Drive Your Poultry (and Livestock) Around Autonomously with Zack Smith of Stock Cropper

Why It Matters

By democratizing autonomous rotational grazing, Stockcropper enables small producers to adopt regenerative practices, strengthening food sovereignty while opening a new market for ag‑tech amid shifting labor dynamics.

Key Takeaways

• Stockcropper pivots from large farms to backyard producers.
• New "Drive" unit automates rotational grazing for small-scale poultry.
• Autonomous, solar‑powered system reduces labor and predator risk.
• Proven yields: 435 bushels/acre at PTI farm using stockcropping.
• Trend aligns with regenerative agriculture and food‑sovereignty movements.

Summary

The episode spotlights Stockcropper’s strategic shift from serving large row‑crop farms to targeting the burgeoning backyard‑chicken and homestead market. Founder Zach Smith introduced the "Drive," a solar‑powered, autonomous motor that can be attached to any movable pen, turning rotational grazing into a set‑and‑forget operation for small‑scale producers.

Smith emphasizes the market’s size—roughly 12 million backyard chicken operations and 1.5 million homesteads in North America—and the growing consumer desire for fresh‑grass protein. The Drive builds on earlier prototypes like the Cluster Cluck Nano and Pico, offering programmable movement, predator protection, and multi‑species capability while slashing labor requirements.

He cites concrete results: at Precision Planting’s PTI farm in Pontiac, Illinois, the stockcropping system helped shatter corn‑yield records, reaching 435 bushels per acre and delivering the highest ROI among tested innovations. The technology also earned a cameo in the documentary *Food Inc. 2* and attracted attention from investors in the $2 billion animal‑integration space.

The pivot positions Stockcropper at the intersection of regenerative agriculture and food‑sovereignty trends, offering a scalable tool for consumers seeking meaningful, low‑tech food production. As AI‑driven job displacements rise, the Drive could become a tangible avenue for households to reclaim productive, sustainable work on their own land.

Original Description

Stock Cropper website: https://thestockcropper.com/

The StockCropper YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheStockCropper

Follow Zack on X: https://x.com/zebulousprime

Connect with Zack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zack-smith-5681911b7

Today’s episode features a repeat guest: Zack Smith of Stock Cropper. Zack is an ideal guest because he’s both an independent thinker and a doer. Someone who is putting his own skin in the game to make his vision for the future of agriculture a reality.

Today we talk about his company’s recent pivot to focus on what they call the drive. No, not a computer drive, and self contained motor that can be mounted on any moveable poultry or livestock pen to make it autonomous, solar powered, and still secure from predators or the potential for escapees. Think of it like a trolling motor for rotational grazing.

I loved the idea of stockcropping and the first product which was called the clustercluck. And I have to say I’m even more bullish now with how he has adapted his technology to this more consumer-friendly product. It seems like a real gamechanger and inflection point for Zack’s young company.

This story hits on a few really interesting trends: first of course is regenerative agriculture, which talks a lot about livestock integration but there are very few options out there to do this at scale. Another is this trend of food sovereignty - the homesteaders and others that want to play an active role in producing some of their own food. Brining tech to these trends is super interesting and I think you’ll be really compelled by Zack’s story.

Zack Smith is a farmer and agricultural entrepreneur who's been focused on coloring outside of the lines of conventional agriculture since 2020 with the creation of his company Stock Cropper Inc. Stock Cropper over the past 6 years has created a regenerative farming system called Stock Cropping that intersects row crops and livestock made possible by an multispecies grazing barn solution called the ClusterCluck 5000. The system and invention was featured in the 2024 film documentary, "Food Inc 2 Back for Seconds." as well as at Precision Plantings PTI farm in Pontiac Illinois where the Stock Cropper system in 2024 and 2025 have shattered the all-time site production corn records at 426.7 bu/A and 434.9 bu/A as well as the highest profitability compared to all other innovations at the PTI farm. However, because of the limitations of independent meat processing options for farmers, in 2023 Stock Cropper began to pivot away from the top down approach of feeding the world , to the bottom up approach of helping people feed their families by developing devices to reduce the pain points of growing their own protein. Since then they've developed the ClusterCluck Pico and most recently ClusterCluck Drive and have launched a venture capital campaign in March to bring these products to market in the coming year.