Kansas City’s Local Food Source

Sustainable Methods

Sheep at the Kings Lane Farm

Sustainability rests on the principle that we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.  A systems perspective is essential to understanding sustainability. A sustainable  system in its broadest sense includes  the individual farm, the local ecosystem, and  the communities affected by the farming systems both locally and globally.  An emphasis on the system allows a larger  view of the consequences of farming practices on both human communities and the environment.

Sustainable agriculture is an integrated system of plant and animal practices with several goals.  Most importantly those goals include:

• The  enhancement of  environmental quality and natural resources
• The use nonrenewable resources more efficiently
• Better utilization of  on-farm resources
• Employing natural and biological controls for pests and disease

Our  sustainable practices  include  working with natural processes, rather than against them.  Compost and manure are key components of this, working naturally to maintain soil fertility thus improving the forage and the nutritional qualities of our products.

Bio-Dynamic Agriculture

The Old Chicken Coop

Bio-Dynamic agriculture is a method of farming that views a farm as a living system.  This type of farming operates on the belief that a farm should be able to create and maintain everything it needs to stay healthy and fruitful.  Bio-dynamics emphasizes the use of manures and composts and the recycling of key nutrients.  It seeks to create a farm system that is minimally dependant on imported materials, and instead meets its needs from the living dynamics of the farm itself. It is the biodiversity of the farm, organized so that the waste of one part of the farm becomes the energy for another.

Animals are a crucial element of a Biodynamic farm, and in addition to their obvious contribution to a farm’s fertility, their care and welfare are given extensive consideration. Housing must allow animals to move freely and protect them from heat, dust and excess humidity.

The modern method of raising free range birds - The chicken "tractor" in the background.

Key components of Bio-dynamic agriculture include:

• Plant diversity – allowing a variety of plants to grow on uncultivated land.  In doing this, the plants will work in support of each other and keep the soil healthy.
• Crop Rotation – encourages healthy soil, reduces parasites, controls weeds/pests
• Animal Life – encourages healthy soil, reduces parasites, controls weeds/pests
• Composting – stabilizes nitrogen in soil
• Homeopathic Solutions – used for composting and suppressing fungal disease
• Life Forces – acknowledging that cosmic forces play a role

We invite you to visit your place of food production.  Located only 25 minutes from downtown Kansas City, we raise your beef, chicken, eggs and specialty meats utilizing natural  principles to produce the best quality food available anywhere.