, the food it eats. All they ask is that I take my place, a predator, dependent and beholden, until I am prey.”

- Suz