Red Shirt Farm Raises Awareness While Growing Fresh Produce

Originally published in Berkshire Trade & Commerce, September 2019. By John Townes.

Natural and organic foods have become a growing trend in the marketplace, as an alternative to the large-scale industrial food production and agribusiness.

In many respects, Red Shirt Farm in Lanesboro is similar to the numerous other small farms and CSA (community supported agriculture) ventures oriented to sustainable farming and regionally oriented agriculture that have sprouted in the Berkshires in recent decades.

However, Red Shirt Farm owners Jim and Annie Schultz also have a mission of expanding the practice and perception of nature-oriented food and agriculture.

Jim Schultz is passionate and sometimes outspoken about current agricultural practices, and the need to reform our food system. In addition to his disdain for the industrial corporate farming economy, he is also critical of certain aspects of the natural farming and food industry.

Schultz contends that terms which are often used to characterize natural foods can be misused or misleading in terms of the actual methods of production and quality. For example, he said the current criteria for official designation of “organic” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is too lax and can apply to food products and producers that do not adhere to truly sustainable practices.

“Current organic standards are simply based on a one-for-one replacement of chemical fertilizers and pesticides with non-chemical alternatives,” Schultz said. “But those alternatives can also have detrimental impacts on the food and environment. We need to have higher standards and transparency, so people really know what they’re getting.”

Agricultural practices that are more closely tied to natural processes and the health of the soil are important for larger reasons, he said.

“Every time there has been a demise of a civilization, it has started with agriculture dying out,” he said. “Places like Iraq were once thriving with forests and fertile farmland. However, over time they became arid desert largely because of destructive practices that destroyed the soil.”

Schultz said Red Shirt Farm is dedicated to utilizing and helping develop practices of growing crops and raising animals that protect the environment, as well as producing tasty and healthy food.

He also sees education as an important part of Red Shirt’s mission. The Schultzes practice farming that does not use any form of pesticides or fertilizers. Instead they use regenerative practices to enhance the life of the soil and the nutrient density of the plants.

Red Shirt Farm operates on 13 acres just north of the Lanesboro town center at 60 Williamstown Rd. (Route 7). It includes 10 acres owned by the Schultzes plus three acres they lease.

They grow and sell over 100 varieties of almost 40 different vegetables, including many heirloom varieties, as well as honey, wild flowers and other products. They also raise heritage breeds of chickens and turkeys for meat and eggs, as well as heritage pigs.

They sell the vegetables as a CSA venture, in which customers purchase shares of the upcoming growing season in advance, and then pick up weekly supplies. Red Shirt’s CSA currently has about 80 members.

Red Shirt also sells at the North Adams Farmers’ Market. They also have some wholesale customers and institutional buyers including restaurants and schools.

Jim Schultz works at the farm full time. Annie Schultz is a nurse, who works at the farm in the evenings and on weekends.

They are assisted by three apprentices. Red Shirt Farm is also a participant in Roots Rising, a youth development and workforce training program that hires Pittsfield students to work on crews at farms, food pantries and community gardens on a seasonal basis.

Deep roots in agriculture

While Red Shirt Farm (413-822-9250 or www.redshirtfarm.com) has only been a full-time operation for three years, the Schultzes have a deep background in agriculture.

Annie is the daughter of farmers Sam and Elizabeth Smith, who founded Caretaker Farm in Williamstown, a 30-acre organic vegetable operation that was one of the first CSAs in New England. She grew up working on the farm, then later studied dance, and eventually became a nurse, but maintained her passion for farming.

The couple met when Jim was hired to watch the Smiths’ house and tend to their animals while Sam and Elizabeth were on a foreign trip. Annie came home from college for a few days during that period, and they fell in love.

Jim had grown up with an interest in agriculture, but attended Williams College initially as pre-med student before shifting to environmental studies. However, the lure of farming was too strong, and he left Williams to apprentice on small farms around New England. He then enrolled in the New Alchemy Institute in Falmouth to study alternative renewable energy systems, sustainable agriculture and bioshelter technologies.

