Recording Documentary Footage at White Oak Pastures
My Experience Working with Will Harris and White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia
(Saadat Faiz) Taking shots of the cattle as they graze. Photo Credit: Jay, White Oak Pastures Video Editor
The last ten days have been a whirlwind. I drove from Michigan to the deep south of Georgia, where I stayed at one of White Oak Pastures’ lodges (the Sam Fordham, to be exact) for a few days. Will Harris and his daughter Jenni Harris had allowed me to record footage at their farm for my upcoming short documentary on sustainable animal agriculture. This documentary will be published on my YouTube channel most likely (unless a film festival takes priority) and will also be my final project submission for my second semester at Miami University as an MA in biology student.
Thus, on October 28, I packed my clothes, food, and camera gear and began the long drive toward Georgia. I consumed hours of podcasts and audiobooks while driving. On my way to Georgia, I stayed one night in Knoxville, TN. Once I was in Georgia, I stayed with my grandparents for an additional night before driving to Bluffton. It was interesting to experience the weather become warmer and peoples’ accents get thicker the further south I drove. Once I was in Bluffton, people spoke with such thick southern accents I almost had difficulty understanding them. By the third day, I swear, I noticed my own accent beginning to change slightly. White Oak Pastures is a farm filled with friendly folks and adorable dogs. I particularly liked the company of an old German shorthair pointer who followed me for belly rubs. If I had more time, I’d play with all the dogs on the property, as they had plenty of canine companions throughout the 3200 acres.
This farm is massive compared to the previous two farms I’ve worked with for my short documentary (Serendipity Farms in Wolverine, MI, and Raw Farm in Fresno, CA). There are numerous sections of pasture throughout the property, and it is on these sections that the cattle are so famously rotated to mimic the natural migration patterns of ungulates on the landscape. Not only was I able to witness this directly, but I was given a firsthand tour of the entire property by none other than Will Harris himself! That was a very exciting day, as that was the day I first met Will Harris in person. We had done a podcast over Zoom a few months prior, but I had never physically met the man till that day.
After the driving tour, we did an in-person interview in his office. Being a one-man band, it took me a few minutes to get the cameras, tripods, and microphones set up in the best way, given the lighting situation of his office. He was very nice throughout the entire process. On top of asking him about who he is and why he does what he does, I asked him many scientific questions about his methods of agriculture. I cannot wait to share the full interview with you guys on my YouTube channel, Wild Primal. At the end of our interview, Mr. Harris even signed a copy of his book I purchased earlier. His book is called, A Bold Return to Giving a Damn: One Farm, Six Generations, and the Future of Food, and it has been published very recently by Viking, a Penguin publishing group. I also asked him if he could mention me to Joe Rogan since he will be going back on the JRE this November. He assured me that he would.
Back at my cabin, I started a little fire outside. I was surrounded by beautiful pine trees, as my cabin, the Sam Fordham, was situated in an idyllic location within a forested area of White Oak Pastures. I had to pinch myself to make sure this wasn’t all a dream. Recording footage for my short documentary at this location was an incredibly great opportunity for someone like me, an independent filmmaker and MA in biology student focused on the environmental impact of sustainable animal agriculture. I reminded myself that I was indeed working with one of the farms leading the charge in the regenerative movement.
As I looked into the flames and thought of all this, I noticed a multitude of bug species crawling out of the burning logs and scurrying away. Some of them were pretty large and alien-looking. There was even an anole lizard trapped in the netted porch and a frog that somehow found its way inside my cabin. I gently released them both. There were also various wasp species trapped in the netted porch, and I think this is what the little anole lizard was living off of before I set him free. These were undeniable signs of the intense biodiversity present throughout the landscape of White Oak Pastures.
The next day, I recorded footage of cattle with the assistance of White Oak Pastures video editor Jay. We drove through the fields for a bit until we found the herd. We then traversed toward the cattle, and the cows began staring at us inquisitively. Once we would get too close, they’d run off. I got some great shots with my Nikon Z6II. The symbiotic relationship between the vast flocks of dark-colored birds and the cows was mesmerizing to witness. The birds flew in perfect synchronization in large bunches, almost as if all the individual birds made up one single organism with a mind of its own. The birds would help the cows by eating the parasites and pests off their bodies, and the cows would help the birds by offering them a free meal. White Oak Pastures cattlemen, Scott, told me that they were called cowbirds.
I then interviewed Scott out in the fields with the cows. The wind was awfully strong that day, and I will have to see how much of this interview I can salvage as the audio became partially distorted for this interview. If it is too damaged, I would like to voice-over shots of Scott because he shared a lot of fascinating information about the cattle and the ecology of the landscape. Below are some behind-the-scenes shots of me and the team at White Oak Pastures. The credit for these images goes to Jay, who was extremely helpful. He often asked me what he could help carry for me, such as my tripods, cameras, etc. Jay, if you are reading this, thanks man.
I was also able to meet and speak with the executive director of the Center for Agricultural Resilience, Carly Redding. I just ran into her in the general store restaurant as I was preparing for dinner. She was very nice. I barely spoke to her, though, because I was starving, and MAN, was that food delicious! Regeneratively raised eggs, meat, and burgers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That, my friends, is what I call heaven on Earth.
I spent some time in the leather goods shop as well, which is across the road from the general store. I became friends with the workers there, as they showed me their tools and technology and explained the process of turning fresh cowhide into usable leather products. It was a complicated, multi-step process that led to the creation of gorgeous, toxin-free materials and products. Will Harris and the team plan to expand their foothold in the leather goods industry, and I wish them all the luck in the world. I personally purchased a cowhide wristband and a cowhide bookmark.
During my last morning at White Oak Pastures, I had a great conversation with Jenni at the general store restaurant. I asked her multiple business-related questions, such as how she initially leveraged social media to market White Oak Pastures products, how she got the attention of Joe Rogan, and how the publishing process with a major publishing house worked. I also gifted her a copy of my book, Iconic Animals of the North: A Fact-Filled Exploration of Northern Wildlife. Lastly, I asked her if she could bring my name and YouTube channel up while talking to Joe Rogan on his podcast. She will join her father on JRE this month (November 2023). My fingers are crossed! I will be watching that podcast episode with extreme focus!
Thank you so much if you read this entire article. Stay tuned for more blog posts. My short documentary on sustainable farming will be released before this year ends. That is my goal. If you are not already subscribed to my YouTube channel, Wild Primal, please do so. I will upload snippets of footage and podcast interviews on the channel before publishing the completed documentary. Until next time, and remember, keep it wild!
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