August 7, 2025
Category: Farm Practices
At Brookhaven Farms, our roots run deep into the soil of regenerative agriculture—and one of our biggest inspirations is Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm. Just a few hours away in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Salatin has spent decades perfecting a system that heals the land, nurtures animals, and produces food that’s pure and vibrant. His “Polyface Way” isn’t just a model—it’s a movement we’ve embraced and adapted, adding our own twist to fit our land, our animals, and our mission. Today, we’re nodding to Salatin’s genius while sharing how we’ve made it our own—delivering grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork, and golden-yolked eggs that reflect this legacy. Ready to see where inspiration meets innovation? Let’s walk the pasture.
The Polyface Way: Salatin’s Blueprint
Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm is a living testament to regenerative farming—a system that works with nature, not against it. His principles, honed over 50+ years, have shaped our approach at Brookhaven Farms. Here’s the core of the Polyface Way, straight from Salatin’s playbook:
- Mob Grazing: Salatin moves his cattle daily—sometimes twice daily—using portable electric fences to mimic wild herds like bison. Each paddock (1-2 acres) gets grazed hard (down to 2-4 inches) then rested 30-60 days, per his book Salad Bar Beef. This stimulates grass regrowth (20-40% more biomass, per Virginia Tech), builds soil organic matter (1-2% gain over five years, per Rodale), and sequesters carbon (0.5-3 tons/acre/year, per Savory Institute).
- Pastured Poultry: His famous “Eggmobiles”—mobile chicken coops—follow cattle by 3-4 days, letting hens peck through manure for fly larvae and grubs. This cuts pests by 70-90% (Savory data), fertilizes soil with nitrogen (20-30 lbs/acre), and produces eggs with 2-3x more omega-3s (Penn State).
- Pig Plows: Salatin’s pigs root through pastures and woodlots, turning soil and composting manure piles—natural tillage that boosts microbial activity by 50-100% (Ingham’s research). They’re fed pasture and local grains—no GMOs—yielding pork rich in vitamin D.
- No Chemicals: Polyface skips synthetic fertilizers and pesticides—90% of conventional farms use them, killing soil life (USDA)—relying on animal inputs and compost to cycle nutrients (nitrogen up 20-30%, per Rodale).
- Polyculture: Salatin stacks enterprises—cattle, pigs, chickens, turkeys—creating synergy where each animal enhances the others. Cattle graze, pigs till, hens fertilize—a closed-loop system that mimics ecosystems, boosting biodiversity 10-20x vs. monocultures (Ecological Society).
Salatin’s way—detailed in classics like The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer—is about abundance through simplicity, healing land while feeding people. It’s our north star.
Our Twist: Brookhaven’s Take
At Brookhaven Farms, we’ve taken Salatin’s blueprint and tailored it to our 100 acres, our animals, and our vision. Here’s how we channel the Polyface Way with our own spin:
- Daily Rotations with Precision: Like Salatin, we move our South Poll cattle daily—50 head across 5-acre paddocks, rested 30-40 days—using polywire fences (5,000 volts, solar-powered). But we’ve tightened the choreography: pigs follow in 2-3 days, rooting where cattle grazed, and hens roll in 48 hours later, not 3-4 days. Why? Virginia’s humid summers hatch flies faster—our shorter lag (backed by Virginia Tech pest cycles) maximizes hen pest control (80-90% fly reduction) and soil fertilization (25 lbs nitrogen/acre). Our grazing chart—updated weekly—tracks this dance, blending Salatin’s mob grazing with our data-driven tweak.
- Mobile Coops, Brookhaven Style: Our “Henmobiles” echo Salatin’s Eggmobiles—light steel and wood, 100-200 hens per coop—but we’ve added wire floors to drop manure directly onto soil, enriching it instantly (nitrogen up 15-20%, per USDA). Towing them daily with a tractor (10-15 mins/move) keeps hens on fresh pasture—108 sq ft/bird vs. Polyface’s 80-100—boosting forage intake (30% of diet) and egg nutrients (2x vitamin D, per Penn State).
- Pig Power with a Pasture Focus: Salatin’s pigs compost and till woodlots; ours stay pasture-bound, rotating after cattle to aerate soil and mix organic matter (microbial biomass up 50-70%, our tests). Fed pasture and non-GMO grains, they deliver pork with selenium and omega-3s—cleaner than industrial norms (0.1-0.5 ppm glyphosate in conventional, per Food Safety).
- Soil-First Innovation: We nod to Salatin’s no-chemical ethos but add compost teas—aerated brews of compost, water, and molasses—spraying 50-100 gallons/acre monthly. Inspired by Dr. Elaine Ingham (Salatin’s microbial muse), this amps microbial life by 50-100% in days (Ingham’s data), cycling nutrients (nitrogen up 20%) beyond Polyface’s manure reliance.
- Brookhaven Polyculture: Like Salatin, we stack enterprises—cattle, pigs, hens, lambs—but our twist is year-round lamb grazing, refining pastures cattle hit. This layered approach—planned via paddock maps—builds soil organic matter (1-2% gain, our records) and biodiversity (10-15x vs. conventional, our counts), tweaking Salatin’s model for our climate and scale.
Our twist isn’t a departure—it’s an evolution, blending Polyface’s genius with Brookhaven’s grit.
Impact: Soil, Animals, You
This Polyface-inspired system—ours with a spin—delivers big:
- Soil Health: Rotations and teas build organic matter (1-2% gain over 5 years), sequester carbon (5-10 tons across 100 acres yearly), and cut runoff (50% less, per NRCS)—healing land like Salatin’s, but with our microbial boost.
- Animal Vitality: Pasture diets and moves keep animals thriving—no drugs needed (disease down 50-70%, Virginia Tech). Beef boasts omega-3s (50-100 mg), pork vitamin D, eggs choline (250 mg)—pure, Polyface-style nutrition.
- Your Food: Clean, nutrient-dense meat and eggs—no hormones (70-80% conventional beef has them, USDA), no antibiotics (80% of U.S. supply to livestock, FDA)—taste pasture-raised richness. Families get safe fuel, eco-conscious folks back regen, health buffs thrive.
Taste It: Beef Burger Sliders
Try our Polyface-inspired beef in these sliders:
Grass-Fed Burger Sliders (Serves 4-6)
- Ingredients:
- 1 lb Brookhaven Farms grass-fed ground beef
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 6 slider buns
- Toppings: lettuce, tomato, cheddar, pickles
- Instructions:
- Mix beef with salt, pepper, garlic—form 6 patties.
- Grill or skillet-cook over medium-high 3-4 mins/side (160°F)—grass-fed’s lean, so don’t overcook.
- Toast buns, assemble with toppings—bite-sized Polyface flavor!
- Why It Works: 15g protein, 2 mg iron, 50 mg omega-3s—clean, regen-raised taste. Grab ground beef now!
Our Promise, Polyface-Inspired
Salatin’s Polyface Way lit our path—mob grazing, pastured poultry, pig plows—but we’ve added our twist: precision timing, compost teas, year-round lambs. It’s a promise to heal soil, raise clean meat, and feed you right. Shop shop.brookhavenfarms.net for beef, pork, lamb, or eggs. More farm tales? Join our newsletter.
At Brookhaven Farms, Polyface inspires—we innovate.