A Chicken Farm, A Hazelnut Forest & A Business Incubator

Stories from the North: Main Street Project

Our 2017 Annual Meeting featured presentations from four of our farmers. The farmers who spoke are from the Northern reaches of the country, representing Montana, Minnesota, and Vermont. We are excited to share the videos from those presentations over the course of Fall as part of a monthly harvest video series. These 30 minute presentations offer a deep dive into the featured operations and are followed by a Q&A session with the investors and guests who attended the meeting.

Our first release features Minnesota's Main Street Project. Check back with us in October for our next video from Doug and Anna at Vilicus Farms in Montana.

Watch Main Street Project's presentation from our Annual Meeting

Main Street Project is a nonprofit based in Northfield, MN working to systemically impact agriculture by delivering healthy, wholesome food, reducing chemical- and antibiotic-intensive farming, reversing environmental damage, and building rural prosperity.

Main Street Project focuses on creating pathways for the Latino immigrant community to achieve social and economic stability as farmers in a poultry-centered permaculture model.

The video above features Julie Ristau, Main Street Project's Chief Operations Officer, presenting about the nonprofit's beginnings, current model, and vision. Iroquois Valley Farms provided partial financing for Main Street Project's first farm purchase, which will allow them to scale their research and offer training to many more aspiring farmers.

What's new with Main Street Project?

Since the annual meeting in July, Main Street's team has been hard at work with the first phase establishment of the farm. The Midwest experienced an unusually rainy August which turned out to be very helpful to the 9000 hazel nuts that had already been planted on their 100 acres. In terms of soil building, the first cover crop of sudan grass planted in the spring has been cut, and a second cover crop-a mixture of field pea, tillage radish and oats is being planted this week.

The next cohort of Latino Agriprenuers is being recruited this fall and the Main Street Project leadership is focused on raising funds for infrastructure work that includes a new road and wetland restorations. Once that basic infrastructure in place, the team will start preparing the farm for chicken coop construction next spring.

Connecting farm families, communities, and investors since 2007.

As a corporate guideline, we do not look for specific farmland to purchase or finance. We develop relationships with farmers, mostly young and organic, who want to grow their farm business. We move forward if we have a ready, willing and able farmer in hand.

Learn more about the two investment options -- REIT equity shares or Soil Restoration Notes -- that will continue to support farmers and farms similar to Main Street Project here. Or, email us to receive the offering materials at invest@iroquoisvalleyfarms.com.

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