05/21/2026
Two years ago we started transitioning our first 20 acres from corn and soybeans to rotating pasture. This spring we watched a pair of bald eagles carry sticks across our fields to build a nest nearby. 🦅
That is not a small thing. And it did not happen by accident.
Honey Glass Farm is bordered on both sides by Mad Horse Creek Wildlife Management Area here in Hancocks Bridge. Wildlife has always moved through this landscape. What has changed since we began transitioning acres to pasture is the diversity and frequency of what we are seeing. Bald eagles, osprey, multiple hawk species, and a significant increase in songbird species and numbers. Deer and rabbits as daily sightings. Turkeys increasingly common. Fox, coyotes, and great blue herons all present and observed regularly.
The ecology behind it is straightforward. Rotating pasture managed for both grazing and hay production creates a mosaic of vegetation and habitat that supports a much wider range of wildlife than a single commodity crop. Invertebrates return to the soil. Small mammals thrive in the pasture margins. The birds of prey follow the small mammals. The food web rebuilds from the ground up — literally from the soil.
On our transitioned acres we manage pasture without the chemical inputs associated with row crop production. We harvest hay from these acres to feed our own cattle and sheep through the winter, reducing our dependence on outside feed sources and keeping the production cycle on our own land. The rotational grazing builds soil health over time. And healthy soil supports everything above it.
We are not finished. We still have 20-plus acres in row crops scheduled for future transition. This is a multi-year process done at a pace that makes sense for the operation. But what we have already seen on the 40 acres that have transitioned is enough to confirm we are heading in the right direction.
We are surrounded on both sides by protected wildlife management area. As we continue the transition we are gradually connecting those two pieces of protected habitat with working agricultural land that functions as a wildlife corridor. That matters for this landscape in ways that go well beyond our farm.
The bald eagles carrying sticks across our pastures to build their nest are not visiting us. They are using us. That is exactly what we are here for.
We just published a full post on the blog documenting what we have observed, the ecology behind why it is happening, and what it means to farm in a way that supports the land and the broader landscape.
👉 Read the full post: madhorsemeats.com/blog
📍 Honey Glass Farm, Hancocks Bridge NJ
🌐 madhorsemeats.com
