Southern SOIL
Small Farm
Spotlight
I n t h is series, g et t o kn o w mo re a b o u t t h e sma ll far m o p era t io n s t h a t a re u sin g su st a in a b le met h o d s t o help meet t h e lo ca l d ema n d f o r f resh f o o d . An d meet the f a rmers t h a t a re ma kin g it h a p p en !
Whippoorwill Farms is located on 40 acres of
“In our old farm, we did more in terms of pastures
forested land that provides forage for chickens,
and pasture-raised and we had man-made shade
rabbits and hogs raised for meat. Marissa Paykos
structures for the animals, but I noticed that
has been farming for the past few years, not only
they struggled in the heat of the summer. So,
dedicated to raising healthy meats for her family
for me it was an end goal to be able to establish
and customers but also driven by the desire to
a silvopasture and be able to have that be the
leave the land better than she found it.
habitat,” Marissa explained. “And then once we’re done farming,” she continued, “we haven’t decimated the land, so native animals can come back in. It doesn’t over grow into an unmanaged field - it’s a forest. You can use it for hunting, for conservation… there’s a lot of
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opportunity with raising the animals this way.” “Making a difference in the environment is important and that’s what leads most of our decisions.” Marissa, her husband James and their daughter Ellie recently moved from two acres to the 40 acres they have now. This move has given them the opportunity to not only have room to expand the farm but also to change their methods of land and livestock management - shifting from pastures to forested paddocks that provide more opportunities for their animals to forage and stay more protected from the weather.
All livestock on the farm have plenty of room to roam and are rotated throughout the property for
