Joyce Farms Adopts Regenerative Agriculture as Standard Practice
Winston-Salem (PRWEB) April 30, 2018 -- Joyce Farms, a leading artisan producer of heritage and all-natural meat, poultry and game announced today that it has adopted regenerative agriculture as standard practice for its farms.
“We recognize the significant opportunity and role we play in helping restore the land that once was,” said Joyce Farms President and CEO Ron Joyce. “We’ve become practitioners of and advocates for regenerative agriculture and are proud to say it is now the standard for our farms.”
Healthy Land Means Healthy World
Regenerative agriculture is a farming method that builds soil health, enhances ecosystem diversity, and recaptures carbon emissions from the atmosphere. Farmers rely on nature, using diverse cover crops and planned livestock integration to nourish the soil, and never use chemicals or disruptive practices, like tilling. These regenerative practices lead to clean water and improved water systems, improved animal welfare, restored habitats and wildlife, reduced carbon in the atmosphere, and abundant nutritious food with natural flavor.
Joyce Farms Regenerative Agriculture Program is led by Chief Ranching Officer Dr. Allen Williams, Ph.D. Dr. Williams is applying his vast knowledge in animal genetics, humane animal care, holistic land management and environmental stewardship to the program. He is a renowned expert on soil health and cutting-edge grazing methodology. Allen holds a BS and MS in Animal Science from Clemson University and a PhD in Livestock Genetics from LSU. He serves on the board of directors of the Grass Fed Exchange and the Mississippi Sustainable Agriculture Network, and he is a core team member of The Pasture Project, a partner in Soil Health Consulting, LLC, and a co-investigator for Team SoilCarbon.
Advocates for Change
With one-third of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from global food production, change is necessary. Over time, modern farming practices have resulted in over-tilled land that has inadequate recovery time between crop rotations. Rainfall simply runs off, causing flooding, erosion, and contaminated water.
Joyce Farms is committed to helping drive change by building awareness for regenerative agriculture among consumers and industry. The company recently partnered with Kiss The Ground, a 501(c)3 organization in California committed to public engagement and global soil restoration, through sponsorship of a short documentary film. Kiss The Ground seeks to educate a general audience on the practice and importance of regenerative agriculture. The film will be co-sponsored by The Savory Institute and will be produced this spring.
Ron Joyce and Dr. Williams will also share their insights on the future of regenerative farming during Baldor Specialty Foods’ biennial celebration, BITE. The event will be held May 2 in New York and attracts more than 2,000 chefs, restaurateurs, farmers and retailers.
“If we continue using industrial and even sustainable organic farming methods, we are threatening both the long-term availability of the land to farm as well as our overall health,” added Joyce. “Regenerative agriculture practices can quite literally regenerate the land by rebuilding the soil, leaving it far better than our generations found it.”
For more information about Joyce Farms and the Joyce Farms Regenerative Agriculture Program, visit http://www.joyce-farms.com.
Established in 1962, Joyce Farms is family-owned business providing meat and poultry of the highest quality and flavor to chefs, butchers and consumers nationwide. Joyce Farms is best known for using traditional agricultural methods and old-world heritage breeds, like their renowned Poulet Rouge Fermier™ chicken (GAP Step 4). Joyce Farms currently offers a line of Heritage products that includes Poulet RougeTM chicken, Poulet RougeTM poussin (young chicken - GAP Step 2), pintade (French Guinea), white pheasant, Spanish Black turkey, Aberdeen Angus cattle (GAP Step 4), Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs and American Frontier bison. They also offer a Naked (Nothing added ever) line produced without the use of hormones, antibiotics, animal by-products or anything artificial; it includes chicken, duck, and rabbit. For more information, visit http://www.joyce-farms.com.
Joyce Farms, Joyce Foods, Inc., http://www.joyce-farms.com, 336-714-4703, [email protected]
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