Francisco Cidade Alves

Since 2005 that Francisco is the farm manager of his family farm in Montemor (Portugal) where he grew up and from a very early age he realized that this was what he wanted to do for a living.

The name Porcus Natura comes from the unique system of maternity wards developed by his Father in 2002, where the main focus was already animal welfare and soil regeneration.

After decades in conventional management, where they have always been careful with soil management (e.g. never using pesticides or tilling), it was a natural transition for them to adapt their management to the principles of regenerative agriculture in their ancient Portuguese agro-silvo-pastoral Montado landscape.

This regenerative journey started in 2017 when he took several courses in holistic management and regenerative agriculture, after which they started applying the principles and practices in the field, even introducing two more species to the ones already on the farm. Currently, Francisco produces and sells four species of Portuguese indigenous breeds of sheep, goats, cattle and pigs.

Creating a rotational grazing dynamic with the four different animal species, with the objective of making the business more efficient as well as regenerating the Montado ecosystem, is Francisco’s main focus thus obtaining meat products with a positive impact on the environment and human health.

Speaks: Portuguese, English and Spanish