Robert Patson of Happy Land Farm in Kyalami believes freerange chickens not only hold the answer to healthy food, but that his model of farming could help alleviate poverty for individuals and communities. He spoke to Gerhard Uys.
Robert Patson of Happy Land Farm in Kyalami, Gauteng, says farming with chickens wasn’t on his to-do list. “It was never the idea, but after seeing the documentary Food, Inc., I couldn’t sleep for days.”
Patson, a truck and bakkie salesman for Isuzu, believes the way chickens are farmed is unethical, and that poultry meat can be produced in a way that makes it more nutritious.
After attending a poultry production course at the Agricultural Research Council, and hours of researching free-range methods on YouTube, he began a part-time free-range operation on a piece of rented land.
BEGINNINGS
During the early stages of his research, he wanted to learn from others who were producing free-range chickens, but says the local farmers turned him down. In the end, a commercial free-range farmer in the Philippines said he could come and learn from her.
This large free-range operation introduced him to its marketing systems, the exclusive markets it supplies, such as chefs and hotels, and showed him that one can create entire value chains among smaller producers.
After training in that country, Patson decided that he wanted to teach the youth and women how to produce free-range chickens.
“I wanted to empower them and give my knowledge freely.”
However, he first had to test all these theories in local conditions.
BREEDING
Patson believes that to alleviate poverty in rural areas especially, one needs dual-purpose chickens that can be used for both egg and meat production.
He says Rhode Island Reds and Koekoeks are ideally matched as dual-purpose breeds for South Africa, and have traceable genetics. This is important because he can tell customers, for example, how many eggs they can expect per week from a specific breed. He now breeds both these types.
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