The Time Has Come ...

Working on my Uncle's new
Pro-Tec hoop building

A very quick search of my blog posts showed me that back on November 7, 2008 I first mentioned a hoop house structure for livestock/storage. Then again on March 4, 2009 I wrote an entire post dedicated to hoop buildings and hogs. There were other mentions along the way, but in my Annual Mud Post on April 21, 2011 they were the topic of discussion once again. As you can tell from my writings and ramblings they have been on my mind for over four years now! I think it is safe to say that now is the time that they have most consumed my farm thoughts.

In case you missed it, I wrote last Wednesday about the "Tipping Point" that the farm was at and whether it was time to scale up or scale back. My gut is telling me to press forward, but from the past four years of experience I know there are some areas that I need to greatly improve if I want to scale up. One of the most glaring is my winter livestock handling and more precisely the winter pig farrowing. In a perfect world I just wouldn't farrow in the middle of the winter, but I need finished pigs ready for processing throughout the year so winter farrowing is always going to be part of the farm.

So ... for my needs and uses I believe it is time for me to put up a hoop building to use in the winter months. My plan is to continue things as normal in the spring, summer, and fall with the pigs out on the pasture and woodlot. When things turn cold, muddy, and frozen I will bring the pigs up near the house so that I can ensure they have fresh water and plenty of feed at all times ... along with a place to get out of the weather. That is where the hoop house comes into play, and I plan on my building doing double duty.

The buildings that I have been looking at so far are from Pro-Tec and Silver Stream. If I went with a Pro-Tec building it would either be 30' or 36' wide. The Silver Stream building would be 30' wide for sure. The idea that I have is to split the building down the middle length wise so that I either two 15' wide areas or two 18' wide areas. Then I can use one side of the building for farrowing in the winter and the other side for my grower pigs. With that set up in the hoop building I will then be able to use my portable sheds to hold the boar and gestating sows.

Right now I'm planning on four groups of four sows each next winter, so that will give me plenty of room for farrowing (depending on the overall length of the building). One of the great benefits of the hoop house when it comes to farrowing is that I will be able to bring my huts inside and use them for farrowing just as I would in the summer. I believe a set-up like this will help me get the most use out of a building for an operation my size and then allow me room for growth.

The biggest downside that I have been struggling with is that the building will be sitting empty for a portion of the year and I hate the thought of that. So ... if anyone has any thoughts on a crop that I could raise in there during the summer months I would love to hear about it! Also, have any of you put up a hoop building ... any tips or thoughts?

Oh No :: No More Bacon!

Just the other day our local news station had this article on their website ...

"Bacon, pork prices to increase next year"

There were a few quotes that stood out to me ...

The group said farmers worldwide are cutting their herds "at a significant rate" that could double pork prices in Europe in the second half of next year.

"If I were purchasing all my grain to feed my hogs, I'd probably be closing out right now," said David Struthers. 

"You will be able to eat BLTs next year. You just might be paying a little bit more for the bacon than what you did this year, but we will not run out," said Joe Kerns. 

"If we have another dry year things could get really ugly," said Struthers.

Wow ... there is so much to think about in this little article. First of all it has me scared ... the fear has been there deep down for awhile, but I've tried to not let it come to my mind. But, I'm with Mr. Struthers ... if we have another dry year things could get really ugly. As a beginning farmer who still hasn't established everything on the farm and as a hog farmer that must purchase feed I don't even want to begin to think about grain prices going any higher than they already are. I'm praying (really praying) for a wonderfully cold and very snowy winter followed by the muddiest spring the farm has seen!

The article goes on to talk about the shortage that is expected in Europe and the probably price increases that will be seen in the United States. Many hog produces are cutting the numbers in their herds (in fact I know a few hogs leaving the farm in my area as well) and once those cuts are felt there will likely be price increases.

But, for me the most telling quote was this one ...

The National Pig Association is calling on consumers to choose local products to help boost prices to help farmers.

