Goat farm recognized by the Nature Conservancy

October 14, 2022 2 min read

We are honored to be featured as one of a handful of Wisconsin farmers on the Nature Conservancy's website.

"A small, but growing, number of Wisconsin farmers are working together to help find answers [to protect the health of their soils and keep water clean]. They have formed groups focused on their local watersheds and are implementing agricultural practices that build soil health and help improve water quality. Some of the practices they are using, such as cover crops and reduced tillage, will also help capture and hold carbon in the soil."

The Nature Conservancy feature focuses on how Wisconsin farmers are using different conservation practices for the benefit of the land and their farms.

Goat farm using conservation practices

For our farm, Cylon Rolling Acres, conservation is about preserving and improving natural resources right here on our farm, specifically preserving soil and water. In agriculture, conservation is necessary for farmers to continue growing crops and raising livestock—things that can’t happen if the natural resources on farms aren’t in good condition.

It starts with the soil. We are continuing to build and improve the health of the soil, which helps us protect and preserve our nature resources. These actions also impact the ecosystem beyond our farm, including the quality of our watershed, wildlife, beneficial insects and other factors.

Conservation and regenerative farming practices that we're using on our goat farm include:

Rotational grazing with our herd of meat goats and flock of sheep
No till and reduced till with our perennial pastures and hayfields
Bale grazing to feed hay during the winter
Restoring an old oak savanna by removing invasive and restoring the prairie grasses in the understory