Red Shirt Farm (RSF) is a small diversified farm in Lanesboro, MA producing about 2 acres of low-till, ecologically-grown vegetables for a 50-member CSA, pastured heritage chickens for eggs and meat, pastured heritage turkeys and pigs, and several naturally managed bee hives for honey and pollination. A 50-tree multi-species orchard was planted three years ago.
 
We will tour the farm to see the various enterprises but focus on the pastured poultry operation. RSF is a member of the Sustainable Poultry Network whose mission is to restore heritage breeds to their original standards of production to maintain genetic diversity, improve animal welfare, provide an alternative in the local food market and enhance regional food security. We breed, incubate, hatch, brood, rear and process our birds right here on the farm. Planning, logistics, infrastructure, record-keeping and marketing will be discussed as well as a frank comparison with the commercial, industrial model. We will also show our mobile processing equipment and review our on-farm processing procedure. The layers, meat-birds and turkeys will all be discussed.