A Pasture Walk with Joel Salatin

Last week I made my way to Cohen Farm in Silk Hope, NC to attend a pasture walk with renowned farmer and sustainable agriculture rock star Joel Salatin. I’d never been to a pasture walk, so I wasn’t sure what to expect; in the end it was just as it sounds, we walked through a pasture.

There were 50 or so folks in attendance, a mix of students, advocates, and farmers, and Salatin spent about an hour and a half answering some of the farmers’ questions on things like pasture-siting, water issues, and herd maintenance. One thing you cannot call Joel Salatin is shy – the man likes to speak! Luckily for us he is a fount of sustainable farming knowledge, and a great advocate for small farmers everywhere.

Click through for more photos from the pasture walk.

A canine farmworker at Cohen Farm

Joel Salatin answers some questions

A future farmer surveys the pasture.

All in all it was a great opportunity to spend some time with one of the leaders of the Sustainable Agriculture movement, although honestly Salatin was definitely preaching to the choir.

Here is the part where I tell you that I’m a bad blogger – I ended up skipping out on the real reason Salatin was in town, a talk he gave at CCCC entitled “Local Food to the Rescue”. Once we got back to the college I surveyed the crowd (well over 150) and the available seats (maybe 50-60) and made the decision that he probably wasn’t going to say anything I hadn’t already heard before. So while I missed out on the speech, I do get to say that I once had the opportunity to pasture walk with Joel Salatin, and that ain’t half bad.