Thisldo Farm - The Pronk Family
Thisldo Farm – The Pronk Family
According to Marte Pronk, his parents Martin and Corrie have been farming organically for as long as he can remember. Marte and his wife Joanne have been organic farmers for over 20 years, taking over the family farm in South Western Ontario in 2004.
Marte, Joanne and their four boys take care of 500 laying hens and a dairy herd. Marte’s parents still look after the laying flock and some heifers, and help out at haying time. Together the Pronk family owns about 150 acres of organically farmed land, all of which is seeded in pasture and hay.
The Pronks are committed to pasturing their chickens outdoors. They believe their hens are happier and healthier when they have fresh air and plenty of room to socialize. As a key egg producer, Marte is a member of the Organic Meadow Egg Advisory Committee, which helps guide Organic Meadow’s egg business.
Marte and Joanne are pleased that the location of their farm on a provincial highway - with chickens, cows and even pigs pastured near the road - helps to create awareness of Organic Meadow and organic farming.
Marte has been busy taking videos of what happens on his farm, click on the videos below to learn more about what happens on an organic dairy farm!
Marte shows off the new addition to the farm
Its always a great day when a new calf is born on a dairy farm. Today, Marte walks out to the pasture to check on a cow and she's given birth!
Cows out to pasture
Marte walking along the cow path and he describes the different pastures
Cows out to pasture
Cows out to pasture
On organic dairy farms, properly composted maure is worth its weight in gold! Its used as a fertilizer to spread on the fields to help the next year's crops grow. In this video, Marte shows how you spread manure.