Jim and Annie then headed west to Olympia, Wash., to complete their undergraduate degrees at The Evergreen State College. Jim double-majored in ecological agriculture and education.

While their interest in agriculture remained strong, Jim opted for the greater financial security of a career in education. They returned to the East Coast where Jim completed a masters in education at UMass Amherst. He worked for the Pittsfield Public schools for 26 years, initially as a biology teacher, and then becoming a technology and IT manager for the school system.

Annie focused on raising their two children, Dylan and Sierra. She also taught dance. She subsequently obtained a nursing degree and joined the staff at Berkshire Medical Center.

They did not completely leave the farming life behind, and initially lived at Caretaker Farm. In 2000, they bought a house on 10 acres in Lanesboro, and started a garden that would eventually become Red Shirt Farm.

“We started doing a part-time equivalent of a CSA about eight years ago by selling some of what we grew to friends,” said Schultz. “Then three years ago, I decided to retire from the school system and operate the farm on a full-time basis.”

The name of the farm is taken from a phrase in college sports — “redshirt” — which is when a student athlete delays officially competing in order to get bigger and stronger and learn the system. The Schultzes saw a comparison to their three-decade detour from professional farming.

Jim Schultz’s background in agriculture, biology, technology and education are all evident when he discusses and gives a tour of the farm. Their approach is to find ways to utilize natural properties of soil and plants in ways to grow produce that is tasty, nutritious and supports the ecosystem.

While the concept of natural, sustainable farming may seem straightforward, there is a great deal of science and detailed planning in their methods and facilities.

Labels and practices

The popularity of natural foods, as well as the entry into the field by large corporations, has also led to differences among the proponents and participants in the natural food economy.

Schultz said he and his wife support a general movement that is sometimes called Real Organic. Proponents of this contend that the USDA standards allow too much leeway, and there is a need for more accurate classifications and labeling.

As an example, Schultz mentioned the use of fungicides and pesticides that contain copper, which are allowed under current organic standards. However, he said, they have a potentially toxic and negative effect on human health and the ecosystem.

Another controversy is the eligibility for organic certification of food grown by methods such as hydroponics, which grow plants without soil using mineral nutrient solutions.

“That’s not natural, and food grown that way has no taste and dubious nutritional value,” Schultz commented. “Also, who’s to say what else might be contained in the solutions they use or the by-products?”

He said Red Shirt Farm has not applied for organic certification in part because they don’t consider it meaningful and also because there is a lot of paperwork and expense involved in seeking it.

“However, we might apply for that at some point, just because it does make selling a little bit easier,” he added.

Schultz is also a strong proponent of a practice called “no-till” growing of crops. This is in contrast to the familiar approach of using large tractors to plow soil annually to create rows for planting.

Schultz said Red Shirt Farm is part of wider efforts to encourage more farms to practice no-till farming, and to research and develop ways to increase its productivity.

For example, Red Shirt is one of six farms in Massachusetts to receive a conservation integration grant from the USDA. “It’s a collaborative approach to integrate plant nutrition with soil quality,” Schultz said.

No-till farming was once a more common approach to growing crops, before the shift to large-scale mechanized agriculture.

“Tilling is a model that doesn’t make sense for many reasons,” said Schultz. “It artificially disrupts the natural structure and composition of soil. When you till soil, you’re breaking all that up just to have a nice smooth seedbed. Where in nature do you see a tilled field?”

He explained that tilling disrupts the mutually beneficial natural interactions between plants and microorganisms, decomposing plants, worms, and other life in the soil that provides nutrients and taste in food. It also contributes to problems related to erosion.

Schultz said there is also a contemporary reason to reduce the amount of tilling: its contribution to climate change. He explained that carbon is held in the soil through carbon sequestration. Tilling brings up carbon in the soil and also introduces oxygen, resulting in the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. “If soil was not tilled on such a large scale, it would balance out the production of CO2 overall,” he said.