I whole heartedly agree with that statement! I have one question though ... are they talking about purchasing from local farmers directly or purchasing for local grocery stores. The only reason I ask is because at a recent taste test there was a pork shoulder roast from the local small-chain grocery store. The person hosting the tasting talked to the meat department at the grocery and asked about where it came from ... the grocery store said it came from Tyson, but that it probably was an Iowa pig. The host then called Tyson directly and they said there was a chance that it came from Iowa, but it also could have come from Canada or Mexico.

My thoughts ... purchase directly from you farmer and then know for sure you are supporting your local farmer! In fact we haven't raised our prices yet (and hope not to), so you can reserve a hog for the spring at the same prices you could last fall.

Individual Cuts vs. The Whole/Half Hog

I thought I would expand a little on the cuts vs. whole/half animals post a little since there were a couple of comments on my previous post. First of all I don't believe I'll ever get to a point where I don't do any individual cuts (although I could be wrong), but I would like to get a point where it is a very small portion of the sales. As I detailed in the last post I strongly believe that a whole/half is the most sustainable for all involved, but I also understand that there will always be a majority of customers/potential customers who like the convenience of only buying pork chops and bacon.

In our case we sell the individual cuts through multiple sources ... at a farmers' market, through an on-line order food cooperative, monthly deliveries to a group of customers in the Des Moines area, and off the farm. With all of those various methods of selling (some of which overlap) keeping an inventory is a requirement. That inventory takes quite a bit of time as we keep track not only of quantity, but also of weights (we use a spread sheet at the farmers' market with weights to make selling easier). When we process a hog (or anything else) that will be for sale as individual cuts there is also an extra charge at the locker to make it an "official" animal and have labels with weights. On top of all of that time there is also the expense of running freezers, or in my case of never having enough freezers!

As you might imagine all of that adds up to quite a bit of extra time and money spent in order to offer the convenience of individual cuts. I can see the benefit of individual cuts if you were just doing it for a few cuts (burger and steaks as mentioned in one of the comments), but if I could get away from it I would. We do try to keep everything that we can get a label for. That means we have plenty of lard, leaf lard, and pork soup bones. And, at certain times of the year we really get overloaded on things like ham, ham hocks, and roast.

On the flip side when we sell a whole there is no need for freezer space, there is no inventory, and there is not as much time spent in selling it. This was our first year doing a pay-as-it-grows program on the pigs and it seems like there was a decent amount of interest in that. It is something that takes a bit more paper work and time, but if you compare it to the individual cuts you realize it isn't so bad I think. Plus, when the whole hog is sold there isn't any "tough sell" cuts left over and with a little education I think our customers will really come to appreciate getting those cuts!

Like a said ... just a few more thoughts on the cuts vs. whole animal discussion ...

:: Farm Rock :: This Too Shall Pass ... by OK Go ... watch here ... buy here ::

The Pigs :: The Good

A farm is a constant lesson in humility ... or at least my farm is. When one thing is going well that usually means that ten things aren't. But, one (faintly) bright spot this year has been the pigs. I still feel like I have a lot to learn when it comes to farrowing, handling, feeding, selecting, sorting, etc ... But, on the whole I would say that the pigs are the highlight of the farm for me. Despite all the things that still need to be learned or figured out the pigs are still doing well as the center piece of the farm and at least continue to provide a cash flow.

This is the first year that I've had a somewhat organized plan for getting them to the woods and on pasture. I was able to make a five or six acre semi-permanent paddock for the growers that was a good mix of pasture. Although I did not get it divided up for rotation like I wanted to the area was large enough to give them plenty of room to forage through the woods and the grass. They truly were happy pigs (and still are) out there.

The downside of course to pigs on five or six acres is that when it comes to loading up three of the forty odd pigs out there things aren't as easy as in a confinement operation. Let's just say that I have spent "a while" loading up pigs ... even when I thought I was taking the time to do it right! What I did do is build a "sorting/loading" area around their water. The idea being that if they are used to coming into an area at least they may give it a chance when it comes time to loading. I also tried to strategically let the feeder empty when it was time to load them so I could feed them by hand in the "sorting/loading" area.

Sometimes it has worked ... sometimes it has not. One of my major problems is that my small livestock trailer has no center divider so there has been times when one pig has escaped while trying to load the second or third pig. I'm getting better at it, but it is not a perfect system. What has happened though is that each time I've had to load pigs my loading system has grown ... my most recent (and successful) method had me putting up an electric netting fence all the way to their feeder to corral them ... it worked!

