The Land Provides

This is a scene from my morning walk with the cows. Hints of Fall are everywhere in the pasture. The late blossoms of iron weed and native sunflowers are making all the bees and wasps go wild as they prepare for Winter. Spider webs are everywhere, literally thousands of them catching the dew droplets this foggy morning. It will not be long before the dew dries and insects are ensnared. Summer grasses and forbes sprout in the undergrowth. Turkeys rustle out of the tall grass and fly to a nearby tree, startling a family of deer bedded down not far away. I notice that the goldfinches have mostly finished the season’s harvest of thistle seed and down for their nests. Meanwhile, the Redwing Black Birds and Cow Birds begin to busy themselves, catching flies that circle above the cows’s backs. They swoop down for the occasional grasshopper.

This land is teaming with life.

There is food in abundance for all the wildlife and plenty to sustain the cow herd through the coming winter. Just like the deer that roam these hills, the cattle don’t need supplemental feed. They find all the nutrients they need in the plants that grow here, on this land that teams with biodiversity and life!

Farming in harmony with nature is crucial for the future of human life on the planet. If we treat our land with respect and care, the land will provide for us.