In part one of this series we looked at the inherent dangers in eating conventionally raised, confined factory chicken. These risks included contributing to overcrowded and inhumane chicken facilities, eating bacteria ridden meats and consuming antibiotics that were intended for humans thereby contributing to antibiotic resistant bacteria strains.
What then, happens to all the waste that is created by an average chicken farm producing over a half-million chickens in a small area each year?

Although innovative waste management techniques have been pioneered such as bio-fuel and bio-massing, the “litter” from broiler production in the United States is still processed the same way it was 50 years ago[i] – it is spread on surrounding fields.

• Yesteryears litter contained the same components it does today, but in much less concentration.
  Today’s production levels are much more intense in terms of animals per acre; therefore the waste, consisting of all the excreted antibiotics and medications the birds receive is all the more concentrated.
• ​The majority of these excessive nutrients translate to surface water areas (ponds, lakes, etc) and bays, particularly in the littoral regions of the United States.  The overabundance of P,N and K contributes to eutrophication leading to a dense growth of plant life and stagnation in the growth of animal life from a lack of oxygen.

The excess algae growth can block the sunlight, preventing the deep water production of grasses and other essential underwater habitat for fish, shellfish and microorganisms essential in the complicated ecosystem of body of water.
A USDA report published in 2000[ii] warned of the consequences from the consolidation of small farms into large and very large operations. The report linked the remarkable increase in livestock density with increased problems in the disposal of livestock manure. In other words the industry loves the cost savings associated with consolidation but can’t deal with the proper disposal of the waste associated with said production.

What makes our methods different?
At SonRise, we use three key concepts – movement, match and meticulousness

• Movement – each day our animals are moved to a fresh set of pasture. This is not our concept – we hijacked the idea from nature. As you observe animals in their natural environment, you will find that they are always on the move. They do this, primarily because they are forced to look for new food sources. The wonderful side effect is that they cannot concentrate their manures in any one space. We mimic this on our Ranch by keeping our critters on the march.
• Match – we know what nutrients are contained in our animals manure and match that to the needs in each pasture. Our primary goal is to grow grass (for our beef) so we use chickens, pigs and cows in successive order to add back what is being taken out.
• Meticulousness – husbandry is a lost art. We are trying to bring it back and believe that a diligent, professional and sincere care for the animals is key. They will tell you what they need – you just have to be willing to listen. My favorite example of this is when our pigs all got colds. Pigs have a similar biological system to humans – so much so that in college biology class we dissected a baby piglet, and human organs are often grown in pigs. So I did for them what I would do for myself, a large dose of Vitamin C. We went to the local whole foods and got a large box of juiced out, organic oranges. We fed them to our pigs and in two days they all felt much better. 

Recently my blogs have been somewhat shocking – even to the point of being accused of “scaremongering”, by some readers who, for whatever reason or motivation, just can’t deal with the awful truth that your government is not interested in your personal health. Fair warning to all who read, the next series of posts will be a real shocker.  If you’ve got thin skin or a queasy stomach - this one might not be for you either. We are going to take a look at conventional chicken production and how it differs from the Free-Range, Organic fed model used here at SonRise Ranch.

The density of chicken production in the United Sates has changed drastically since the 1950s and 60s. The Pew Research Center has published a report titled Big Chicken a report that details a number of startling statistics that consumers of chicken and chicken products should know;

• More Chickens but fewer farms - in 50 years, chicken production has increased 1400%, while farms that raise chickens has decreased 98%., thus increasing chicken production density by a staggering number, as you might imagine this means overcrowding. Compare the photo above with the video below and ask yourself; which animal is healther?
• Average conventional (even certified organic) chicken comes from a mega-farm that produces up to 605,000 birds annually

• The wages for such production have plummited. Fifty years ago, one could make a decent middle income wage from chicken farming. Not today, the average chicken farmer is a slave to the big producers

Drugs are killing us. The baltent overuse of antibiotics in the farming industry has created an epidemic of drug-resistant bacteria strains. This chicken industry has been one of the main culprits.

Tyson foods, one of the larger chicken producers in the US recently announced that they would stop using antibiotics used in humans – but the damage may have already been done. Currently 25 million pounds of antibiotics are used in animal product annually.

When you eat meat treated with antibiotics, you not only eat the antibiotic but the bacteria too, in fact 22% of all antibiotic resistant cases are related to food borne illnesses.