Raising the pigs to market weight isn't the only issue though ... sometimes I think marketing is even more important than any sorting system or rotational grazing. This year we have been marketing through our usual channels like the Iowa Food Coop and by selling wholes and halves, but have also added the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market (for twelve Saturdays). All of the time marketing has led to my deep belief that selling wholes and halves is the most financially and ecologically sustainable thing for the farm, the heritage breeds, and our customers! More on that later...

:: Farm Rock :: Able by NEEDTOBREATHE ... listen here ... buy here ::

Agonizing & Pork for Sale & Farm Updates

Sometimes I just think and think and think and agonize and agonize and agonize ... and well ... you get the idea. There are just some decisions that I have a difficult time making as I try to process the information and come to the best conclusion. One of those decisions that I'm agonizing over right now is pricing. I know that I need to adjust my prices and I'm not ashamed of that (because if I don't the feed prices might drive me mad). But, what I do agonize over is just how much to raise them and how exactly to land on that perfect price!

Without a doubt I am not very prepared to figure out the exact amount that I need to charge because I'm not doing a very good job of tracking feed conversion and feed consumption of my growers and sow herd. That's not to say that I don't know how much they are eating and about how much per day that they are eating, but rather I'm just not sure how well that feed is working and at what rate it's turning into pig pounds! I've read quite a few research papers on the topic and I know that I need to do a good job keep the feeders adjusted and things like that to get just the right feed-to-weight conversion, but I'm not there yet.

So, I just toss the figures that I have around in my head throughout the day and then try to land on a price that I think is fair for the farm. I'm getting close to having it nailed down and when I do then I'll be sharing more information about the pay-as-it-grows program. If you are interested in a pork whole or half feel free to send an e-mail and I'll add you to the list!

Even though the weather has taken a step back from the 60º and 70º temperatures that were so much fun I have been making my way around the farm and taking stock of the projects that need the most attention as spring comes. There are some repairs that need to be done on the hi-tensile fence, along with some fencing issues that just never were finished. I really want to get out and mow down some tall grass and bushes, but the PTO isn't working on the tractor (again). Of course I need to get thinking about prepping the garden ... thankfully there is a rear-tine tiller to help me this year! And, if I wanted to save myself some headaches later this year I should really be out in the woods cutting paths for the pig paddock fences!

We'll see how the spring goes ...

Small-Scale Pig Farming...

As with any beginning operation I knew there would be a fairly steep learning curve associated to adding pigs to our farm. But, I also knew that pig farming was something that everyone in my family (dad and uncles) had experience with so there would be help when it was needed. I have relied on them greatly many times and I thinking I'm beginning to learn along the way in little bits and with baby steps. But, one difficulty that I didn't anticipate was how hard it would be to get feed!

I will readily admit that I'm not one of the biggest feed purchasers in the county and I'm actually probably in the minority when I purchase pig feed, but it has been trying at times to get the attention of the mills and get the feed I wanted. One thing that most people probably don't think about with the loss of diversified farms is the loss of feed mills. There was a time that practically every local co-op or feed store had a mill. That is no longer the case now.

In our area one cooperative has purchased many of the local co-ops and then consolidated their services. Where at one time there was a working feed mill in town the closest one is now over 20 miles away. And, at that feed mill I have had a problem getting them to work with me on a ration that I like (basically a vegetarian Niman Ranch style feed). There is another locally owned mill about 30 miles away and they have been helpful, but distance is a factor.

Both feed mills deliver to our town on a fairly regular basis, so I have been taking advantage of that. But, with the increase of our swine herd and the addition of the bulk bin I was hoping to get feed delivered to the farm in bulk. That would cut down on the handling (I filled the feeder this weekend with 80 bags of feed and that took awhile). But, since the mills are so far away they would rather not deliver.

Maybe it's time I begin to think outside of the normal box. We will begin running pigs in the woods next year and that will cut down on their feed intake a little bit, but I think I also need to be looking at different feed sources so I can make sure we are getting the rations we need.

