03/28/08 - Northfield News: Latino group will sell free-range birds
March 28, 2008
By Andrea Nelson, Northfield News staff writer
Chicken farm will run on 'share' system
NORTHFIELD - Members of the Latino community have begun a direct-to-consumer free-range chicken farm using a share system similar to the Community Supported Agriculture system.
Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, the director of the Latino Enterprise Center and creator of the Northfield Area Latino Farmers, said that the vision for the farm stems from the fact that many Latinos in Northfield are first-generation citizens and have a background in animal husbandry or agriculture.
"It's in the blood, so why not utilize the strengths we already have?" Haslett-Marroquin said.
Even though the background is there, he said that farming in Minnesota is different than farming in Mexico, where a "focus" isn't as necessary as it is here. So, in 2007, he and a small group began to raise free-range chickens on one acre of land on his property north of Northfield as their "focus."
With the success of the operation last season, the group is ready to expand and begin selling directly to customers and is now taking orders. The farm works much like a Community Supported Agriculture system in many ways, from the farmers working together and benefiting from sales equally, to customers having a direct relationship with the farm and the farmers.
Haslett-Marroquin said there are three reason for going with this system, which include the ability to manage risks better and reduce the potential for food and financial loss; it has a good marketing base; and is dependent on community support.
"The beauty of Community-Supported Agriculture is that you work together and work with the customers," Haslett-Marroquin said. As farming members, each is required to pay rent on the land, Haslett-Marroquin said. Rent, however, is not in the typical form of money, but rather labor. For one year of rent of the land, each participating farmer must put in eight hours of work on the infrastructure of the facility. Beyond that costs of care for the chicken is paid for by individual farmers. At the end of the season the profits are distributed equally among the farmers. Haslett-Marroquin said that some aspects of the farm may not seem to follow the most efficient pattern, but that isn't what they are striving toward. Instead, it's about building community, learning about each other, working together toward a common goal and delivering a higher quality product than could be bought at a store.
As a way to not overspend or overproduce, Haslett-Marroquin said the number of hatchlings the farmers will order will be equal to what is ordered by the consumer, since the consumer is really paying for the final product up-front.
When an order is placed, Haslett-Marroquin will order white-bird hatchlings, which will arrive at the farm when they are a couple days old. The birds will then spend roughly two weeks in a 12-by-12 chicken house that is enclosed and has heating lamps. Once the birds are fully-feathered, they will move to outdoor paddocks and move inside for shelter at night. This allows the birds plenty of sunlight, exercise and natural foods that confined-operation birds do not receive.
By the time the birds are eight weeks old and have moved through four stages of shelter, they are taken to a local, FDA-approved, processing plant for processing and come back to the farm for the customer to pick up. This year, the dates for pick up are every other Friday beginning on June 13 and ending on October 31.
Rafael and Maria Estrada are members of the farm and both grew up in families where animal husbandry was part of their every day lives. Maria sees the farm as an investment for the future and is excited to be a part of a larger mission to grow the operation to the point where the group can buy land and create their own processing plant. "This is a great opportunity," she said.
The facts: The co-op farm raises free-range chickens, sends them to a certified small meat processing plant, and then sells the meat directly to households at an affordable cost. The farmers are committed to providing sustainable agriculture and being both socially and environmentally responsible. No antibiotics or hormones are used. Besides free-range chickens, the farmers have planted crops of buckwheat, black beans, other grains and grasses and 450 hazelnut trees, which will eventually provide natural shade for the chickens and be a source of soil protection.
Address: 4597 315th St. W.
Number of farmers: 6 families
Free-range chicken qualities: leaner meat, stronger texture, different taste
Average size of chicken at sale: 4 to 6 pounds
Delivery dates: Every other Friday, beginning June 13 and ending Oct. 31
To order the chicken or for more information on the process, please visit the Latino Enterprise Center web site.