What the future holds...

Chickens are considered the “gateway farming enterprise.” ‘Enterprise” just means animal or product. Now that we have opened the gate, I wanted to share my vision of what comes next.

Carver Family Farms, LLC is a Regenerative Farm. Regenerative Farming should improve soil and enterprises should compliment each other to accomplish this goal. Every enterprise should be advantageous to the whole.

1. Chickens fertilize and improve soil which will allow more grass/forage growth. We will move continue covering new land with our chickens to improve as much soil as possible. Our next batch of Cornish Cross Broilers will arrive in Spring 2021.
2. Herbivores(cattle and/or sheep) will be added to graze the improved forage growth. These grazers will be moved daily so that they benefit from the best forage while also allowing the land to rest after their disturbance. This will improve the soil and grasses even further and allow the chickens to come back on the land sooner. Our herbivores will thrive on this high quality grazing and will not be fed corn/soy or other grains.
3. Pigs can be added because they are omnivores that can thrive on forested land and be used to turn overgrown forest into silvopasture. Pigs can transform land if managed properly and we look forward to this challenge.
4. Turkeys graze more than chickens and will benefit from improved forage. They will also allow us to cover more land than the chickens alone. We also want to provide Turkeys for our customers to have a showpiece for what is arguably the most important meal of the year, Thanksgiving.
5. Laying Hens. Egg production is good for our customers but we will also add it so that we can lessen the ticks and flies in our pastures while also fertilizing. Laying hens can follow behind any of the larger animals which will help speed the process of manure breaking down and pastures improving. This mimics nature. In nature you always see birds closely following herds of large herbivores.
6. Other enterprises: goats, rabbits, ducks, geese, honey bees, etc. Every animal has a role to play and will benefit the whole by improving biodiversity.

We hope to add at least one enterprise per year. We hope to see land improve and add more acreage to our land base regularly. The more land we can manage properly the more happy/healthy animals we can raise, the more healthy protein we can produce, the more soil we can improve (erosion control), the more people we can influence to adopt similar practices, and the more we will learn. God called us to be good stewards of what He has entrusted us with. I hope to be a good steward.

Let us know your thoughts on what you would like us to provide. Ask questions, lets learn and grow together. Seize the opportunity to know your farmer!

-Lyle