Showing posts with label Joel Salatin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joel Salatin. Show all posts

Monday, December 3, 2012

Book Review: Pastured Poultry Profits by Joel Salatin

 

From the Publisher:
A couple working six months per year for 50 hours per week on 20 acres can net $25,000-$30,000 per year with an investment equivalent to the price of one new medium-sized tractor. Seldom has agriculture held out such a plum. In a day when main-line farm experts predict the continued demise of the family farm, the pastured poultry opportunity shines like a beacon in the night, guiding the way to a brighter future.

I have yet to read anything from Joel Salatin that I cannot recommend. This book is no different. The general premise of this book is one of farming, that is, raising food with the intention of selling it. While I may get to that stage at some point in the future, I would suggest that this book is for anyone with some land a bit larger than a small suburban lot and a desire to produce their own healthy food in a sustainable manner. Most of us do not have 20 acres. The beauty of the methods outlined in this book it that they can be scaled down. We could produce some really good chickens in a large backyard. This book will show you how.

Now, if you do happen to have a farm and are looking for a viable revenue stream, I would strongly consider raising chickens by this program. Joel Salatin has spent 20 years perfecting this model. He explains the variations and shortcuts and experiments he has attempted, gives the pros and cons, and deftly outlines his methods.

Maybe it is just me, but I cannot read a book by Joel Salatin without a deep longing to start farming.


Friday, August 24, 2012

Joel Salatin's Animals: Chickens, Turkeys, Cattle, Pigs, Water, and Manure


Here are some more great videos (four more!) of Joel Salatin. This time he is walking around his farm showing his animals. It is wonderful to hear how and why he raises the animals the way he does. Happy animals raised in a way that is healthy for them, for us, and for the land. Good stuff!

Joel Salatin's Chickens


Joel Salatin's Turkeys and Beef Cattle
 
 
Joel Salatin's Pigs
 
 
Water and Manure Management on Joel Salatin's Farm
 

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Joel Salatin on Local Food


Joel Salatin, pioneering farmer of sustainable agriculture and icon of the local food movement in the United States, is one of my most inspirational mentors... who I've never met. Here he is in another interview discussing sustainable agriculture and local food. Brilliant, as always.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Joel Salatin on The Survival Podcast!

Joel Salatin... the man who introduced me to alternative agriculture

Joel Salatin, one of my favorite agricultural authors of all time (you can read one of my previous posts about Joel Salatin here), was recently interviewed by Jack Spirko on The Survival Podcast (Jack is probably my favorite podcaster).

Here is the link to the interview:  Joel Salatin on The Survival Podcast

The interview even discusses the Judge I posted about previously (in this post here: Judge Rules: "No Fundamental Right to Produce and Consume Food") and how he is now working for a legal firm that works for the large agribusiness mega-corporation, Monsanto.

They discuss gardening, livestock, alternative energy, food quality, and many things that fall right in line with permaculture!

Two people who have influenced me greatly in one podcast together... fantastic!


Thursday, June 16, 2011

Beyond Organic with Joel Salatin

Joel Salatin

If I had to point a finger at one person who started me down this road to Permaculture and seeking to eat and grow healthy, sustainable food, that one person would be Joel Salatin.  (I wrote about this in more detail in this post.)

Joel Salatin is a farmer.  He is rather non-conventional.  He is outspoken.  He is brilliant.  There has not been a book, article, or interview by or about him that I have not thoroughly enjoyed.  You may have seen him profiled/interviewed in the movie Food, Inc. which I highly recommend.

Joel showing off his grass-fed and finished cattle.

His mission at Polyface Farms in Virginia is to produce the highest quality food while improving the land and working sustainably while making a good living!  


Because he doesn't agree, for a lot of reasons, with the government's control of the term "Organic", which requires a lot of money, paperwork, inspections, and time, and isn't always sustainable or improves the land, he labels his product "Beyond Organic".

Joel sitting with his "forest finished" pigs.
How many modern pig farmers would sit with their pigs over the slurry pit?!

As is with many alternative food producers who wouldn't call what they are doing Permaculture, Joel is all about creating systems that model nature... Permaculture! 

Here is the book that caused a major turning point in my life:

I have a lot of videos below, but they all contain really good information.  I think Joel does a fantastic job of motivating people to bring back, what he calls, the Jeffersonian intellectual agrarian.  Enjoy!

Here is a quick video (under 2 minutes) which is part of a trailer for a new film, Fresh, the movie.

Here is a video (10 minutes) where Joel explains raising grass-fed cattle:

This is another interview where Joel talks about why some "modern" farmers can't buy in to "alternative" farming.  In short, he thinks its because it makes them feel like sissys.  I love it!

If this interests you, you can watch a 90 minute interview and tour of his farm in 30 minutes segments.  This is a very well done production:
Part I

Part II

Part III