Laura Mortelliti

Recent Posts

Life Of A WOP Broiler

We receive 4200 day-old chicks from our hatchery each week. Before hatching, chicks absorb their remaining egg yolk into their abdomen. The absorbed yolk provides several days of nutrition once the chick hatches. This is key for shipping day-old chicks because they do not need nourishment while...

Free Ranging the Red Ranger

The breed we raise, the Red Ranger, is an extremely mobile bird.  This quality has its pros and cons. The birds grow at a slower rate because they are very active.  “In allowing it to go wherever it wants, it runs off into the pasture and burns some serious calories. It's getting vitamins, minerals,...

Bone Broth

Spotlight On Our Poultry Crew

Savory Workshop at White Oak Pastures - Build Soil, Build Wealth

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...

Employee Spotlight: Jeff Lackey- Poultry Production Manager

Biofertilizer Use In Our Poultry Program

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...

Good Land Stewardship Can Be Seen

 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,...

Guardian Dogs

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...

Who Rules The Roost?

Shade As Silvopasture

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...

Gone to the Dogs (Herding Dogs)

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...

1 2 3 4 5


    Most Popular


    For cooking tips and original recipes, check out our recipe blog: Grassfed & Pastured Recipes