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Submitted By Group 8Aditya Bhushan FT13199

Anisha Jhawar FT13208

Rishabh Baiswar FT13159Saptarishi Saha FT13166

Swetha U FT13182

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About Polyface

Started in 1961 by William and Lucille Salatin. Joel SalatinCurrent owner and operator of

Polyface Vision - To be an Economically and Environmentally

sustainable family-owned farm. Six full time employees including Joelworking inmulti-disciplinary fashion.

Produces beef, pork, chicken, turkey, rabbits, eggs,vegetables and various forestry products.

Have 2000 individual customers, 10 retail outlets, 50

local restaurants. Despite pressure from Increasing demand,

Technological innovation and Governmentregulations, Polyface continued to mimic naturesbio diverse template.

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GRASS

Effective management of the grass growth was one of the prime reasons for thefarms success

Salatin developed operational techniques to optimize the delivery of the inputs forhealthy grass growth

Rain water was collected in ponds in the hills and channelized to the farm

Grazing pattern of the animals was closely monitored to operationalize the system

By following a management-intensive grazing system, nutrient content of the soiland the density of the soil improved

This allowed four times the number of cows that could be supported by the land

BEEF

Fields were divided into paddocks using mobile electric fences and cows moved toa different paddock each day for efficient grazing

Size of the paddock was a critical activity and was calculated on the basis of cowdays per acre

Polyface, through this technique was able to support 2 cows per acre per year

when compared to less than 1 cow in the other farmsCHICKEN

The pens where the chickens were kept were open from the ground, enablingthem to eat the grass and also leave their nitrogen-rich droppings as fertilizer

The pens were rotated so as to prevent the birds nitrogen-rich excrement in excessto spoil the soil, and the scratching motion of the birds to damage the grass

Post slaughter, the internal organs were composted for use as fertilizer

Strategy Employed

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EGGS

Hens grazed following a 3-day lag behind the cows. This lag enabled the insects to migrate

to cow droppings to lay eggs, and hence the hens were provided with nutrients as they

fed on insects and insects larvae. This way soil also was protected.

Chicken droppings served as a fertilizer

PORK

Composting Process - Used for aeration of waste in farm and convert it into nutrient-rich

fertilizer.

Routing of ground which helped in preventing erosion.

RABBIT

Concept of hoop houses (Rabbits cohabitated with laying hens) Rabbit droppings

fostered the growth of insects and larvae which worked as feed for birds.

TURKEY

Grazing in vineyard Helped in removal of weeds from grapes as it was a source of food

for them.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Per dollar (annual sales) spending $0.5 as compared to $4 of a typical farm on

infrastructure.

Multipurpose Utilization Ex. Hoop houses Winter house for Rabbits & vegetable

shelter during summer.

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Need for expansion

Increased interest towards small scale, back to the community farming

was on the rise

Industrial food supply was causing a number of diseases

Nutrient composition of industrial foods was dwindling

Health issues like diabetes and obesity were on the rise in the U.S, andwas being linked to their food habits

Environment was getting polluted because of the millions of tonnes of

animal waste being disposed by the industrys waste management system

More and more customers were moving towards local pasturized products

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Recommendations To meet demand of his expanding customer base, it is essential to increase the current

capacities. For example:

Currently, the ratio of hens to cows in Polyface is 16:1. To keep the current ratio intact, chickenshould be increased correspondingly subject to a max of 20,000 hens as per the Wholesome

Poultry Products Act Buy more land to cater to the increased cattle

- Primary need to ensure no congestion on the farm

Expansion by leasing local farms around the area

- Renting farms and nearby arable land

- Increased area for the cattle

Increase manpower to manage the expansion

- Currently 6 people working on the farm- Manpower required to manage the increased scale of production and cattle management. -- Interns and apprentices from the educational program could be used to manage the excessmanpower requirements in the farm

Buy automatic equipment to fasten few of the activitiies wich were time consuming andcould be better done with the help of machines

Strenghten the sales and distribution network to cater to the increaed demand eg.

Open more MBCs(Metropolitan Buying Club)

Expected increase in demand for beef 35% by 2050Premium customers willing to pay for

Salatins beef

$0.26 above the prevailing whole

foods market rate.

Gross margin for beef $450 per head

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