Some Good Pigs...

If you have been following the blog the last few days you have seen the new pigs that were born on the farm and you have probably figured out that I'm pretty pleased with the mothers. Other than the fact that the gilts decided to both camp out in the same hut and have their babies things could not have gone better. Between the two of them there were eighteen born and now they are six days into their life and we have not lost a single one ... even with the cold temperatures and stress of moving pigs and chasing around the gilts to get them each in their own hut!

I had made three huts available to the gilts and each hut had over a bale of bedding in them. I noticed right away that they were sharing the same hut, but as I checked out the other ones I could also tell they had been checking them out and moving hay around in them. I just figured that eventually they would spread out when the they were getting ready to farrow. That was my mistake ... I don't know if you just chalk it up to the fact that they were gilts, or if they would have done that no matter what.

One thing that I think has made a difference this time compared to our first litter on the farm (9 pigs born, 7 weaned) is the bedding. With the last litter born I used wood shavings and chips in the hut. This did make a nice bedding pack, but there wasn't as much "squish" (for lack of a better word) as there is with the hay. I think the hay allows some extra protection for the babies.

But, the biggest factor in my mind has to be the breeding. I purchased these gilts from a farmer who has been building a herd and keeping back gilts for twenty years. He farrows all his litters in huts without heat lamps and that's the way these gilts were born and raised. His selection and breeding program probably played the biggest factor in the success of these two litters.

New Pigs!

Yesterday was just plain crazy. I headed to church early in the morning to get a start on a pile of work because I know that the next couple of days will be focused on putting up red steel. I stayed in town until after lunch so I could get a couple big extension ladders for the shed work, and then we finally made it out to work on the shed around 3:30 PM. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but it was what happened. Before we got in too deep though I decided I should go check on the pigs just in case...

Of course they had farrowed while I was gone in the morning! And by they I mean both gilts had farrowed ... in the same A-Frame hut. What ensued next was a little bit of craziness as I decided (after consultation with some experienced pig folk) that the little hut might not be the best place for two first time moms and the 18 babies between them. So, we had to separate the gilts and the pigs somehow (with an emphasis on somehow).

Let me condense a hour-and-a-half into just a few sentences. Basically the two gilts had no desire to leave the hut, even though I was taking pigs out and putting them in another hut. Finally after poking and prodding enough I got one and then both out, but one pig was especially angry with the whole situation and she tired to let me know every chance she got. After much gilt wrangling and quick fence construction I now have one gilt in each hut. One gilt has 10 pigs with her and the other has 8. Even after all of the confusion they seem to have settled down a bit and all the pigs were nursing when I checked late last night.

Now we are just going to see how these first time moms do.

Some New Gilts...

I'm beginning to wonder if I can do anything right when it comes to farming. Thursday I purchased three bred gilts. These were pasture farrowed outdoor raised gilts from a herd that has been going strong from 20 years. Needless to say I was very excited about these additions to the farm. But, now I only have two of them. That afternoon one of them escaped and is long gone. I have spent about four hours combing the pasture and the woods looking for this lost gilt ... and she is gone.

Needless to say I'm a little less than pleased with myself and the way things have worked out. I am spreading the word around the neighborhood and keeping my eyes peeled (along with driving different roads to town each time), but so far I haven't found anything.

The other two gilts are settling in just fine and are probably getting close to farrowing. I big thing now is to get them into separate huts. Right now the two girls have both decided to take up residence in the same hut even though there are two others available ... that is today's chore!

Two More Classes...

This morning we are off to our second-to-last session in the "Grow Your Small Market Farm" class. I have not been updating very much about this class, but let me just say that it has caused us to look at the farm in a completely different way and we are excited about that! Now, we just need to catch up on our business plan work and get farming.

But, since it has been a busy week I don't have much time to post today. I just thought I would share the above picture with you. When I got home from soccer practice tonight it was just such a beautiful evening on the farm that I spent some time hanging out with the pigs and enjoying their sounds. I have to admit that I think red pigs are pretty cute...

Picking Up Piggies...

