About our Practices
We strive to rotate the animals over our acreage in a way that gives back what’s been taken, while building soil and minimizing stress. Our practices rely on observation. How does this field look if the cattle are here for two days or three? How long can we leave piglets in this paddock when it's cold or wet? How much will the chickens eat in the tender days of spring or in high summer? I am always watching, learning to improve, and in turn, working to provide the animals with an environment that naturally best suits each group.”
— Lane
Farming Practices
Prospect Farm is committed to raising livestock with integrity and in harmony with the natural world. By providing each animal group with a living environment that naturally suits them we are able to regenerate pastures, promote native forage and rebuild soil. We are always thinking of the future.
You have probably heard buzzwords like pastured raised, free range, natural, rotationally grazed, beyond organic, cage free, mob grazing. All those sexy terms can absolutely be applied to our methods, but after eleven years of farming, we prefer to boast transparency, honesty, and, above all, observation.
Understanding there is a a cause and effect to stewarding the land, our focus is on observation. How our animals and land respond to each other through each micro-season guide our practices. One thing that is always the same, is our grain from Green Mt Organic Feeds who deliver 3-6 tons to our no waste feed bins.
Heritage Breed Pork
The heritage breeds on our farm include Large Black, Gloucestershire Old Spot, Berkshire, Tamworth, Hampshire & Duroc. About once a month we pick up groups of 10 piglets at 8 weeks old from trusted and consistent regional farmer friends to raise on our pasture or woods for the next half year. Using a simple system of solar powered portable electric net fencing along with Port-a-Hut arched shelters, we have the freedom to rotate the pigs as needed. Pigs are omnivores, and most healthy when offered a diet that includes forage and protein-rich insects along with their grain from Green Mountain Organics. We slow down the schedule in the winter, but the winter pig system provides constant access to feed quality hay along with warm and dry bedded down shelter. Our pork is USDA processed at North East Kingdom Processing in St. Johnsbury, VT. Our sausage seasonings are primarily sourced from Teeny Tiny Spice Co. who use only organic, sugar-free and gluten-free ingredients.
Pasture Raised Chicken
We are constantly told that our chicken just tastes better than what you can find at a grocery store or mega co-op. Flattering as it may be, this is simply because the chickens are raised in a healthy environment that allows them to actually be chickens- scratching, foraging as they travel our fields. We raise our chickens annually starting in April until September. They arrive to the post office as day old chicks and are directly settled into our brooder barn where they are kept for the first 2 to 3 weeks of their life before moving safely out to pasture. Once outside, the chickens live in a portable housing system called “chicken tractors” that keep them safe from predators and are pulled along our fields daily. As they move, they lay down natural fertilizer (manure), then each morning they once again start on new clean ground. Our chickens are USDA processed and air chilled at Maplewind Farm in Richmond, VT which allows us to offer both whole chickens and chicken parts for sale.
Grass-Fed Beef
Our beef is 100% grass-fed and finished. Most often we raise a combination of Angus and Hereford cattle. Over the years we have worked with a variety of breeds but have landed on these for a few reasons: meat quality, temperament and yield. Grass-fed cattle can take up to two years to grow to slaughter weight, making breed choice essential so that the animals thrive on pasture and yield a proper weight for the exchange in labor and time. We have also come to find that our chefs and local customers appreciate the marbling these breeds offer. We bring weaned 6 month old calves to the farm from trusted and consistent regional farmer friends to raise until the age of 18 to 24 months old. Our herd is moved anywhere from everyday to once a week throughout the grass growing season, with the exception of the winter months when they are fed hay from just a few miles away here in Lunenburg, VT. We USDA process our beef at North East Kingdom Processing in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
Thanksgiving Turkeys
We raise one group of turkeys a year that are available fresh right before the Thanksgiving holiday. All turkeys go whole and must be pre-ordered by placing a deposit. Our turkeys arrive to the farm as day old chicks and are inside the brooder barn for about 4 weeks before safely going out to pasture. Young turkeys are highly sensitive to cold temperatures, wind and rain so we raise them carefully, starting in August until November. They roam our fields in solar powered poultry electric net fencing and movable shelters that feature perches for night. During the day they scratch and forage inside their large paddock with access to Green Mountain Organics grain. At harvest time they are USDA processed and air chilled at Maplewind Farm in Richmond, VT.