BDA FARM BUS TOUR 2023
BDA Bus Tour Recap
On June 29-July 1, LGLCI loaded up 28 people onto a bus and took off to the 6000-acre BDA Farm in Uniontown, AL. There we met Dr. Allen Williams and his team, who hosted us for the weekend.
We began with a welcome steak dinner at the BDA Farm-owned historic venue in Marion, AL.
Friday morning, we began our farm tour with the South Poll and Pineywoods crossbred cattle, with much discussion on pasture health, genetics, and soil health.
Friday afternoon, Dr. Williams taught us the 6-3-4 principles of regenerative agriculture, which is a portion of Understanding Ag’s “Soil Health Academy.” Everyone enjoyed the air conditioning and learning the principles as well.
Friday night, a tour guide from the Selma Chamber of Commerce guided us through Selma, where we ended the evening riverside at the historic St. James Hotel.
Saturday morning, back at BDA Farm, we made several stops.
First, Dr. Allen and the team toured us through the pastured chicken operation, where over 2000 laying chickens reside in hoop houses that are moved regularly to improve soil and animal health. Later that day, the team showed us how the beautiful brown eggs collected that day were washed, sorted, and packed for commercial sales.
Dr. Allen walked us through the farm’s new and massive custom-designed covered cattle working pens.
We took a cool-down break in the meat packing room, where tables and boxes are set up in a refrigerated space to pack beef for shipping for direct sales, as well as the upstairs dry storage area where boxes are assembled.
Dr. Allen guided us through the 12-acre garden facilities, which were currently out of use, but it wasn’t hard to visualize the scale of veggies that could be grown there.
Lastly, before lunch and departure, we saw the pastured pork/feeder hog facilities and discussed those. That setup was simple and easy to replicate with just a few bales of hay, old tin, some electric net wire, and a strand of electric wire. And surprisingly, the ground was not rooted up in the hog grazing area, only in their sleeping area.
The best part of the trip, as always, was the networking to be done with others.
Thanks to BDA Farm and Allen Williams and the staff there for the warm hospitality, great education, and great food!
