Colorado’s ‘rebel’ farmers – ‘I’d like to see industrial farming go extinct’
Jake Takiff is part of a trend towards ‘regenerative’ farming, a more environmentally and economically sustainable model of managing the land
Last September, Jake Takiff, a farmer in Hotchkiss, Colorado, posted a photo of himself on Instagram standing next to a dead sow tied up by its hind feet.
The post pays tribute to Fat Auntie’s prolific litters, how she “took good care of all the piglets and was a joy to be around”, how fond she was of belly rubs. It ends with Jake explaining why, after her long full life, he had killed her that morning: “We are not an animal sanctuary here. Every animal must contribute to the success of our farm.”
Jake, 32, does not particularly enjoy using social media, but you would not know that from the Cedar Springs farm’s Instagram account. The account is used mostly to take orders, post photos of farm life, and connect Jake with other small farmers who take a similar holistic approach to what they do. It tells the story of a first-generation farming couple practising regenerative agriculture in western Colorado.
Regenerative farming prioritises soil health, biodiversity and ecological restoration, and forgoes most conventional industrial agriculture practices, including pesticides, synthetic fertilisers, or feeding pigs and cows genetically modified food such as corn and soy.