At Red Shirt Farm, growing areas are initially created using a broad fork which is the width of a growing bed. This loosens the soil and creates permanent rows of growing beds without disrupting the soil’s composition. Plastic borders are inserted at the edges of these beds, which are raised about 4 to 6 inches off the ground. These are separated by mulched walkways.

As an alternative to pesticides, tarps are initially placed over the bed to kill off surface grasses, leaving soil and organic material. Seeds or seedlings of various crops are planted into this soil.

Rather than plowing in successive years, the permanent beds are reused, with the former plant material allowed to decompose into the soil. Because the nutrients in the soil are replenished by natural processes, fertilizers are not necessary.

The farm has several designated growing areas with a series of 100-foot-long beds. Schultz said these areas total the equivalent of about two acres.

One strategy of no-till farming is dense planting, which increases the yields in terms of space. For example, said Schultz, they plant the equivalent of six rows of carrots in a space that would contain one row in a field that was tilled.

“This also minimizes the space available for weeds to grow, which means that artificial weed killers are not necessary,” he said.

To further reduce the need for pesticides and fungicides, vulnerable crops are covered with specialized tarps that allow light while protecting them.

Other methods of natural pest control, such as the introduction of natural predators of destructive insects or diseases, are also utilized.

While this form of growing relies on nature, it nevertheless requires careful monitoring of the qualities of the soil and plants, and specific strategies to optimize the health of the crops and address specific problems.

Red Shirt Farm also has a structure that resembles a greenhouse and is filled with rows of large tomato plants. However, it is a more sophisticated system that is often called a “climate battery” — a system to control temperature and humidity within the structure.

“It has a series of tubes that contains about two-thirds of a mile of piping,” explained Schultz. “In the daytime it pulls heat from the air into the pipes below ground. The pipes store the heat and release it into the soil. When it’s cooler, the heat radiates upwards.”

He said this keeps the interior at least 40 degrees in cold weather, which allows them to have an extended growing season within it.

Farm animal philosophy

The Schultzes take a similarly diligent approach to the raising of animals.

They currently have 300 chicken raised primarily for meat, and 200 chickens that produce eggs. They also have 100 turkeys and seven pigs.

Schultz becomes very animated when he discusses large-scale factory farming of animals, including its inhumane treatment, the use of antibiotics and other artificial substances, and breeding practices.

He noted that the breeds of chickens were once more diverse. Chickens were primarily raised for eggs, and they were eaten as meat less frequently.

The modern market of chicken was shaped by a “Chicken of Tomorrow” contest sponsored by the A&P grocery chain and supported by numerous other interests in the late 1940s. The contest was a competition to breed a chicken that would be fast-growing and large to create a mass market for chicken as a meat.

This resulted in the dominance of the Cornish Cross Hen, which grows fast and is very plump. They are economically advantageous because they can be quickly raised, slaughtered and sold.

Because of the complexities and legalities of breeding and genetics, the dominant breeds are considered intellectual property, and farmers must buy them from one of two multi-national suppliers.

Schultz said one of the goals of Red Shirt Farm is to breed and sell heritage chickens as an alternative.

“Heritage birds take longer to raise and are more expensive, but they are healthier and taste vastly better,” he said. “It’s vital to bring back diversity. With heritage birds, you can’t own the genetics.”

He said Red Shirt Farm raises two basic breeds of chickens: Buckeyes for meat, and the Black Australorp primarily for eggs.

“We find the best roosters and hens and breed them to replenish our flock,” he said.

All of their animals are pasture raised. They have pens to sleep in but are allowed to roam and forage within designated fenced-in sections of a large pasture. They are moved regularly to different areas of the field to allow the feeding areas to replenish themselves.

Schultz noted that they ensure all their animals are treated humanely throughout their lives.

“They are fresh and well-taken care of, and when the time comes they are humanely slaughtered,” he said. “We make sure they are as well treated on the last day of their lives as they are on any other day.”

Schultz acknowledged that adhering to the principles of Red Shirt Farm and operating as a viable business is a challenge.

“Time will tell,” he said. “But business has steadily grown in the time we’ve been doing it, and we continue to become more efficient and refine what we’re doing as we move forward.”