Ten Mile Farm

Our story as first generation farmers is likely different than most. While childhood had us both growing up in the middle of farming country in north central Iowa neither of us actually lived on a farm. Nick had spent some time on his grandparent’s row crop farm and even worked some during high school at an industrial pig farm, but was never fully immersed in the farming lifestyle. After college, a move to the Kansas City area came calling and we spent the first ten years of married life living in the city working in the public safety and auditing worlds. But three kids later and we found ourselves yearning for gravel roads, country skies and some land of our own. Our search began and ultimately led us to our twelve acre parcel south of Spring Hill, Kansas along the banks of Ten Mile Creek. Nick and Jenny on the first day at Ten Mile Farm in 2015. During our land search we also stumbled across the great American farming icon, Joel Salatin. Joel’s perspective and the techniques he implemented at his farm (Polyface Farm) were in such stark contrast to our notion of conventional agriculture. It made farming seem not only deceptively simple but entirely possible, and to this day still guides the core principles on which our farm operates. There have been others too that have added to the vision we have for our farm – people like Dr. Allen Williams (Joyce Farms), Greg Judy (Green Pastures Farm), Colin Seis (Winona), Allan Savory, and Will Harris (White Oak Pastures)to name just a few. All these farming legends have influenced us in such an impactful way and helped to develop the foundation of our farming philosophy. Our approach to farming is focused on the health of the soil. Healthy soil produces an abundance of diverse and nutrient dense forage. High quality forage provides nourishment for livestock and makes them vibrant and healthy–eliminating the need to subject them to growth hormones, vaccines, antibiotics, and chemical wormers. We also refuse to apply any synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides on our pastures. All these products destroy life below the soil. Nature has an answer for all problems encountered on the farm. It is our job to find that solution through proper management and observation. We try and model everything on our farm after what’s found in nature–with the key component beingdiversity. As Will Harris from White Oak Pasturesloves to point out, “Nature abhors a monoculture.” No where in nature do you find one type of something. It always has a diversity of species in plants, insects, birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. The same is true with the life that is found below the soil–bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa, mites, nematodes, and earthworms to name a few. All working together in concert but each having their own specific role to play in the great circle of life. And so we too at Ten Mile Farmutilize a diverse group of livestock, working in concert, that are aimed at regenerating the life below the soil. All the pastures we own and rent have this core principle guiding our entire grazing plan. Because nature is constantly changing we too have to remain flexible. We have to be ready to adjust to all of the changing weather patterns, soil conditions, forage quality, and any animal health conditions in our livestock. Nothing is the same on the farm. There is no recipe or formula that works the same way for every animal or every pasture. The success or failure of our rehabilitative efforts depends on our observational prowess and ability to adapt. So what does all this look like in a real world application? We hope you are able to find time to come out and tour the farm to see it all the moving parts together, but for those that are not able here is how we try to make it happen. We have specifically chosen the animals we have due in part to our personal context and interests but also because of the specific roles they play in nature. As nature’s pruners the cows and sheep are