A Tale of Two Approaches

10/23/2024
By: Isabel Sonnet

Before I stepped foot onto TomKat Ranch, I lived most of my life outdoors. I was consistently involved in wildlife conservation efforts and spent years studying and practicing animal husbandry for both livestock and wildlife. Despite this, I never experienced regenerative ranching.

I was well-versed in ecosystem health, but the term regenerative wasn’t part of my vocabulary. In my experience, the land was something that sustained animals. I never considered how that relationship goes both ways. Then, I was introduced to regenerative ranching through TomKat Ranch. While working with the Land and Livestock teams on the ranch, I have expanded my perspective on what an ethical and healthy animal production system can look like, and how humans can intentionally attune ourselves to the natural cycles on this land, and in turn, begin to return domestic animals to those cycles as well.

My previous experience with domestic livestock comes from my time at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, where I am currently working on my B.S. in Animal Science. I have mainly focused on the swine and equine units on campus, learning how mainstream animal production systems function. Cal Poly uses industry-standard production techniques to farm on a small scale, and similar to TomKat Ranch, is invested in education as well as production. However, I experienced a culture shock at the differences in practices between Cal Poly and TomKat Ranch.

The greatest surprise to me, demonstrating the different mindsets of the two operations, was how each handled the birth of animals. When it is farrowing season for the swine at Cal Poly, a high amount of human labor is involved. As sows approach the end of their gestation, they are separated and closely monitored until parturition, with workers on hand to make sure that there are no complications. In most births, workers intervene and assist to ensure the survival of as many piglets as possible. These techniques seem to be slightly intrusive to me, but are akin to a human hospital birth.

In comparison, the Land and Livestock teams at TomKat Ranch utilize a more hands-off approach to birth. The Small Ruminant team intervenes much less during kiddings than many conventional operations, allowing the goats to kid on their own. At first, this approach seemed harsh. How could it be ethical to step back from such an event when you have the opportunity to minimize  complications and ensure even greater chances of survival? But, as I spent more time with the goat herd, I understood how this practice helps the herd mitigate having fewer health issues in the future, leading to less suffering overall. This approach more closely aligns with how a herd would live in the wild, allowing each generation to become hardier and increasingly connected to the land.

This observation made me think: when we separate animals from their natural environments and behaviors, we construct issues with their wellbeing. The same is true regarding the health of the land. In many contemporary agricultural operations, the slow leeching of the land is considered inevitable. It is the status quo to set land aside for farming or ranching seemingly for the sole purpose of providing for the respective animals. At TomKat Ranch, land is managed differently. The livestock are moved from pasture to pasture, mimicking the natural behaviors of herd animals, which promotes healthier soil and plants, feeding animals in upcoming years. In this way, the land and the animals depend on each other. Each thrives when the other is thriving.

It is unnatural to separate the land that feeds and provides for us from the creatures that live on it. But sadly, this separation is what modern agriculture normalizes. It creates a divide between soil, plants, and grazing animals, when, in fact, they are interconnected and coevolved to sustain and regenerate each other. Humans are also a part of this connectedness. We consider ourselves a species apart, elevated from the cycles occurring around us. But when we separate ourselves from the natural world, we risk diminishing our respect for life, general health, and humanity. Maybe that’s why, in my brief time at TomKat Ranch, I felt a deep harmony between myself, the animals, and the caretakers that I have not felt in other animal production systems.

Izzy Sonnet studies Animal Science at Cal Poly. She has extensive experience working with animals and was a summer intern at TomKat Ranch.