Healing by Day, Harvesting by Passion: The Dual Life of Dr. Curlson George

High in the lush hills of Laudat, where mist drapes the mountains, one man is quietly reshaping the image of modern expertise. By day, Dr. Curlson George practices medicine. By dawn and dusk, he leads agricultural production at Mountain Fresh Farm, one of Dominica’s leading poultry operations—proving that farming is as much about knowledge, precision, and innovation as any other field.

His story is not just one of balance. It’s one of vision, resilience, and a compelling invitation to a new generation.

“I’m a medical doctor by profession, but a farmer by passion,” George says simply.

That passion has grown into Mountain Fresh Farm, a business he started in 2015. Today, it stands as one of Dominica’s largest producers of broiler chickens, supplying the local market with fresh poultry processed on-site.

But the farm is more than chickens. It’s a living ecosystem, goats grazing in open pasture, rabbits in enclosures, layers producing eggs, and small crop operations complementing the livestock. Still, poultry remains the heartbeat of the operation.

A typical day starts early. By 7 a.m., feeding begins, first the layers, then the broilers, all on precise schedules to ensure optimal production. Goats are led out to pasture. Maintenance follows: cleaning, cage management, transferring birds, preparing for the next batch.

Twice a week, the farm transforms into a high-output processing hub. Hundreds of birds are slaughtered, cleaned, packaged, and prepared for market, all within tight timelines.

“It’s not just farming,” George explains. “It’s a full production system.”

What makes George’s story remarkable is not just what he does, but how he does it. While medicine and agriculture are often seen as worlds apart, he navigates both seamlessly.

And in doing so, he challenges a deeply rooted perception, that farming is a fallback, rather than a viable, profitable, and even innovative career.“If tomorrow I wasn’t a doctor anymore,” he says, “I could live a proper life from farming.”That statement alone reframes the narrative. 

Despite his success, George is candid about the biggest obstacle facing his farm, and the wider agricultural sector: labour.

“We have the demand. We have the systems. But finding workers? That’s the real problem.”

On slaughter days, his team expands from just two full-time workers to as many as fourteen. Yet even then, operations can stall.

“There are times you have to postpone slaughter because you just don’t have enough hands,” he explains. “And when that happens, you can’t meet market demand.”

The irony? Much of the labour sustaining the farm doesn’t come from locals.

“Migrant workers, Haitians and Cubans, play a huge role,” George says. “They are consistent. They show up. They are dedicated.”

He believes migrant labour isn’t just filling a gap, it’s sustaining the sector. Looking ahead, as his farm expands, he knows informal solutions won’t be enough. Structured systems to recruit and retain migrant workers will be essential.

Labour shortages are only part of the issue. There’s also a shortage of skills. While much of farm work can be learned on the job, certain areas—like butchery—require trained professionals. And those skills are scarce.

“We don’t have that kind of training readily available on the island,” George notes.

But rather than seeing this as a dead end, he sees opportunity, especially for young people.

“If you’re willing to learn, there’s space here,” he says. “Real space.”

Ask George why more young Dominicans aren’t entering agriculture, and his answer is immediate:

“They see it as hard labour. Just work in the sun.”

But that perception, he argues, is outdated. Across the world, agriculture is evolving, driven by technology, efficiency, and innovation. Climate-controlled greenhouses, automated feeding systems, mechanized harvesting, these are not distant concepts. They are realities in modern farming.

“We’re still farming like our grandparents,” he says. “Cutlass, fork, digging soil.”

That has to change.

“If we modernize, if we introduce technology, agriculture becomes something else entirely. Something appealing.”

He paints a vivid picture: greenhouses glowing at night, automated systems humming, farms run with precision and professionalism.

“You could literally go to work in a white coat,” he says with a smile.

For George, modernization isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. Take goat farming, for example. Demand is high. The market is ready. But scaling production requires mechanization; tractors, feed systems, proper infrastructure.

“You can manage ten goats the old way,” he explains. “But not fifty. Not a hundred.”

The same applies across the sector. Without investment in technology and systems, growth will remain limited.

With Dominica’s international airport on the horizon, George sees greater  opportunities across the agricultural value chain.  More visitors will mean greater demand for food; hotels, restaurants, and services will all need reliable supply. Agriculture stands to benefit. But only if it’s ready.

“The airport is coming, but our production feels like it’s declining,” he warns. “We should have been scaling up already.”

He believes targeted investment in serious, committed farmers could make the difference, helping them expand production and, in turn, lifting the entire sector.

At its core, George’s story is about possibility. It’s about showing that agriculture is not a step backward, but a path forward. That it can generate real income, independence, and impact.

When the sun rises over the hills of Laudat, he is at work - not in a health centre, but in a chicken house, counting birds and checking feed lines with the same rigor he applies to diagnoses. He has built something lucrative. But his real work now is convincing others that farming is not a refuge for the desperate, but a frontier for the ambitious.

In the hills of Laudat, he is at work - not in a health centre, but in a chicken house, counting birds and checking feed lines with the same rigour he applies to diagnoses. He has built something lucrative. But his real work now is convincing others that farming is not a refuge for the desperate, but a frontier for the ambitious.