Sunny Knoll EcoFarm is situated in the rolling hills of northern Virginia in Loudoun County near Lovettsville, just a few miles south of the Potomac River.
Sunny Knoll EcoFarm is an agricultural ecosystem. We have designed the farm to function as a self-sustaining system, with minimal inputs from off the farm. By allowing our animals to live in their natural state as much as possible, we harness their energy to do some of the farm chores.
This chart compares and contrasts how problems are solved on Sunny Knoll EcoFarm to how they are typically solved by industrial American agriculture.
|
Problem |
Sunny Knoll EcoFarm’s Solution |
Conventional Solution |
|
Controlling cow parasites |
Ducks & chickens eat insects |
Insecticides & dewormers |
|
Controlling poultry diseases |
Lots of space; clean housing; pasture rotation |
Preventative antibiotics & medicines |
|
Manure management |
Chickens spread out cow pies |
Manure storage pits & spreading equipment |
|
Ticks |
Guinea hens eat them |
Insecticides |
|
Tilling earth |
Pigs dig in the ground |
Heavy equipment |
|
Harvesting animal feed |
Animals graze & forage |
Heavy equipment |
|
Soil fertility |
Manure is handled for zero runoff; pasture rotation |
Chemical fertilizers |
|
Weed control |
Diverse animals grazing diverse plants |
Herbicides |
|
Controlling insect pests |
Poultry eat insects |
Insecticides |
|
Controlling snails & slugs |
Ducks eat snails & slugs |
Metaldehyde & other poisons |
|
Overall animal health |
Natural diet, spacious pastures, heritage breeds |
Antibiotics, medicines, hormones, etc |