Submitted By Group 8 Aditya Bhushan FT13199 Anisha Jhawar FT13208 Rishabh Baiswar FT13159 Saptarishi Saha FT13166 Swetha

a U FT13182

About Polyface

Started in 1961 by William and Lucille Salatin. Joel Salatin Current owner and operator of Polyface Vision - To be an Economically and Environmentally sustainable family-owned farm. Six full time employees including Joel working in multi-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 Government regulations, Polyface continued to mimic natures bio diverse template.

Strategy Employed
GRASS

Effective management of the grass growth was one of the prime reasons for the farms success Salatin developed operational techniques to optimize the delivery of the inputs for healthy 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 soil and 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 to a different paddock each day for efficient grazing Size of the paddock was a critical activity and was calculated on the basis of cow days 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 farms CHICKEN The pens where the chickens were kept were open from the ground, enabling them 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 excess to 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

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 Composting Process - Used for aeration of waste in farm and convert it into nutrient-rich fertilizer. Routing of ground which helped in preventing erosion. Concept of hoop houses (Rabbits cohabitated with laying hens) Rabbit droppings fostered the growth of insects and larvae which worked as feed for birds. Grazing in vineyard Helped in removal of weeds from grapes as it was a source of food for them. 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.

PORK

RABBIT

TURKEY

INFRASTRUCTURE

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, and was 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

Recommendations

To meet demand of his expanding customer base, it is essential to increase the current capacities. For example: Expected increase in demand for beef Premium customers willing to pay for Salatins beef 35% by 2050 $0.26 above the prevailing whole foods market rate.

Gross margin for beef $450 per head Currently, the ratio of hens to cows in Polyface is 16:1. To keep the current ratio intact, chicken should 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 excess manpower requirements in the farm Buy automatic equipment to fasten few of the activitiies wich were time consuming and could 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)