The Chicken and The Egg: Stop Linear Farming and Embrace Circular Agriculture

In a recent Forbes article, “The Chicken and The Egg: Stop Linear Farming and Embrace Circular Agriculture,” our partners at Main Street Project had their poultry-centered permaculture model featured in an interview with head agronomist, Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin. In it, he speaks about Main Street’s holistic approach to farming with nature and building an equitable model where smallholder farmers can succeed.

Our favorite quotes from the article:

On their vision – 

“As farmers we don’t produce anything. Nature does. We simply manage the process, a non-linear process, by which inedible energy is transformed into edible energy — from soil to carrots, from grain to eggs and chickens.”

On how their model works –

“Our 1.5 to 3-acre production units incorporate a canopy of vertical native perennial species like hazelnuts as well as a lower layer of understory crops. This protects and shades the chickens, who move freely throughout this “Tree-Range™” system, continually eating bugs, working the soil, and fertilizing.”

Iroquois Valley provided mortgage financing to Main Street Project in the purchase of their 100-acre demonstration farm in Northfield, MN.