LAFARM HISTORY
LaFarm is a sustainability initiative at Lafayette College whose mission is to integrate curriculum practice in sustainable food and agriculture for the campus community. Lafarm grows produce for the dining halls, recycles nutrients from composted food back to the soil, and serves as a laboratory for student-faculty education and research.
Located at the Metzgar Field Athletic Complex LaFarm, is about three miles from the main campus. It is a two-acre working farm and community garden. The institutionalization of LaFarm started with student Jenn Bell, who in 2009 with the help of Professor Kney received a grant from the Clinton Global Initiative University Conference which funded the initial purchase and construction of LaFarm. Jenn was in charge of the farm until 2012 when the project received additional grants that allowed LaFarm to hire the current Garden Manager, Sarah Edmonds. Today, the current members of the Lafarm Board are Professor Cohen, Professor Brandes, Professor Lawrence, and Professor Germanowski.
Lafarm grows a multitude of fruits and vegetables and has since expanded participation to members of the Lafayette community and the local community. As part of Lafayette’s Sustainable Food Loop (SFL), LaFarm provides produce to Bon Appetit Dining Services and receives organic waste to be used as compost in return. Remaining space at LaFarm is used as a garden for members of the local community in Easton and Forks Township.
LOOKING FORWARD:
LaFarm plans on expanding and has already begun to make adjustments for the expansion. Previously, Lafayette leased this proposed expansion space to a commercial farmer who used the land to cultivate corn and soy. A farm’s soil is very important to its operations. The amount of organic matter in the soil indicates the kinds of biological micronutrients available for plants, which influences how various plants will grow in that soil. Likewise, soil quality dictates which cultivation methods are most effective (e.g. more clay soils are harder to till by hand, drip irrigation is difficult in sandy soils, etc.) LaFarm has a rocky, clay-based soil with about 2% organic matter. Prior to being in organic production, the soil was mostly inert as it was under conventional GMO corn and soy cultivation. This type of land use, over time, has depleted the soil of its nutrients. As LaFarm expands, a system is necessary to effectively and sustainably fertilize the land.
As proposed in the ESVT 2016 Capstone, the introduction of a chicken flock would allow for the expansion area to be sustainably fertilized. Currently, LaFarm does not have any animals or livestock. By adding chickens, not only do we fertilize the land, but the identity of the farm expands to a sustainable produce and poultry farm; it also changes the duties of Sarah Edmonds, the LaFarm volunteers, and Lafayette College. In our Political Analysis and Social Analysis, we discuss the anticipated change that chickens will have on LaFarm and in the Technical and Economic analyses, we look at how to actually implement the chicken tractor efficiently and effectively.
GOAL:
As proposed in the ESVT 2016 Capstone, the introduction of a chicken flock would allow for the expansion area to be sustainably fertilized. Our group’s goal is to develop a plan for an effective chicken tractor system to be installed, and for it to fertilize LaFarm’s nutrient-depleted land. Similar to a feasibility report, we aim to provide all of the necessary information for the introduction of chickens at LaFarm. Through our technical, political, social, and economic analysis we believe our plan will provide Lafarm with an effective and sustainable fertilization solution. After our study, we hope to provide the background information for another group to build upon, both metaphorically and physically, in an effort to implement the chicken tractor at LaFarm.
Challenges:
Most of the challenges associated with implementing a solar powered chicken tractor are technical and economic; Sarah believes that implementing this system would not experience much social or political/policy backlash. Nonetheless, it is important for our team to consider all aspects of this sociotechnical system.
There are many designs available for mobile chicken coops, with each one having its own pros and cons. Additionally, there are several technical problems that need to be accounted for in the design, including protection of chickens and a reasonable level of automation so that Edmonds does not spend a lot of time on the chickens every day.
Economically, it is unclear who will pay for the tractor. Along with the varying designs, there are varying costs for each design too. It could be difficult to determine who the costs will change based on the scope that the next group decides to implement.
While Edmonds believes the day-to-day operations could be handled easily, volunteers would be needed weekly, perhaps daily during the peak growing season. Some of our suggestions to increase volunteer involvement and community connection to LaFarm include a LaFarm Living Learning Community, chicken “sponsorships,” and restaurant partnerships.
The introduction of livestock to Lafarm opens up many more regulatory standards which need to be met. Beyond regulations of simply owning livestock, if the eggs produced are to be used by members in the community, the members of Lafarm will need to properly clean, package, store, and distribute them. These standards are monitored strictly by governmental departments such as the Department of Agriculture and the US Food and Drug Administration. Additionally, one standard requires the weekly cleaning of the coup which is a difficult problem to address. Typically volunteers go to the farm in the fall and spring, but nobody goes in the winter as there are no crops to plant or harvest. This would require members of the community (Lafarm, Lafayette College, or Easton) to journey out to the farm and clean/tend for the chickens in the cold.
Section Overview:
Social Context: The Social Context section explores the main social aspects of the project that help shape it; they also, in part, explain why this problem is a problem, and why our solution fits within the Lafayette community. The local food movement, alternative agriculture movement, and campus farm initiatives all have a role in shaping societal perceptions of the LaFarm initiative.
Political Context: The Political Context section reviews existing regulations the implementation of livestock into a farm, all the way through to the packaging and distribution of eggs. Additionally, this section reviews potential grants and credentials Lafarm could obtain to increase the prestige. The goal of this section is to make known the political limitations in the chicken tractors system and how to design around it, while also searching for awards to boost the farms standing and reward it some extra funds.
Technical Context: In this section, we go over our three recommended coop designs, as well as the features that should go in every coop. Importantly, every feature that requires electricity will likely be able to be solar powered. We also look at the technical side of fertilization, as the benefits of chickens and their natural interactions with the soil may not be obvious.
Economic Context: The Economic Context section breaks down the cost of our technical recommendation in great detail, as well as providing a macro-enabled spreadsheet tool for future groups to utilize when they are deciding how to move forward with this project.