Meet Joel & Cynthia Huesby

2005 Vim Wright Stewardship Award Winners

Welcome to Thundering Hooves

Named after the herd of Percheron and Belgian workhorses they used instead of tractors, Thundering Hooves consists of 399 irrigated acres of grass and clover pastures in the Walla Walla Valley nourishing the rotating "crops" of cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, and turkeys who live there.

Growing Philosophy

"We at the Thundering Hooves organic family farm, believe that health in its many forms is important for the land, the livestock, and people. We believe that reconnecting our urban partners to the farmers that grow their food will enhance community stability."

--Joel Huesby

You know your doctor, you know your dentist, but do you know who grows your food?

The Huesby family raises their pasture-range livestock on 399 acres of land that's been chemical-free for over ten years (and currently in transition to Certified Organic status) and personally process their meats at their own process facility (Kwik Freeze) to ensure the high-quality of their products. 

With food travelling an average of 1,500 miles from farm to fork, the Huesby's aim to greatly reduce that while getting to know their consumers by selling to them directly via their Thundering Hooves website, Kwik Freez store front, and Seattle area farmers markets.  They are also involved in the Slow Food movement.

Customers tell the Huesby's that their pasture-finished meats tastes better than livestock finished at feedlots and their dry-age process to preserve the meat tastes better than the chemical method.

Managing Livestock Health

Livestock health is managed with a program of high-intensity rotational grazing on the pastures of clover and perennial grasses (which out-competes the weeds). Cattle are not given antibiotics or hormones. Chickens and turkeys are pastured instead of warehoused and they can roam the pastures at will with scattered shelters in case of inclement weather. Poultry is also rotated from year to year to avoid disease problems.

Innovatively Encouraging Healthy Soil

The single most important stewardship practice to successful farming, the Huesbys believe, is healthy soil.  Their philosophy of managing the soil is to never take out organic matter without replacing it, such as by using livestock to harvest grasses and supply the soil with natural fertilizers instead of chemicals.

The Huesbys have implemented other innovative methods to improve soil quality and nutrients, and prevent erosion.  Five years ago, thirty-four thousand tons of paper fibers were trucked in to add organic matter to the soil.  The increased organic matter in the soil improved the soil's moisture retention, increased soil nutrients, eliminated the practices of plowing or discing that dry out the land, and as a result kept all that paper out of landfills.  Today, earthworms plow and aerate the soil and the livestock graze on the hay and grasses growing in the pastures. The soil isn't compacted, the rain percolates into the soil, and the water is distributed by gravity.

Managing Water Year Round

In addition to increasing water retention by increasing organic matter to the soil, Thundering Hooves built a large, experimental reservoir lined with organic matter (trampled cow manure and hay) called "glay" which holds water from irrigation ditches each winter for use in the summer when farmers and fish traditionally compete for water. This method of lining farm reservoirs can increase on farm water storage capacity and reduce the amount of water drawn from local rivers during summer months.