Cows and Strawberries - working together.

One of the beautiful cows, Seven, having a wee sniff of a yummy strawberry.

Dairy’s Berries, as the name suggests, is not just a property that grows strawberries but is also a dairy farm. How I really should introduce us is that we are dairy farmers who started our venture growing strawberries as a complimentary system to that of milking cows. For decades the farms primary focus has been about producing milk and therefore the cows have been an extremely big part of who we are at Dairy’s Berries and have played a key role in building the soil in which we can grow our berries in.  

I have talked about soil health in a past journal entry - good food starts with good soil – a food for thought piece. In that piece I talked about how the soil is the most critical source for how we can grow good food. It is the state in which the soil is in at the time of growing food crops that will determine the true quality of that food product. Not just the look, taste and smell but also its storability and nutrient content. The key factors which determine the condition of our soils (not including initial soil forming factors) is how we maintain, build or deplete a given soil under any given farming practice that uses the land for production - whether that be livestock farming or plant production.

Although it may seem a little strange, and you may be asking what relevance do the cows have to our strawberries, the link between the two is that the cows have played a vital role in building the foundation for us to be able to produce the big, sweet and juicy strawberries we do. With the combination of having flexibility around strawberry crop rotations (not planting strawberries in the same ground over consecutive years) along with us utilizing our 4-legged composting machines we are able to place a real focus on growing our strawberries without any additional chemicals and sprays. By running the two systems side by side it allows us to aid one (the strawberries) with the other (the cows) resulting in the removal of the high impacts of long term, continuous cultivation from our strawberry system thus reducing the risk of depleting our soils over time.

As the farm itself has been an operating dairy farm over multiple generations the soil here has had very limited cultivation. With limited cultivation the soil has therefore been able to build its carbon levels, increase its organic matter content as well as store organic nutrients – both within stable soil aggregates. With minimal cultivation the farm therefore, has remained in long term pastures which the dairy herd has gazed rotationally, recycling nutrients back into the farm through lightly treading (not to be taken for pugging of course) plant residues into the soil and depositing dung and urine to ‘gift’ back nutrients within the soil ecosystem. This has encouraged continuous pasture growth and very simply put, contributing to carbon sequestration and therefore, storage of soil carbon.

Of course, some of those nutrients that the cow eats will be removed from the farm in the form of milk. The other way in which nutrients can be lost (and is a tad more uncomfortable topic to cover) is nutrient loss to the atmosphere and water systems. The extent of such losses depend on farm management and other loss factors (such as climate, soil type and topography) and the farmers mitigation strategies to prevent or reduce unwanted losses. Parking this issue for now however, as I am starting to vere of track here, ultimately what the cow does not use for herself and milk production goes straight back onto the soil to be broken down by soil microbes and either stored within the soil or is taken up by the pasture to be eaten once again by the cows in a cyclical fashion.

Over time this has lead to the building of not only healthy soils but an increase in top soil. That’s the good stuff, the soil layer that you want as deep as possible and our cows have helped build that over time. When we first started the strawberry venture we researched what the potential impacts where going to be on the soil, both good and bad. We looked at what we were already doing on farm to protect and build our soils and then planned how we could incorporate those same principles into the strawberry system. We also looked into what each system had to offer in regards to soil health and what were the gaps for each so that we could then have the cows and the strawberries complement one another in terms of addressing potential soil degradation issues we may face. This will become more critical as we plan to grow but for now, at a smaller scale we have really been able to hone in and perfect our practices as much as possible.

In order to get the rows, the soil must be cultivated.

Where the difference lies between the dairy farm system, which is under long term pasture, and the short-term strawberry crop is the requirement for heavy cultivation to grow our berries. This includes heavy cultivation at planting and again after harvest. When we cultivate the soil we disrupt the soil structure, break up those soil aggregates which result in the release those beautifully stored nutrients, and deplete our soil carbon stores. For strawberries, there is some pretty serious cultivation that occurs as the soil needs to be powdery for row formation, for easy plant root penetration, and movement of water through the soil profile.

Now on to the second difference. We probably all know that strawberries themselves contain A LOT of nutrients right? Not only do they taste amazing but they are good for us. As much as we hold them in the highest esteem in this respect they are a crop (or plant) that loves to take but not give back to the extent that our cows do. In other words, our strawberry plants are not the recycling machines that our cows are. As the plants are in the ground from June – March they have 10 months to take, take, take. Not only do they take from the soil but every time we pick off a strawberry and export it off farm, we take away soil nutrients and to put that in perspective with each punnets of strawberries eaten there is a punnet full of goodness that’s removed from the soil with a very high ratio between taking and giving from the berries.

So, I have talked about the two systems, being aware that I have discussed one more favorably than the other but both of which, hand on heart I can acknowledge that both have the potential to deplete soils and have risks to the environment when allowed. Where it gets exciting is that we have implemented a number of practices to mitigate against such risks to our soil and our environment by running the cows and the strawberries together. We take advantage of having the benefit of growing our strawberries in a soil that has had very little cultivation, has been allowed to build up its levels of goodies within the soil and had the cows as a tool to regulate or propel this.

Further more, to continue this, once the strawberry season is complete, we then remove our berry plants and add vermicast and compost to feed back to the nutrient pools. We then plant the area in a cover crop so that we can grow a high amount of organic matter to give back to the soil. After mulching the cover crop into the soil at maturity we then put back into a long-term pasture phase so that it can re-build itself. This means our soils are not continually cultivated year after year after year where with each year of strawberry crop a little bit more carbon and a little bit more nutrients are removed from the soil until there becomes a heavy reliance on chemicals and sprays. We get to maintain the balance within the soil which keeps our berries at their best and we feel as though we get to live up to our values at Dairy’s Berries of being sustainable and conscious of how we care for our environment.

Next time you are eating one of our Strawberries, acknowledge that the result is largely due to the cows. They really do play a specific role here at Dairy’s Berries. I also hope this will give a little bit of insight that we at Dairy’s Berries are actively assessing the what’s, how’s when’s and why’s of our farming system. This not only allows us to bring you the very best strawberries we can produce but hopefully shows that we are always acknowledging the potential impacts there are across the farm while also showing we are always putting in place practices to correct and/or minimize any risks to the environment.

So now, lets enjoy the next couple of months of summer strawberries!!