As first-generation ranchers, we don’t have generations of knowledge to fall to, but even if we did, we would still look to our community for inspiration and innovation. There are so many incredible farmers and ranchers implementing ancestral, experimental, and groundbreaking techniques in our nation, and around the globe.
We reflect on Thanksgiving with hearts full of gratitude for family and a beautiful feast as we begin strategizing and preparing for spring turkey poults and our first fall harvest.
Diestel Family Ranch knows that the importance of regenerative ranching is “not rocket science.” Regenerative practices are not just about protecting the earth, but restoring it. Going beyond sustainability, a focus on regeneration is all about bringing back soil health and restoring biodiversity through the undoing of decades of erosion from chemical fertilizers and pesticides and tillage.
Neil and I left the city behind to start Mother Luck Ranch after learning that even organic fruits and vegetables offer a fraction of the nutritional value our grandparents received. It seemed that the only way we could ensure a nourishing upbringing for our girls was to set out to produce our own food supply. Now we spend our time reading the stories of other families doing just the same.
The Diestel Family has been working their land since 1949. In a recent interview with Civil Eats, Heidi Diestel shares that are “trying to find the most authentic way to bring it [turkeys] to market. We’re not crop farmers, we’re not testing our soil, and we’re not raising cattle on thousands of acres. The full-circle process and the contribution that our organic material makes when we make it into a high-quality humus compost . . . that in itself is a regenerative process.”
Unlike herbivorous ruminants that can live solely on plants and other forage growing in the pasture, poultry, particularly turkeys, require additional high-protein supplementation. The Diestel Family, like many others incorporating regenerative practices, is providing their flock with additional supplementation. As more ranchers shift their focus to regenerative practices, and our soils become restored, we are hopeful that new techniques and methods will emerge for nourishing poultry flocks solely from the local land. In the meantime, the Diestel Family is focusing on how they can harvest the compost created by their flocks to support their local farming community is restoring organic matter and nutrients to the soils.
Over the coming months at Mother Luck Ranch, we will be exploring natural and nutrient rich feed options for our 2021 flock, including introducing new flora to the pastures, and planning pasture rotation with a small Dexter cattle herd.
Photo Credit: Diestel Family
