Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles. The goal of fallowing is to allow the land to recover and store organic matter while retaining moisture and disrupting the lifecycles of pathogens by temporarily removing their hosts. (wikipedia definition)
We wondered if this enormous flock of Canada Geese was part of the farmer’s plan for adding organic matter to the soil in this field. There were most likely more than 1000 geese resting here. The first photo illustrates approximately 1/3 of the total field covered with geese. The second photo zooms in to show how tightly packed the birds were. Quite an awesome sight… even from the very far away side of the field.
Wonderful to see them in such numbers, and being tolerated by the farmer!
They’ll definitely be adding organic matter. It’s something they do almost better than anything else!
Indeed. One of our daughters lives near the Oregon Coast in a region where much of the flatlands that run between the Tillamook bay and Coast Range are prime dairy lands. Apparently the farmers there are not fond of the geese and hunt them pretty heavily. She was shocked and pleased to see so many here. We are on the other side of the Coast Range.
There’s no argument with that!! Funny thing is, just across the road from this field (which is usually planted with landscaping stock) is an organic vegetable farm…
😉
I can imagine that such a large flock descending into their crops would get the farmers pretty riled up.