​What makes SonRise Ranch chicken different?

First, and most importantly, our chickens live outside, where they should.  If you’ve followed us for anytime now, you know about our innovative “Chig-tractors” a solid knock off of the traditional Chicken tractor designed and made tough enough to handle free range pigs too.

This solves the problem of density immediately since our chickens are given a new patch of land every 24-48 hours. This is great for the chicken’s growth, quality of life and overall health. But it is also necessary for good grass growth (the primary goal of a grass-fed beef operation). Conventional farms use Potassium, Nitrogen and Phosphorus, made from chemical compounds and petroleum. Nitrogen occurs naturally and in high concentrations in chicken manure. At SonRise, if our fields need Nitrogen, we move the chickens through and let nature supply the need.

Secondly, we don’t use antibiotics – period. This is pretty simple. Outdoor chickens don’t get sick because they are exposed to the elements and nature. They are very well adapted to “roughing” it and the last thing we want is to bring them in out of the sunlight and away from green grass, bugs and dirt. Thus we have no need of medicine for them. Our biggest worry is predators, which we mitigate with well build tractors the chickens occupy at night.

In our next installment we will look at bacteria, chicken waste and the fate of over 200 million chicks annually the system deems unmarketable.

​Stay tuned.

I often get asked - what do you feed your hogs. This is a valid, but secondary concern, the type of environment the hog lives in is far more important than the feed they eat. Where they live is addressed in my blog on Logging Without Laws. ​Our hogs live outdoors where they should! 

You may have caught this article in the Chicago tribune recently. It stands in stark contrast to our Ranch. The most important aspect of raising hogs is not what they eat, but how they live. Most pork is raised in confinement on concrete - a real drag for the animal and a great way to ruin the meat. 

If you look at a Hogs trotters (their feet) they look like a lady standing in high heels - don't be dismayed, they can stand for long period of time, but are designed (yes, I wrote that) to stand on soft ground, not concrete - something we made. 

​So, when they are kept on concrete all their lives, they don't adapt, they suffer. And, when and animal suffers from chronic pain, they are sick... now, let's see, what does conventional, mega-factory, industrial farming do about that... yep, you guessed it - medicine. And it goes straight into your mouth.

At SonRise, our hogs live outside, on dirt, where they should. They are free to roam, and the taste comes through in the product.

Why then, do we feed so carefully? You see, the nice thing about hogs is they will eat anything, and the bad thing about Hogs is they will eat anything... so you've got to be careful what they get close to.

It's the whole program that counts. Non-GMO feeds are those that are not sprayed with Roundup. The advantage of a GMO crop that it is genetically engineered to withstand being sprayed with Roundup (the key ingredient being glyphosate - or, Agent Orange in the 1970s). The reason farmers plant GMOs is that they can then spray the field and kill everything but the crop - thus eliminating the need for weeding.

So, then, when the GMO crop is actually harvested, it has had a significant dose of Roundup (agent orange, glyphosate) poured on it during its growth cycle. 

If the hog eats this crop (soybeans, wheat, corn, etc) this high concentration of glyposate goes directly into the hogs fat cells, and thus into you when you consume the animal. In short, you are what your animals eat!

So, our caution with feed is really for you, not so much the hog. We just don't want you (and my family too) to eat agent orange raised meat every day. 

This costs us a ton of money - conventional, GMO hog feed is 17 cents per pound, non-GMO hog feed costs us nearly 50 cents per pound - almost 70% more feed cost. That is a huge expense at our Ranch, but well worth it. 

In our area of the Sierra Nevada Foothills a hideously invasive plant referred to as Scotch broom invades nearly every inch of open space.  This dominate species has no natural competition. It found roots in Sierras becasue of alcohol use during the mining days. 

During the mid 1800’s, Scotch whisky was highly sought after by the Miners and tradesmen who made a living working in the mining camps. I can’t really say I’d blame them, if I lived in near freezing temperatures, sleeping in a tent with no earthly comforts beyond a wood stove that barely warmed my toes and burdened with back breaking work for the modern equivalent of $20 per day – I give a lick to the bottle too… but I digress.

