Peter Allen

Hi Peter,

I wanted to reach out to see whether you might be open to sharing your experience with integrated agroecology enterprise models.

I run Factor e Farm and we are launching a school (https://learn.opensourceecology.org) with a target of 75 apprentices by May 1, 2026. The program is expanding beyond construction into agriculture, energy, manufacturing, and materials. On the agricultural side, we have planted 10,000 Badgersett hazelnuts from Phil Rutter’s advanced stock, with additional hazelnut and chestnut plantings planned. We also operated a perennial nursery for on-site plantout and are working toward a fully integrated agroecology system.

Our vision includes open source production infrastructure—sawmills, pelletizers, wood chippers, tractors, and other essential machinery—along with integrated animal systems (chicken, rabbit, and fish), a CSA operation (including drone delivery), and RTK-GPS automation on our open source skid steer platform.

In parallel, we build production homes and openly publish both the designs and the enterprise model behind them. The broader mission of the school is economic transformation toward a zero-marginal-cost economy through open source hardware and distributed production.

For the agricultural program in particular, we are seeking to document and systematize proven operating and revenue models. Would you be open to sharing insight into how your operations are structured? We would like to allocate apprentices to document this as part of our effort to integrate open know-how into viable, replicable enterprise models that enable local food production at scale. Our focus is on integrated production and processing facilities—areas that are currently constrained by capital costs or regulatory barriers.

We are also exploring the development of an open source mobile abattoir for meat processing. Is this something that would be of interest to you, or an area where you might be open to discussion?

I would appreciate the opportunity to learn from your experience.

Best regards, Marcin