By Donn Hewes
Draft animal power will be the theme of The Natural Farmer's Spring 2025 issue, and I want to introduce the topic here as it is seen in small farms today.
Simply put, draft animal power is using draft horses, mules, and oxen (as well as dogs, goats, and other animals) to do a wide variety of tasks on farms, in forests, and in tourism. In large and small market gardens and farms, the animals dig, plough, and cultivate things that farmers would do by hand in very small plots and with tractors in bigger areas.
While the use of draft animals for farming and transportation goes back to Mesopotamia a couple of thousand years ago, in North America, oxen and simple drags, wagons, and plows dominated the 18th and first half of the 19th century. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the introduction of more mechanized agricultural tools, horses and mules increased in popularity on America's farms. From 1850 to about 1940, horses and mules provided most of the power for farms in North America, and industry built more and more complicated machines designed to be pulled by them, including plows, mowers, reapers, and eventually combine harvesters for harvesting wheat.
In those days, and on Amish farms to this day, young children learned the craft of working with these animals by being born to it and raised in it - like learning one’s first language. This is the natural progression of a craft from generation to generation.
Today, there is a small but steady resurgence in draft animal-powered farming and logging by the same (mostly) young folks who bring you CSA vegetables. These folks are revitalizing the local food movement, advocating for food in underserved communities, and diversifying the demographic of beginning farmers. This movement started with a few organic farms in the 1970s and has slowly grown since then.
So what happened when the emerging food movement met the culture and tradition of draft animal power? The beginning farmers today were not born or raised on farms with draft animal power and didn’t learn these skills on the family farm. This has led to a demand for teaching, learning, and sharing beyond what would have been required in a traditional farming community of 100 years ago. Today, we use everything from connections to Amish communities, the experience of older farmers, the internet and books to bridge a gap and bring these timeless skills and crafts to a new generation of farmers.
I am not trying to suggest that draft animal power will, or should, be on every new farm, but only that it is part of a much larger movement that I think will benefit food production and organic, regenerative farming as a whole. Draft animal power has the potential to play an essential part in the growth of healthy and local foods, farms, forests, and communities.
On our own farm, formerly the Northland Sheep Dairy, now the Northland Sheep Farm (sorry, folks, these farmers have retired from milking sheep and making cheese) (and soon to be Triple Tree Farm) in Marathon, New York. We are certified organic and 100% Grass-fed by NOFA-NY and have used horses and mules as a primary source of power for haymaking, pasture clipping, logging, gardening, compost spreading, and snow plowing for the last 22 years. We also heat our home with firewood brought to the house by horses.
During that time, I taught more than 20 interns and apprentices how to do this work and helped many more in workshops and classes. Faced with all the same challenges as beginning farmers everywhere, such as land access and start-up costs, the farmers I have worked with are starting their own farms, and many of them are using, or plan to use, draft animals. (Editor’s note: As one of the young(er) and beginning farmers in this region, I know first-hand the reputation Donn and his partner Maryrose uphold, and Donn is modest. Northland Sheep Dairy was the oldest sheep dairy in the county before Maryrose retired the dairy last year. These two are some of the most badass farmers in Central New York, and their commitment to the land and animals and their endless willingness to share their knowledge are definitely part of why the Finger Lakes region became an epicenter for local farms and local food. They have and continued to train beginning farmers on everything they do from sheep shearing to making cheese to farming with draft animals. They have also and continue to provide really affordable housing and land access to new farmers. Donn is the President of the Draft Animal-Power Network and a long-time volunteer firefighter and Maryrose was a longtime board member and past president of NOFA-NY.)
Working with draft power is often seen as a historical pursuit, but it is much more than that. As our stories will reveal in future issues, it is more about ecology than history. Horses' feet are light on the land and don’t cause the compaction that a tractor can; they also don’t use fossil fuels. As with any livestock, they are great for helping to build fertility with their manure and urine. The light touch of horses and oxen in the forest is easily seen – they lend themselves to a type of forestry where the first consideration is always the value of the soils and trees that remain when the work is done.
Eventually, people always ask about the economics of working with horses. Indeed, draft animal power doesn’t get as much done as quickly as using larger machines. Animals also require more human labor to care for and work alongside them. While buying horses and equipment are not free, they can be low-cost compared to some of the costs associated with modern tractor-based equipment today - which also need care and regular maintenance like animals. To build a farm, I’ve always thought it’s best to start with lower costs, low inputs and a small scale.
I know of many examples of people using animal traction as the only or major power source on their farm and making a modest living from farming. The secret to their success is to NOT place the form of traction as the center of the equation. The full equation must start with what you will grow and who you will sell to. Second, what values will you incorporate in how you grow? Will the farm be organic or grass-fed? Can you sell your products locally? Finally, the human labor required and where it will come from should be considered. These questions will be answered differently with animal traction in mind, but none are deal breakers.
In most businesses labor is often seen as a cost to be avoided or reduced. When working with draft animal power, I find it helpful to think of human labor as an opportunity. Unlike machines, the animals' usefulness will be maximized as more human labor is available to work along with them. This can come in many forms, ranging from working with family, partnerships between farms, training internships and apprenticeships, and even amazing work parties. Throughout history, draft animal-powered farming has been a natural element in local community building. Good work parties with a tractor are rare - imaging working in the soil while a large machine regularly interrupts your conversation - but with a team of horses - whose presence is calming, quiet and majestic - they can be a blast.
Working with draft horses has caused me to face real and practical limits. For example, how many acres can we farm? How many customers can we serve? How much help will I need? I have come to embrace the idea of limits as a helpful tool that ensures that I treat every bit of the earth that I am responsible for to the best of my ability. The mere suggestion of limits is antithetical to much of our culture and society today, but limits can help us focus our efforts. Making us more efficient, less wasteful, and more appreciative of what we have. Working with horses has taught me to value sharing work with other people. Another hidden benefit of working within limits is how naturally draft animal power builds community. Folks who work with draft animals end up living closer together - figuratively and literally - sharing meals and lives with each other.
Finally, the relationship with the animals themselves is a special one. The animals and the farmer learn to be in sync, both wanting to complete tasks. The desire to complete shared tasks means more communication and understanding are needed in this dual-species relationship. With our leadership, draft animals are smart, brave, and determined. They challenge us to be the best communicators and leaders we can be. This working relationship has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. (You would be hard-pressed to have this relationship with a tractor!)
Donn Hewes runs Northland Sheep Farm with Maryrose Livingston in Marathon, NY. He is also the President of the Draft Animal-Power Network and a long-time volunteer firefighter.
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