“Our philosophy emerged from studying the most innovative and successful farms on the planet.”
By Chad Adams
Bio-Logical Capital’s agriculture business is a strong anchor for our projects and generates meaningful profits for our company and the farmers who work the land. We believe that for agriculture to be sustainable, it must be designed to build soil productivity and to produce a variety of nutrient-rich crops that produce strong revenues and sustain communities. The following are a set of rules we live by when designing agricultural businesses.
1) Respect and manage the land as a healthy, living system
Every decision we make is designed to increase the unique capacity of the land. Actual practices will vary significantly depending on the characteristics of an individual site – climate, topography, existing land cover, and culture – but the goal is always the same: to do what is best for the land over the long term.
2) Capitalize on the natural behaviors of animals
Through their own instinctive behaviors, animals provide the labor and materials needed to increase soil productivity and fertility. Farm animals naturally chew, scratch, peck and dig. These behaviors can be channeled to renew the land and produce food. Our plan involves moving herds of densely stocked cattle and other herbivores across the land to till the ground and add manure to the soil. Other animals, including poultry, manage insects and spread nutrients. Together, the animals improve the soil to support the production of fruits, grains, legumes, and vegetables. This is a natural way to farm without the use of equipment and chemicals that damage the land and place increased financial burdens on farms.
3) Create a system that works for people
A farm is only sustainable if it enriches the lives of the people who work the land. Conventional farm life can be both physically challenging and socially isolating. Our approach embraces the physical, social, and entrepreneurial needs of farmers. And our farms are integrated into the broader community, creating social networks and connecting farmers to each other. This leads to shared resources and opportunities for training in new sustainable agriculture techniques. As stewards of the land, the farmers we work with become educators for their community and for the next generation of sustainable and successful farmers.
4) Market products that people need and want
Sustainable farmers often do not have the business support and infrastructure to widely distribute their products, so each of our farms operates with a business plan developed for local and regional markets. We identify market opportunities for farm-fresh products and then process, package, and distribute products to meet existing demands. This is coupled with a branding and marketing program to educate people on the unique attributes of our products. Bio-Logical Capital’s marketing approach creates rising expectations of quality that our food products will be specifically designed to meet, thus unlocking new markets for investors and creating better profit opportunities for farmers.