Polyface Farms: the Baseline for Open Source Agriculture

Note: This article was written on March 22nd, 2020.

In January, I took a three-week course titled, “The Politics of Food.” Towards the end of the class, we went on a field trip to Polyface farms-- “a permaculture farm that leads the way in sustainable production of meat”--, located just outside Charlottesville, Virginia (Salatin). There, we were given a tour by Joel Salatin, the owner and operator of the farm.

The experience was eye opening; not only was I able to see how operations were conducted by one of the most sustainable farms in the world, I also had the privilege of talking to and learning from its genius.

Not a serious guy, Joel consistently poked fun at himself for being somewhat of a hyper-political environmentalist, and openly notes that he is widely regarded as a “Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic” (Salatin).

If not for the promise of visiting the pinnacle of sustainable farming, you should pay the farm a visit out of the mere hope of meeting the character that runs it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxTfQpv8xGA

Video about Joel Salatin's vision/opinion on the agricultural industry and Polyface Farms.

Looking back on the visit through an open source lens, Polyface Farms must be the most unconsciously open source producer in the U.S.. Not only do they reject concepts of intellectual property and trade secrets, they actually encourage others to implement their practices in their own homes or farms.

Furthering this priority of encouraging sustainable farming adoption, Salatin has written a variety of books and articles that essentially show the reader how to recreate his farm.

One might think this would endanger Polyface’s profit-margin and customer loyalty.

But the farm is currently making “more than a million dollars in sales,” and continues to see exponential growth (Salatin). This is especially notable when one considers the fact that Polyface only engages in direct marketing, and only with locals: it’s customer base consists of 2,000 families, 25 restaurants, and 10 retail outlets (Salatin), all surrounding Charlottesville.

Perhaps this explains why the farm is able to sidestep competitive pressure while allowing others to replicate its unique attributes. On Polyface's website, Joel writes:

“We share our techniques, our models, everything. Is that foolish? By some counts, thousands of farms now copy what we do. Are we scared? No, because every business that copies our model will heal another few acres. We’re much more concerned about healing than competition” (Salatin).

He isn’t worried about copycats. He's concerned with improving the environment by encouraging sustainable farming practices-- a goal which might be reached with a broader adoption of his farm’s practices.

Polyface completely rejects the principles of Intellectual Property, both directly and indirectly. Joel frequently criticizes IP and big business as the sources of almost every food-related problem. While many believe that “patents are useful if the production method for creating food is unique as this creates difficulties for competitors trying to imitate your product” (Sutherland), Salatin encourages imitation amongst his competitors (though they might not be seen as such, due to his loyal customer-base and relatively small operation).

His aim is to improve food production safety and overall health, globally-- an aim he doesn't believe he can achieve without sharing his practices with others. He also expressly disagrees with the concept of trade secrets-- his website describes why the farm doesn't use them.

How to Apply Salatin’s Sustainable Farming Practices on a Broader Scale

After reading and learning about Polyface, one might think an expansion would lead to a healthier, more natural food landscape. But, this is not so.

Though “numerous people have encouraged Polyface to become the Tyson of pastured poultry,” Salatin rejects such a proposal, noting that “one of the distinguishing characteristics of an environmentally friendly farm compared to one that doesn’t care about the environment is how it handles the waste stream” (Salatin).

Here, when he refers to farms that don't care about the environment, he's talking about large corporate producers; Joel's practice would be difficult to implement in a larger operation.

The fact that Polyface is focused on providing “local food for local folk” also prevents expansion since it would mean distributing food past their self-defined 30 mile serving radius (Estland). Transporting food long distances “takes up energy, makes carbon and uses more calories than it gives back” (NSL Blog); expanding the customer base would contribute to environmental harm.

So, how can we use Joel’s system and apply it to the food industry as a whole?

The government could adopt some of Joel’s practices (or some version of them) into a set of agricultural standards. However, though this would enable farms to grow more sustainable, it would also pose problems for larger producers who would struggle in adapting to the production change. Furthermore, in order to address today's increasingly high demand for food, the change would call for a greater number of farmers in the workplace. Thus, this idea would not work.

What might work better is the creation of a variety of Polyface-based farms in communities throughout the nation. Joel would probably be the last person to agree to such an expansion, but maybe a “copycat” could make the leap. What I’m envisioning here is a farm-chain (like a restaurant chain) which operates similarly small Salatin-esque farms across the country, still only serving those within a 30 mile radius, and with a structured operational plan.

However, this too might be an unrealistic proposal considering the substantive capital needed to set up such operations, the probable lag between setting up shop and generating revenue, as well as adjustment difficulties which would indubitably arise.

It might be better for Polyface to continue its practice of educating agricultural peers on the benefits and techniques of sustainable farming to stimulate its adoption

Bibliography

Estland. “Polyface Farms.” T&E Meats, Estland, 5 Apr. 2019, www.temeats.com/polyface-farms/.

NSL Blog. “Joel Salatin on the Potential of Large Scale Organic Farming.” No Straight Lines, 2014, www.no-straight-lines.com/blog/joel-salatin-on-the-potential-of-large-scale-organic-farming/.

Salatin, Joel. “Home.” Polyface Farms, www.polyfacefarms.com/.

Sutherland, Eversheds. “Intellectual Property Law in the Food Sector.” Intellectual Property Law in the Food Sector- News - Eversheds Sutherland, 2013, www.eversheds-sutherland.com/global/en/what/publications/shownews.page?News=en%2Fireland%2Fip-law-in-the-food-sector-june-2013.