240MacLean explains that it is
challenging to enter agriculture
without a massive investment of
financial capital and he wasn’t
inclined to take on the huge debt
common to agricultural startups.
“A farming mentor once taught
me that if I’m going to borrow
money to start a farm, I’d better
spend it on something that
reproduces itself,” he says.
So, instead of buying land,
tractors and a barn, he bought
sheep. He also invested in
portable electric fencing and
water systems that allow him
to raise sheep on any pasture
in the neighbourhood. Rather
than spending winter in a barn,
his sheep thrive in the outdoors
and take shelter in the woods
when weather is rough. Though
this innovative and enthusiastic
30-something chose to raise
livestock, he is quick to point out
that he is actually a grass farmer.
“My farming vision has been
to develop a profitable, perennial,
biodiverse agriculture—a
regenerative agriculture that
converts sunlight into soil,” says
MacLean. “Ruminate animals,
like sheep and cattle, are keyto this vision. Sunlight grows
pasture plants, and my sheep
convert these plants into meat,
wool and manure. It’s the manure
that feeds the plants and the soil.
When grazing is well managed,
ruminants help plants stay
vibrant and healthy.” To give the
pastures time to fully recover,
he moves his flock to new grass
every day.
He tells me, only half-jokingly,
that he finally gave in and
accepted that he needed to
become a farmer. “This drive
to start a business in a really
challenging, risky industry
that has ridiculous capital and
overhead requirements and
modest margins, that sounds
great,” he says, laughing. It
seems that acknowledging the
challenges inherent in pursuing
life as a farmer is prudent to one’s
self-preservation.
Fortunately, MacLean
recognized the importance of
building social capital into his
business plan from the get-go.
With limited access to financial
capital from lending agencies,
family and his own savings, his
only way forward was to ask forTRAVEL & CULTURE: WILDWIND PASTURES“A farming mentor once taught me that if I’m
going to borrow money to start a farm, I’d better
spend it on something that reproduces itself,” he
says. So, instead of buying land, tractors and a
barn, he bought sheep.