Horse-Powered Organic Farming
Near Yacolt, Washington, farmers from around Southwest Washington gathered at Yacolt Mountain Farm and Nursery to learn about certified organic farming with draft horses. Farmer owners Dan and Caroline Swansey were incredibly knowledgeable as they shared their passion for working with their four draft horses and growing certified organic vegetables and fruits. They came to Yacolt four years ago after managing an organic farm in California. Both Dan and Caroline have backgrounds in horticulture, soil, and environmental science giving them a unique perspective on sustainable farming, which they shared with all in attendance.
The farm walk began with Dan demonstrating the use of draft horses to cultivate the soil with a disc implement. The two horses, Duke and Betsey, were attached to the cultivator with a double tree attachment. Dan drove the team from a seat atop the disc implement. They utilize the horses to do all cultivation and to apply manure and lime. Caroline has a background in soil science and was able to speak to their soil structure. When she and Dan were looking for farmland, she carefully scrutinized the soil of each prospect using Web Soil Survey, an online tool that maps out the soil types of a given location. Yacolt’s soil is a silt loam and is on a slight, south facing slope making it quite amenable to early spring cultivation. Since it is not very sticky, it is easy to maneuver horses through. The horses themselves do not where shoes and they have the added advantage of not compacting the soil as much as a tractor tire does.
Both Dan and Caroline expressed the importance of developing a relationship with their horses that reinforces positive experiences. At the end of the day, they are unpredictable animals but Dan explained that in being consistent in working with them to establish trust, the horses become less of a risk. In terms of feeding the horses, they purchase feed and graze them when possible on their acreage. They recently obtained a USDA-EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) to construct a heavy use protection area for the horses, so that they can have more time outside of their barn stalls. In the future, they would also like to be able to produce the majority of the feed needed for their horses themselves. Dan also mentioned that the horses not only provide their power and labor, but they provide fertility in the form of their manure, which is just as valuable.
After the demonstration, Dan took farm walk attendees through the various types of horse-drawn implements he uses to cultivate their land. One that he was particularly proud of was a manure spreader that was custom built by an Amish company in Pennsylvania. Altogether, he feels that there is nothing he cannot do with his horses that a tractor could do.
Both Dan and Caroline spoke to their desire to be a sustainable, diversified operation. They currently grow 3 acres of diversified, certified organic vegetables along with a small orchard. They have a 25 member CSA and they also sell at two farmer’s markets and their own farm store located on the farm. Yacolt Mountain has a large flock of hens for eggs and they also produce pork and lamb. The integration of the animals has allowed them to diversify their production and marketing. Caroline also keeps goats that she milks for her own personal use. In the future, she says she would like to move toward keeping more goats than sheep as goats compete less with the horses for pasture e.g. goats are browsers whereas horses and sheep are grazers.
After looking over the implements, attendees walked down into the root cellar that Dan constructed last winter. This cellar will allow them to store root vegetables and winter squash to offer their CSA customers through the winter months. In the future, Dan and Caroline envision extending the length of their CSA season. They also believe that they could produce enough food on their land to support a 200 member CSA – a goal they would like to reach within the next 10 years.
In addition to expanding their growing capacity, Dan and Caroline are giving careful consideration to starting a farm internship program next growing season. They want to help train the next generation of farmers and would love to provide young people a rich, educational farm experience. Having both managed an organic farm that hired interns, they realized that it is not always simple to find the right type of intern and to be both teacher and farmer. All in attendance agreed that Dan and Caroline would be wonderful mentors by their passion and the quality of information they shared during the farm walk.
Click Here! Farm Walk Booklet – Yacolt Mountain Farm & Nursery
This project is supported in part by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Grant # 2012-49400-19575. For more resources and programs for beginning farmers and ranchers please visit www.Start2Farm.gov, a component of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.
Summary by Angela Anegon, Tilth Producers Education Coordinator