The Living Barn: How We Build Soil in Winter
- Full Farm CSA
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
You may wonder what we mean when we speak of regenerative agriculture—well, our winter housing system gives a good example of what that means at Deck Family Farm.
We keep the cows inside when the fields are very wet in order to protect the soil structure. The cows get plenty of fresh air in the open-sided barns and are fed fermented hay cut from our own fields, called balage.
From November to March, western Oregon recieves about 80% of the 45 inches of annual rainfall. Our clay-heavy soils become particularly vulnerable when saturated. Heavy animals on waterlogged ground cause soil compaction—squeezing out the air pockets and crushing the aggregates that healthy soil microbes depend on. This compaction reduces water infiltration, limits root penetration, and disrupts the mycorrhizal networks that feed our pasture plants.
When spring arrives, these compacted areas are rutted and unsafe to walk on, for people and animals. That ground also struggles to produce the lush, vigorous growth that well-aerated soils deliver. Recovery through tillage and reseeding takes time and money, but more importantly, frequent tillage destroys the very soil biology we work so hard to build through regenerative practices.
So instead of destroying our grasslands in winter, we use a bedded pack barn method to provide healthy and warm shelter during the winter, while simultaneously creating nutrient-rich, aged compost!
To make this system work as a living ecosystem it requires four key inputs: carbon, nitrogen, water, and oxygen. A carbon-rich substrate like straw combines with the nitrogen and moisture from cow manure and urine. When we stir everything together twice a week with a rototiller, we introduce oxygen which activates the aerobic decomposition process.
Each time we till the bedding pack, we top it with fresh straw so the animals stay clean, dry, and comfortable. And that fresh layer then will be mixed in to support the balance of ingredients that decomposition requires.
The biological activity in the composting bed pack generates substantial heat—radiating warmth up toward the cows while simultaneously breaking down organic matter into a stable humus. In the spring, we will spread the humus to our pastures, closing the nutrient loop and feeding the soil food web that drives pasture productivity.
Thank you Mpho and John for the informative video!
