I thought I was going to die — The owl swiveled its head around and its bright yellow eyes pierced mine. I thought I was going to die. As soon as my large, Sapien brain caught up with what was happening, I realized that was unlikely. …

Properly managed livestock can help reverse the effects — Livestock is destroying the world’s land and climate through overgrazing and greenhouse gas production. Reduce their numbers, and save the world. Eat only a plant-based diet, and save the world. Turns out, ecology is more complicated than one-line phrases: We’re learning that livestock can be part of the solution to…

How the Internet’s romanticism is keeping us down. — My co-worker Jenni and I have an inside joke. If we’re working together and something is truly terrible (we’re hauling feed to the pigs in knee-deep, boot-sucking mud, or it’s blowing 30 mph and raining sideways, or the four-wheeler broke down for the third time that day…..) …

What my dog taught me about personal responsibility, self-judgement and the importance of fun. — My social media feeds are flooded with smiling couples and the shiny, new human lives they’ve created. Before children, though, my feeds were flooded with pictures of my newly married friends’ “practice” puppies. As if getting a puppy and having a child even came close! Now I get it. In…

Not long ago, I got my first piece of hate mail. (It was digital, of course, but it still counts). A woman had read one of my articles on farming humanely and then wrote to tell me that I was a violent person. …

On our farm we raise animals for meat. We specialize in pork, poultry and sheep. We aren’t a large farm by any means, but every year we raise about 1,000 birds, maintain 8 breeding sows for piglets and have nine breeding sheep. We believe in purchasing local food, supporting small…