Eco-Friendly Polyface Farm Goes to Washington

The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) is hosting the Renewable Energy in America National Policy Forum in Washington D.C. this week. After 25 years of federally funded research studies, the goal of their second phase is to help develop federal energy policies that will benefit our nation.

Since 2005 They have been discussing ways to put these technologies to work. One such way involves a small family farm that started nearly fifteen years before ACORE initially organized in 1975. The Salatin family bought a very worn out and abused farm near Staunton, Virginia in 1961. Over the years they researched and studied ecosystems and farming. What emerged from their efforts is Polyface, an eco-friendly sustainable farm that contributes to the local economy in Virginia.

Now their success is getting national exposure by ACORE, an organization that focuses on all kinds of eco-friendly energy sources and forms: solar, wind, hydropower, thermal, biomass, geothermal, and waste to energy. They promote bottom up development and ownership by farmers, ranchers, foresters who work the land rather than corporate and government systems and hand-outs.

This year the forum’s keynote speakers are Chet Culver, governor of Iowa and Thomas L. Friedman, Columnist of the New York Times. Many other speakers and special interest groups are slated as well. Polyface is only one very small but integral part of this forum.

Polyface believes farms should be “environmentally enhancing agricultural enterprises” and they work to facilitate the duplication of their model throughout the world by offering tours of their farm and by doing professional speaking engagements. All their animals are pastured and are kept in portable pens. The secret to Polyface Farm’s success is in their ability to use the natural tendencies of their livestock to feed and nourish their lands without the use of harmful pesticides or the need for artificial feeding pellets.

Polyface says, “Herbivores in nature exhibit three characteristics:  mobbing for predator protection, movement daily onto fresh forage and away from yesterday’s droppings, and a diet consisting of forage only – no dead animals, no chicken manure, no grain, and no fermented forage.  Our goal is to approximate this template as closely as possible.  Our cows eat forage only, a new pasture paddock roughly every day, and stay herded tightly with portable electric fencing.  This natural model heals the land, thickens the forage, reduces weeds, stimulates earthworms, reduces pathogens, and increases nutritional qualities in the meat.”

I think Polyface is worthy of checking out, and if you belong to a Green organization you might consider joining ACORE. If not, you may just want to subscribe to their RSS feed to get up to date information on national eco-friendly energy issues. If national energy policies include incentives for widespread eco-friendly “Polyface” farming practices I would be a very pleased consumer.