Herdshares

The Future, Secured.

With the ongoing collapse of the productive capacity in America, especially as it relates to farming – and the adversarial economic, political, and cultural climate surrounding it – we believe a new paradigm must emerge. This paradigm needs to undo the atomization and restore the intimacy between producer and consumer, reconnecting us in participation with where our food comes from.

Herdshares are the solution. Guided by the principles of Commissioned Stewardship, Herdshares represent a distributed approach to real productive asset ownership, while retaining the scalability and security provided by a strong captaincy.

What are Herdshares?

Herdshares are custodial real assets stewarded together at scale. You own the breeding stock animals, the farm manages them with our herd in our system, and then we split the calves each year with the majority going to the farm to fund operations.

With low-input, grass-only systems, the marginal cost of managing each cow is low. The bulk of the labor is being done already for our current animals and adding an animal adds minimal variable cost. Critical to the success of the herd as a whole is that all cows are subject to our genetics program and grazing systems.

How do Herdshares work?

You own a number of cows in the herd (ownership is of a cow in the herd, not of a particular animal) and semiannually, in perpetuity, we split the calf crop per a pre-agreed-upon percentage. The farmer’s split of the calves covers all maintenance expenses, so you – as the herdshare owner – get a share of the semiannual calve distribution with no ongoing costs for as long as the herd is successfully being managed and you choose to be a part of it.

Your Herdshares never ‘age out’. Every animal in the herd is perpetually being replaced by younger stock with peak herd performance continuously maintained in balance with our land's carry capacity.

Primary vs. Secondary Herdshares

When you initially buy into the Herdshare program, you are buying Primary Herdshares, which represent breeding stock – productive animals in the herd that generate more calves. These Primary Herdshares generate distributions every six months of more Primary Herdshares (breeding stock) and Secondary Herdshares (meat stock).

Secondary Herdshares do not generate more calves but can be accumulated until the Herdshare Owner wishes to withdraw as desired.

Withdrawals

In any 6 month period after an initial two year time lock, the Herdshare Owner may request to withdraw Primary Herdshares and/or Secondary Herdshares, and the Farm will deliver upon this request in the following 6-month period with a physical live animal of the same age class as the Stock Claim being withdrawn. Primary Herdshares can be withdrawn at a rate of 25% of total holdings per period, whereas Secondary Herdshares have no limits on withdrawal rates.

While the Farm is only responsible for delivering the Animal to the farm’s sorting pens for pickup, the Farm regularly takes its own animals to the butcher, sale barn, or other venue, and will often be accommodating to assist Herdshare Owners with transport to the local sale barns or processors that the farm regularly uses.

Real Granular Ownership

Ownership is liquid and what happens with it upon withdrawal is entirely up to the Herdshare owner— the animals are yours. Haul them off & pay to have them butchered, sell them, bring them home and fatten them yourself, give them to your friends — it’s your decision.

Freeing the Farmer to Farm

Forging a New Path, Together

Soil is the first productive asset of any civilization and thus farms are the keystone productive industry. The over-regulation, financialization, and atomization of our current society has crippled the rural economy, causing us to enter into a slow motion collapse where the next generation of farmers do not have the capital, the support, or the freedom to take up the torch of continuing to feed our nation.

The Herdshare Program is our seminal initiative to reknit community around a shared love of our soil, ecosystems, and mutual flourishing through the production of high quality food. In so doing, we are laying a foundation in which all members of the community can support that work through sharing in the capital, risks, and time horizons. It is a modernized version of the traditional farming village in which its inhabitants own the productive food assets at a scale that enables responsible and impactful stewardship.