Ken Lamson looks back to check on his harvester. Lamson says using horses on his farm means he doesn't have "hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt on giant equipment."
Ken Lamson pulls a crate of potatoes out of a chore cart after bringing them in from the fields at New Beat Farm in Knox.
Ken Lamson works at New Beat Farm in Knox. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
The benefits of horses on farms go well beyond the quaint: They produce manure that later can be used, for example, and rather than compact the soil like machines, they aerate it with their hooves.
Ken Lamson hooks two of his draft horses up to a chore cart, which he'll use to bring harvested beets and potatoes in from the fields at New Beat Farm in Knox. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
Lamson holds Jewel's halter. He and his wife, Adrienne Lee, use their horses for furrowing, haying, harvesting and spreading manure. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
Using two of his draft horses, Ken Lamson brings harvested beets and potatoes through a field at New Beat Farm in Knox. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
Unlike a tractor, draft horses Jewel and Star can't be left out in the field when work is done for the day. They need to be fed and put to bed. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
Ken Lamson walks between two of his draft horses after hitching them up to the side of a barn at New Beat Farm in Knox. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
Ken Lamson harvests potatoes at New Beat Farm in Knox. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
Ken Lamson harvests potatoes at New Beat Farm in Knox on Wednesday, using draft horses Star, left, a Percheron, and Jewel, a Belgian, to pull the mechanical harvester. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
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