meet your neighbors
Photo by Laura L. Valenti
Cattle are a part of the Norman Troyer farming operation.
Keeping Livestock and Nature Healthy By Laura L. Valenti
The Troyer family follows natural, pasture-based practices with their cattle and poultry operations It is difficult to know just exactly what keeps Norman Troyer busiest already provided by the trees that are scattered throughout the property that lies along on his 200-acre farm in eastern rural Laclede County, but between Angus our three-quarter-mile river frontage on the Osage Fork River.” The chickens are also a major part of the Troyer’s farming operation. cattle and several hundred chickens in his Friendly Farm Foods operation, not to men“We have 200 laying hens, the Barred Rocks and the Rhode Island Reds. We sell eggs tion his Rustic Ozark Log Cabin business, it is obvious Norman doesn’t spend any time as well as ready-to-lay chickens. With the help of a neighbor, we process 1,000 Cornish sitting around, wondering what to do next. “I’m basically a grass farmer,” he said is the best definition of his agricultural pursuits. cross meat chickens every six weeks,” Norman said. “Our chickens are fed non-GMO “We have 40 momma cows, Lowline Angus, that we breed specifically for their shorter grains, with no hormones or steroids.” Chickens are pasture-raised, thanks to portable coops. legs, big bellies and deep chests, Cornish-cross meat birds and Rhode Island Reds, as well “We have moveable 20-foot-by-40-foot pull-around chicken coops that we call schooners,” as Barred Rock laying hens. We keep the cows and the chickens to fertilize the grass.” The majority of the cattle herd is Angus-Hereford cross, that produces black baldies. Norman explained. “We give them fresh pasture daily, basically providing rotational grazing for the poultry, too. Giving chickens greens, basically a fresh salad bar, every day allows them All are grass raised and grass finished. “We use no chemical fertilizer and we actually go beyond organic,” Norman said. “We to obtain 20 to 30 percent of their diet off the fields. This makes for healthy chicken meat and breed the Lowline because the grass conversion to meat is better and makes for very tasty fat. The Omega fatty acids are balanced and that makes for healthier people.” Norman and his wife Barbara moved to their current location from Salem, Mo., in 2016 beef with super marbling. but have been farming since 1994. They follow many of the practices outlined by Joel “We also keep our own heifers and direct market our steers through our Salatin and his books, which include many natural or organic procedures and exclude website at Friendly Farm Foods.” a number of conventional ones they feel produce more disadvantages than benefits. Because Norman considers himself a grass farmer, forage production is critical. “There’s quite a list of things that we do differently than are used in many conven“We do rotational grazing, making our own movable paddocks so the cows tional poultry operations, such as the use of antibiotics and vaccines. The same is get a fresh salad bar every day. We have 10- to 20-acre paddocks that we can true in our cattle operation where we use Thorvin kelp,” he said. “This is a New then cut down to smaller ones using moveable hot wire fence. The rotational Lebanon, Mo. Zealand product that we mix 50/50 with fine salt. This provides the minerals grazing leaves a canopy of grass that shields the earth from the intense heat of for our cows and has greatly reduced pink eye problems in our herd. On the the sun and collects heavy dew, making our pastures very drought tolerant. rare occasion we do have to resort to antibiotics, we cull those animals. We also “We also have a moveable 20-foot-by 40-foot shelter for shade, adding to that
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Ozarks Farm & Neighbor • www.ozarksfn.com
AUGUST 31, 2020
