White Oak Pastures

White Oak Pastures is a six-generation, 156-year-old farm in Bluffton, Georgia, United States. White Oak Pastures describes itself as Radically Traditional Farming and is one of the most recognized regenerative farms in the United States. What started as a conventional cattle operation has now transitioned to having 14 species working to restore the local ecosystem. White Oak has expanded its farm to also include agrotourism, with on-site lodging to allow the public to visit, stay, and learn about an alternative farming method. The White Oak Pastures team has one simple but not easy goal: taking care of their land and their livestock. This year, they have been awarded three awards.

White Oak Pastures has a high welfare model for their pig operations with sows living together in small groups and given new pasture every few days. They are always given access to roam, have trees or shade structures, and farrow in groups outdoors. White Oak Pastures is striving to increase the number of sows and boars they raise each year and is a wonderful example of a high welfare, regenerative pig model in the US.

White Oak Pastures is dedicated to raising pastured rabbits in a system that closely mimics the experience a wild rabbit would have in nature. Their pastured rabbits live in groups in a movable rabbit house called the “rabbitat.” They have access to grass and forage, are rotated every few days and have vegetable treats from the farm’s organic vegetable garden. The rabbits are able to express their natural behaviors and have space to run, dig, and hide. White Oak is working with Compassion in World Farming to transition its breeding operation to a pasture model as well.

As a fourth-generation farmer, Will Harris III made the conscious decision to return his farm to a production system that is better for the environment, for their animals, and for the people who eat their meat. He reinstituted the multi-species rotational grazing practices of his forefathers, and he built abattoirs on the farm to slaughter their animals on site. The farming practices at White Oak Pastures focus on regenerative land management, humane animal husbandry and revitalizing the local rural community. They have also founded the Center for Agricultural Resilience, which acts as an educational center for the public to participate in workshops and learn more about how to build soil health, restore local ecosystems, and ensure high welfare for animals. White Oak Pastures has been awarded the SFFA for its focus on restoring land from conventional row cropped fields to pastured grassland that dramatically increased rainwater retention, whilst also incorporating a wide range of animals on its farm in a holistic way.