Inside a Multi-Species Grazing System (Live Farm Tour) - Julie Friend | #98
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Show Notes
In this live farm tour episode from July this year, I visited Julie Friend and her farm, Wildom Farm, a regenerative livestock farm where cows, sheep, chickens, and pigs are raised together on pasture and in forest systems. The discussion covers daily pasture rotation, animal behavior, predator dynamics, soil health, and how regenerative management affects animal welfare, meat quality, and ecosystem resilience. The farmer walks through real trade-offs, processing challenges, and why transparency and letting people visit farms matters.
Key Topics
- Daily rotational grazing and mobile infrastructure
- Raising cows, sheep, and chickens together in one system
- Forest-raised pork, forage diversity, and meat quality
- Predator balance, animal behavior, and welfare trade-offs
- Processing bottlenecks, frozen meat, and food transparency
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- How cows, sheep, chickens, and pigs can be managed together in a single pasture-based system without confinement
- Why daily animal movement improves pasture health, soil biology, and animal welfare
- How forest-raised pigs and diverse forage directly influence meat flavor and quality
- The practical trade-offs of regenerative farming, including predators, hay quality, and labor
- Why transparency, farm visits, and frozen meat matter for trust in the food system
Julie Instagram
Wildom Farm Instagram
Website
Timestamps
00:00:00 – Daily pasture moves and extending the grazing season
00:04:00 – Mobile shade and infrastructure without trees
00:07:45 – Starting the cow herd and choosing heritage breeds
00:10:30 – Grassland birds, hay timing, and ecological trade-offs
00:14:10 – Letting customers walk the farm and see the animals
00:18:00 – Why cows, sheep, and chickens are run together
00:22:00 – Forest-raised pigs and whey feeding from a local creamery
00:30:00 – How forage diversity changes the taste of pork
00:37:30 – Fatty acid testing and nutrition in pork and chicken
00:43:30 – Processing bottlenecks and booking a year ahead
00:45:30 – On-farm slaughter vs USDA facilities
00:53:30 – Farm store transparency and frozen meat