Craig Watts Is Repurposing His Former Poultry Farm
The Watts family has been farming for a long time—so long, in fact, that one family member has the original land grant from King George. After traveling the United States for a few years for work, Craig Watts “got the bug” to go back home to the family land. Craig began raising chickens under contract, work presented to him as an opportunity to earn a good living. After 23 years, having suffered many injustices as a contract grower, he left the industry.
Craig has been brave enough to speak out against industrial chicken production and the ways companies force their contract growers into a cycle of debt. In 2014, he began working with Leah Garcés, now president of Mercy For Animals, to tell his story. This unlikely partnership inspired Garcés to found Transfarmation and work with farmers to find alternatives to factory farming.
8/15/2019
Began Work with Transfarmation
6/1/2021
Began Transition to Mushrooms
3/9/2022
Awarded R&I Grant for Mushroom Growing
6/15/2022
Started Construction
1/30/2023
Harvested First Mushrooms
720,000
Animals Once
Raised on This Farm per Year
The New York Times and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver have featured Craig’s story, and Farm Aid has spotlighted Craig as a farmer hero. He also guest starred in episode 2 of Farm Aid’s Against the Grain podcast.
Now Craig is working with Transfarmation to build his family a new kind of farming operation—one that contributes to his community and land instead of exploiting them. He's starting by growing mushrooms in a converted shipping container placed inside his old poultry barn. He wants his new operation to be “as removed from the industrial model as can be.” When we asked Craig why he wants to be a farmer, he said: “It’s part of me, in the blood. It’s a calling. I like to watch things grow.”
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