White Oak Pastures teamed up with the Savory Institute to present a Holistic Management workshop led by Spencer Smith. Spencer is a Savory Institute Accredited Field Professional and owner and operator of the Jefferson Center for Holistic Management.

The workshop lasted four days and included 17...

White Oak Pastures is full of passionate and innovative employees. A project started by our recent intern, Karen Cano, has continued on past her graduation from our internship program. Her independent experiment focused on developing a biofertilizer program on the farm. We have continued this...

 Above: This fenceline demonstrates the stark difference between a pasture that was grazed (right) and a pasture left fallow (left). We own the right pasture and recently aquired the left. We look forward to increasing the bioproductivity and forage profile of the new pasture using all natural,...

Farming daily reminds us that we are part of nature, not separate from it. Particularly with our holistic, natural approach to land stewardship, we respect and work with the natural world. To this end, we must face the trials that come with a natural, pasture-based system, including the presence of...

White Oak Pastures has based our land stewardship on Savory Institute's Savannah paradigm. In this system, the ideal composition is 20% shade, 80% pasture. We are working with our Iberian and heritage hogs to create the farm’s 20% shade, silvopasture ecosystem. Our woody polyculture will include...

Herding our hoofstock is not an easy task. Our animals are raised on terrain ranging from brambled woodland to open pasture. We often need to sort and separate the herd into smaller groups based on factors such as age, gender, and genetics. We find our herding dogs indispensable in these...

As a land steward and herdsman, Will is always making compromises with the long term picture in mind.

White Oak Pastures had a wonderful Saturday evening with the Albany Museum of Art and Albany Technical College Culinary Arts Department putting on a benefit dinner for the museum. Our very own chef Reid Harrison prepared the first four courses with White Oak Pastures protein- duck, goat and lamb....

We use animal impact daily to improve the health of our soils and forage. However, we also use our livestock as landscapers. We frequently use our goat herd to clear shrubbery from vacant lots in downtown Bluffton. If you have visited the farm store, you’ve likely driven by our goats hard at work....

Will Harris drew this diagram with a pen on a crumpled piece of paper one August 2016 afternoon. He wanted to visually explain his land management system on the 2500 acres here at White Oak Pastures. Our Multimedia Manager Laura Mortelliti added a few bells and whistles to the imagery, but the...