Local Farm of the Month: Richardson Farms
Owned by Jim and Kay Richardson, Richardson Farms was founded in 2000, and is located in Rockdale Texas. The Richardsons are conservation-minded and care deeply about the health and well-being of their animals. Jim has a unique perspective concerning animal care and welfare gained through 35+ years of veterinary practice. He has continued to farm and have bountiful gardens throughout his professional working years. He and Kay share their love of farming with others through their CSA, and Ag-Education farm tours. Kay is a retired Registered Nurse and they have three children: Mike, Kari, and Lance. The farm is now managed by their son, Mike, a firefighter/paramedic who grew up with a passion for the farm.
The hogs are pastured and fed with a grain supplement that they produce on their farm. There are no growth hormones or antibiotics used. All of their livestock are in large open areas or pastures and are free to interact with each other.
Keeping the pigs happy!
Richardson Farms likes to keep the pigs happy! They often “water down” the pigs to keep them cool in the summer! It also makes a big wallow for the pigs to play in!
These mud wallows serve several purposes:
1) the mud helps to keep them cool,
2) helps protect them from sunburn,
3) helps keep down external parasites, and
4) pigs just love it!
The Richardsons grind their own pig feed from grain raised on the farm. The corn is raised using conservation tillage techniques, also called “no till” farming. They do not plow the fields after the crops have been harvested, allowing the residue of the past crop to lay on top of the soil to decay naturally. This helps control weeds and allows earthworms to do the “plowing.” It also saves on diesel and reduces compacting of the soil by the tractor. This conserves topsoil, by allowing the root system to hold the soil during the rain, allowing water to run off clear. The topsoil is also enhanced by nutrients from the previous crop.
Their windmill is fully-functional. The well was hand-dug over 50 year ago and still works. They use the wind to pump natural, good quality, potable water into large, above-ground storage tanks. The water is then pumped in underground pipes to the fields providing excellent natural water for the animals.
An old Vanburen grain drill is still used on the farm. This grain drill was Jim’s grandfather’s that he farmed with many, many years ago. It may look old, but it works as good as a new one. It even has handwriting from Jim’s grandfather under the lids to indicate what settings to put the drill in for certain crops. There have now been 4 generations that have used this grain drill.
Nothing is more important to Richardson Farms than happy and healthy animals!!