The best whisky came from Scotland and when shipped for that considerable distance, required protection from glass breakage in the form of a soft, pliable wrapping. Sequestered deep in this protective wrapping the original Scotch Broom seeds found their mission here in America. Once emptied of their precious content the useless bottles were often discarded on the ground and forgotten – seeding a perfect botanical rebellion that can be seen on the hills of Gold Country today.

Over the years relentless acres of once productive land, having long been abandoned by hearty Homesteaders who left for the bright lights of the city during the ensuing waves of Farm Crises, succumbed to the Scotch Broome invasion. The remnants of our once great agricultural powerhouse are now covered in Scotch Broome – depleting the local ecosystem of productivity and resources.
One tell tail sign of Broome infestation showed this last summer as a devistating 97,000 acre loss due to the enormous King Fire. It lasted from September to October, costing eighty structures, a dozen injuries and millions of dollars in firefighting resources.

Scotch Broom is cannibalistic – meaning that it grows on top of itself, so that previous generations provide layers and layers of bone-dry decay below. When ignited, Scotch Broome stands burn hot enough to boil the sap in the surrounding trees. Even when the trees don’t ignite directly they usually die from a  “boiling effect” they might have otherwise survived. Once they die, our laws often prevent their removal by logging and they simply fall down - only to decay and provide yet another fuel source for the next fire.

There is a dangerous movement afoot to “keep things natural”, in an attempt to “re-wild” areas of the United States by leaving them for dead, with no human interaction at all. Unfortunately, the window for this opportunity has long since passed.  The “natural” we observe today in our local forests is actually man-made - and like anything man-made, it must be maintained.

Abandoning ecosystems once touched by the human stain to suffer without proper management is tremendously destructive – and reeks of human arrogance.  We messed it up - we ought to responsible to manage it properly. Human interaction has happened; we have affected the eco system - There is no turning back.  In an often ill-advised, but well meant gesture we allocate incredible resources to an effort that is doomed to fail though generous donations to this or that club or society.  The sad fact is that a dangerous cocktail of legal environmental rulings and ignorance of ecosystems have overruled the common sense approach of properly managed domestic animals on the land. Our country is now horribly mismanaging our forests on a wholesale level. 

Scotch Broome grows at the rate of 1 foot per year if left unchecked and can produce approximately 18,000 seeds annually. Conventional methods for removal include pulling by hand, spraying, burning it, bulldozing - each having their drawbacks. 

We have acres and acres of Scotch Broom covered land that could be used for productive grazing. One of Scotch Broom’s good qualities is that is it a legume, a plant that fixes nitrogen to the soil. You might recall that nitrogen is very useful in good grass production – we use Chicken manure for nitrogen too.  

What we’ve found is that if we can remove the Scotch Broome, the fire hazard is reduced by 70-90% or more and the next season, a grass sod begins to develop. By season three or four we are grazing cattle on lush, moist grass with no fire hazard. 

The problem – how do we effectively remove scotch broom? Bulldozing creates erosion, is often dangerous and costs money. Hand cutting requires frequent visits to the back specialist - and we have acres of Broome. Spraying will kill broom but eventually find itself back into our beef supply.

Our answer – HOGS!

We found that our 150-200 pound Hogs, love to root up Scotch broom.   We place a border around them with electric wire, and give them a good source of clean water.  Together with soy-free, 100% organic feed they go to town…

In a few cycles of rotation, they have done what would have been extremely difficult for us using a dozer or manual labor. The Hogs are in heaven - "Hog heaven". They love being able to express their hog-ness. They eat roots, bugs, acorns and just about anything else they can find. And, boy howdy are they healthy, building muscle and living life to the fullest. Most of all (for my wife) - they don't stink! Our neighbors and visitors are absolutely amazed that our pigs don't smell like pigs.  It is truly amazing what happens when you allow nature to symbiotically intertwine with animals the way God intended.

Beyond clearing brush and saving homes, lives and possibly thousands of taxpayer dollars, our Hogs provide Good, Clean food for hundreds of families. They provide real, meaningful jobs to a small family of people who care deeply for the environment and their animals; they rejuvenate the soils with their manure, to make growing grass possible for the grazing of Grass-fed Beef.  They take food dollars away from Hormel foods and other disgusting factory food, industrial, government subsidized producers that make available nutritious products such as Spam to you and your neighbors.

Free-range, proper domestic animal management is a boon to the environment. By voting with your dollars, you are doing more to save the environment than any donation you can make to a club or society.