How does Joel Salatin make money?

Salatin earns 40% of his revenue from direct sales to restaurants. He sells to about 50 restaurants. “That started with one restaurant in town,” he marvels. Another 40% comes from his metropolitan buying club.

How many cows does Joel Salatin have per acre?

The success at Polyface is in the figures – Joel boasts that he can now get 400 cow days to an acre – a cow day is what one cow will eat in a day – where the country average is 80. In money terms this translates to the farm exceeding sales of $1.5 million annually.

What is different about Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm?

This farm is where Salatin developed and put into practice many of his most significant agricultural methods. These include direct marketing of meats and produce to consumers, pastured-poultry, grass-fed beef and the rotation method which makes his farm more like an ecological system than conventional farming.

How many chickens does Joel Salatin tractor have?

80 birds
Pasture-based chickens require 1.5 square feet per bird, so a Salatin-style tractor could hold 80 birds, while a Suscovich-style tractor would hold 36.

What makes Polyface successful?

They have the huge advantage of a support team that can provide advice, marketing and build skills for the moveable infrastructure required for mob grazing. It is incredibly tough competition to become an intern at Polyface, let alone an apprentice.

How many cows can you put on 10 acres?

You should be able to keep between 0.5 and 1.1 cows per acre on average pasture. In general, rotational grazing may increase the cows-per-acre rate up to 30% compared to traditional grazing. However, rotational grazing techniques require at least two paddocks and are usually more expensive.

What does Joel Salatin feed chickens?

29% roasted soybeans — For protein. 11% crimped oats — These are a source of protein and carbs, but Salatin primarily includes oats because of the fiber in the hulls. 3.5% Sea-Lac brand fish meal — He prefers this brand because of their low-heat processing, which helps preserve vitamins and minerals.

What does Joel Salatin feed pigs?

Salatin has moved pigs farther up the mountainside in the final four to six weeks of the fattening cycle, when their flesh takes on the flavor of acorns, walnuts and hickory nuts in the autumn, and fallen fruits in the spring.

Is Polyface Farm certified organic?

Here at Polyface, that IS our policy and we can honestly say we’re “CUSTOMER CERTIFIED.” Nothing beats visiting, and we encourage every single one of our patrons to visit the farm at least once. If you visit a couple of farms, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you pick up the vibe of true blue versus corner-cutting.

What does Joel Salatin feed his laying hens?

In case you’re curious, Salatin’s layer ration consists of: 49.7% corn. 30.8% roasted soybeans. 10.9% oats.