Surrounded by prime Minnesota cropland, the thirty-three acres of forested land that is now Belle View Farm was unsuccessfully reclaimed as farmland following on-site clay mining in the early 1900s.
Instead of changing the land, we decided to change the way the land is farmed. With a focus on sustainable practices, more specifically agroforestry and nature-inclusive farming, we have included the forest habitat in rotational grazing pastures for Kunekune pigs and Katahdin sheep as a method of controlling invasive plant species throughout the young growth forest, which is also home to animals such as white-tailed deer, red fox, wild turkey, and great horned owls. Rotational grazing around the existing ponds also manages invasive plant growth and deters predators near the ponds which are visited by approximately one dozen migratory waterfowl and wading bird species annually, becoming nesting grounds every spring and summer.