How To Farm With Horses
In the olden days we relied on the natural resources we had at hand to cultivate agricultural land. Today, many again have turned to these old techniques to save on costs and reduce the carbon footprint cultivation of agricultural land leaves behind.
Commonly, horses are used as show horses, racers, on ranches to cut cattle from the herd and just for the joy of riding. However, the use of horses is much bigger than you might realize. When you look at it, each horse is bred and trained for specific reasons and jobs, and one of these jobs include farming.
The Benefits and Drawbacks of Farming With Horses
Though the use of horses for farming might seem redundant, it is a method many farms use to become more eco-friendly and environmentally responsible.
Besides these environmentally sound reasons, using horses to replace fuel driven machinery, is also very cost effective for the farmer in order to maintain and cultivate agricultural land. This is however dependant in the size of the farm.
The Amish still use these old techniques to work their farms. As you know, the Amish are self sustainable and modern technology is a big no. It is an effective way of production for them, then why not for our smaller, modern farms.
Replacing machinery with horses means that the farm produce less carbon pollution and alleviates soil compaction caused by many machineries.
Furthermore it is an effective way nitrate groundwater pollution is reduced. It is also important to note that horses can be used for many agricultural processes such as plowing, harrowing and corn planting.
Many farms use horses for logging, cultivating land, both the planting and picking of corn, corn binding, grain drilling, bailing, the spreading of manure to fertilize land as well as mowing and raking.
As you can see, almost all fuel driven machinery on a farm can be replaced by older technology equipment and horses.
To be fair, the technological advances in machinery have enabled agricultural production to increase at a faster pace. This faster pace allows for a cheaper in store product that we can rely on. It is a sure deliverable that will not only be available, but be available on time.
Asking farms that produce agricultural products on a nationwide scale, to drop all fuel driven machinery and switch to use of horses, will not only mean an immediate cost for the farms, but a smaller production and delivery scale.
It is an effective way of farming for smaller farms that produce less. Bigger farms we rely on the feed not only our own nation, but to derive an income from exports, cannot afford to stop the use of machinery.
These modern techniques were put in place so that agricultural products can be produced at a faster pace and on a wider scale. Switching from machinery to horse will have a devastating effect on a nation’s economy.
Yes, jobs can be created by switching back to older techniques, but the amount of jobs that will be lost, will be far greater.
There has to be a change in the way our machinery operates, but it has to be as effective as those we already have in place. -ANNABEL SCHOEMAN