At White Oak Pastures our cattle are raised in a manner that has stood the test of time.
It begins with southern sunshine, unpolluted country air and fertile coastal soil. Our cattle are allowed to roam our pastures and graze freely on sweet native grasses all of their lives. We believe in the humane treatment of animals. That is why we DO NOT give them hormones, antibiotics or
non-natural feedstuffs to speed their growth. We proactively support nature’s food chain:
Sun, Soil and Rain, to Grass, to Cattle, to Beef, to People.
Raising cattle this way is not the cheapest way to produce beef. It is, however, the right way for
the sake of our cattle, our environment and for you, the people who eat our product.
Our family has lived on, and made our living on, this same farm for 143 years. The stewardship of this farm is a core value that has been passed down through five generations of the Harris family.
The most critical component of our program is the establishment and maintenance of permanent perennial sod, with mixed hardwood and pine woodlands, on every acre of land that we own {1000 Acres}. We have eliminated the need for manufactured fertilizers and pesticides. Cattle and sheep graze these lands.
• Our farm is the largest certified organic farm in Georgia. Our certification is through the Georgia crop improvement association’s organic certification program.
• Soil erosion is controlled by establishing and maintaining permanent sod on all open land. Our water quality is excellent.
• Concrete tanks for well water are provided to our cattle in all of our pastures. Dug wading ponds are also available in every pasture for respite. These ponds do not discharge into streams. Cattle are fenced off from access to streams and riparian zones.
• We continue to plant 500 white oak trees each year to enhance wildlife habitat, shelter and shade for livestock, and for aesthetic benefit.
• We utilize intensive rotational grazing practices to promote grass quality, soil health, even out manure distribution, and for insect management. The maximum level carbon sequestration in the soil is achieved through rotational grazing.
• We foster the populations of dung beetles and other beneficial insects by not using pesticides. These beneficial creatures augment manure breakdown making nutrients available to growing plants more quickly, aerate the soil, and help with fly control.
• Every acre of our permanent sod is overseeded each winter with rye, ryegrass, and clover to capture soil nitrogen that is released in the dormant season of perennial grass. Degrading ryegrass roots help to aerate soil.
• Clover is overseeded on every acre each year to fix nitrogen.
• A sheep herd is utilized in our rotational grazing program to control undesirable weeds and to keep perennial grass tender.
• Mowing is used to control army worm infestations.
• Our USDA inspected on-farm processing plant is a zero waste facility. George Washington Carver said, “in nature there is no waste”. We have fashioned our plant on this principle.
• We purchased an aerobic/anaerobic digester that turns waste eviscerate into our liquid organic fertilizer.
• Bones are stockpiled and ground to be utilized as a soil amendment.
• We installed a 30,000 gallon septic system to capture and utilize washout water and nutrients through a waste water land application irrigation system.
• We are presently installing a solar hot water heater to provide hot water for our on-farm processing plant.
• We catch rain runoff in a series of guttered rain barrels.
Stewardship of our farm is not new to us and it is not a passing fancy. It is a lifestyle decision that we have made and continually strive to improve. This is, has been, and will always be a work in progress.
The Harris family
White Oak Pastures
Bluffton, GA.
