Improving Pastures

Farms are the heart of the Piedmont region. Creating healthy pastures means sustainable farmland and a strong local economy.


a field with rows of cover crop between squash plants

Soil is Alive: How to Keep it Healthy

PEC’s service region in the Virginia Piedmont has long been a pasture-based farming area, and we’ve collaborated with livestock producers on rotational grazing and other land management practices to improve soil health. We are even demonstrating these practices at Roundabout Meadows, our Loudoun County farm property. Healthy soil can make ...
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Video: Cover Crops with John Marshall Soil and Water

Video: Cover Crops with John Marshall Soil and Water

We partnered with John Marshall Soil and Water Conservation District to produce this video about their cover crop cost-share program. Sign up for John Marshall Soil & Water Conservation District’s cover crop cost-share program by October 1!Funding is available - give them a call at (540) 422-8490 to learn more ...
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Fronting the Costs: Fencing at Mountain Hollow Farm

Carina and Dean Elgin at their fence. Photo by Hugh Kenny, PEC. Eight generations of cattle farming had taken its toll on the streams at Dean and Carina Elgin’s Mountain Hollow Farm in northern Fauquier County. Historically, “all the cattle had access to the creek. That was our watering system ...
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Productive Pastures at Bean Hollow Grassfed

Productive Pastures at Bean Hollow Grassfed

At Bean Hollow Grassfed, Mike Sands wanted to use his training to revive Over Jordan Farm’s worn-out pastures and develop a financially stable farm model. Read about our approach to this project, or listen to Mike Sands directly. Cows grazing at Over Jordan Farm. Credit: Marco Sanchez A Case Study ...
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Grazing Along

Grazing Along

A newborn lamb with his mother and sibling. Lambing season is the only time Mike Sands doesn’t graze his sheep and cattle together. Otherwise, grazing the animals together is beneficial to their health and the farm’s soil. Photo by Paula Combs A large herd of fluffy, yet still intimidating, sheep ...
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Sheep grazing

Renovating Worn-Out Pastures

The Benefits of Rotational Grazing Like many Piedmont farms, Over Jordan Farm in Rappahannock has been a pasture-based operation for decades. After 20 years of overgrazing, however, it’s facing issues that are common in the region—poor soil health, a lack of grass and plant diversity and the resulting lack of ...
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