Regenerative farming is comprised of many locally adapted practices. Choosing livestock or poultry for your regenerative farm can seem daunting. There is an endless maze of information about the traits of breeds and sometimes conflicting information about best management practices. We summarize how endangered Pineywoods Cattle benefit our regenerative farming practices in this post.

But first a bit about our regenerative farming goals. As a regenerative farm, we view the farm as an ecological system. When making decisions, we try to take the entire farm ecology into consideration, including but not limited to the health of the soil, conserving and preserving our forests, improving dung beetle health and increasing biodiversity. Pineywoods contribute to all of these, leading us closer to our goal of farming in harmony with nature.

Heritage breed farm animals are an integral part of regenerative farming at Ozark Akerz, contributing to ecological and economic health each day. Heritage breeds are old-time/traditional farm animals that had a prominent role on farms of our ancestors. All the heritage breeds at Ozark Akerz have at least two jobs, from weeding to predator defense to controlling tick populations.

Heritage breeds have fallen out of favor with focus turning to industrialized farming, these historically important and resilient breeds are now endangered with extinction. This includes

• Horses
• Rabbits
• Chickens
• Donkeys
• Cattle
• Turkeys
• Sheep
• and other breeds…

Pineywoods Cattle are instrumental in conserving and maintaining Trees and vice versa.

The Pineywoods varied appetite - including kudzu, greenbrier, brambles, even poison ivy - has led to a healthier forest and increased biodiversity at Ozark Akerz. In return, forests help conserve the Pineywoods, allowing them to mimic the foraging behavior of their wild roaming ancestors, providing them with a variety of food and medicine.

This synergy between plants and animals allows the trees at Ozark Akerz to continue capturing over 800, 000 pounds of carbon every year.

Learn more about this partnership between Pineywoods and Trees and learn how we use the iNaturalist and iTree Canopy Apps to track biodiversity and carbon capture in this presentation originally given by farmer Mike at the Chatham Conservation Partnership.

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1:21 : Agenda

1:58 : Introduction to Ozark Akerz Regenerative Farm

5:27 : Meet the Heritage Breed Animals

7:36 : Pineywoods Cattle contributing to Forest Health and vice versa

11:11 : Measuring Carbon Capture with iTree Canopy App

13:45 :Increasing Biodiversity – Current Projects

15:38 : Measuring Biodiversity with iNaturalist App

18:21 : Resources

19:51 : Questions