This is a day that I have been waiting for, and today it is finally happening. Today I'm going to pick up a bred Hereford sow and 5 pigs from her first liter that are Berkshire crosses. I would call them feeder pigs (and I could have called them that earlier), but I believe the better word for them right now is shoats. I am excited to see what these pigs are like and how the finish, but I am most excited about the bred Hereford sow. She is bred to a Hereford boar so we will be getting some thoroughbred (I've been reading a lot of "Harris on the Pig" lately) pigs from her first liter. Who knows ... maybe some of the gilts could be the foundation of a pig herd on our farm.

But, picking up the pigs is the easy part. The real work was getting a new spot ready for the pigs and getting it all fenced in. Our garden was going to go where last falls pigs were raised (we will see if that actually works out) so we needed to find a new spot until our perimeter fence is put in place. I had to tear down the old pen, which was much easier because the ground is rather soft (pulling posts out was easy), and then set up the new fence. I'm all about working smarter, so I am using one side of the cattle lot as the new pig pen and then I only had to set up three sides.

Everything is ready now and before soccer practice this afternoon I will have some new pigs on the farm. Hopefully all will go well and I will have pictures tomorrow!

Portable Swine Farrowing Buildings...

Here I go once again ... I'm looking for some advice or some first had experience when it comes to farming. This time I am specifically looking for information regarding outdoor farrowing in portable huts. I'm interested in everything from portable huts for sale to building plans for portable huts. I just want something that is good at keeping everyone snug as a bug in a rug ... If you know what I mean!

But, before I hear your thoughts on the subject I will share a few plans that I have come across through a bit of online research:

• E-Hut Plans: This one is number one on my list because it is from a Practical Farmers of Iowa member and they are using it in my home state. The link includes building plans and pictures of them out in the "wild".
• Niche Pork Production: This is a .pdf file of a publication that may or may not be from Iowa State. It has some more permanent structures, but if you scroll down it includes some more plans very similar to the E-Hut.
• Port-A-Hut: These metal structures are made right here in Iowa and we have been using one of their huts since we got our first pigs. They are nice little huts, but some might like the flexibility of building their own.
• Raising Pigs on Pasture: This is a nice little publication from SARE that includes some on farm research from folks that pasture farrow. No building plans really, but some good information.
• Outdoor Pig Production: Another good article that has information and pictures of various types of huts. Everything from homemade to plastic to metal.
• Portable Farrowing Houses: The last link here is from the Midwest Plan Service (online) and includes some basic plans for a few different types of houses.

Getting Out of the Pig Business...

Well, we aren't actually getting completely out of the pig business, but for the time being we may be taking a break (hopefully a short break). Thanks to a bunch of great people who were interested in our pork we are going to end up processing all of our pigs (minus the mister). Two will be going to customers freezers and one is going to be ground up into ground pork and ground Italian sausage for the End of Month Meals program that we have at our church (serves almost 200 meals each night during the last week of the month in the winter).

But, since we are going to be virtually pig-less pretty soon I am beginning to think about the next set of pigs. While I was mostly pleased with this batch (minus a few small things) the Hampshire in the cross isn't something that I'm totally interested in having. Lately I have been going through phases where I was against purebred livestock and then I am for it. Right now I am for it to an extent...

Way back in 2007 I wrote about a couple of heritage breeds that I was reading about at the time and now I feel like I'm in the same boat again ... not really know what to get. This is what I'm sure of at the moment. I would like to get purebred stock right now, maybe just a bred sow or two if possible, and possibly a few feeder pigs to have for the summer grilling season. I am not sold on any bred for sure, but I'm beginning to realize that it will have more to do with what is available rather than what I want the most.

Another thing that is a huge requirement right now is getting hogs that are currently being raised the way that I want to raise my hogs ... outside on the pasture. I would like to buy from a farm that is practicing pasture farrowing and finishing so that I have a better chance of getting pigs that will work with my system. Since I want to start small I think I can go ahead with the purebred stock.

A few breds that are bouncing around in my head now are: 1.) Red Wattle - Somebody should probably convince me one these, 2.) Gloucester Old Spot - I have heard these are the ultimate pasture pig, 3.) Tamworth - This is probably one of my favorites right now, and 4.) Berkshire - Should I jump into the growing popularity of this bred?

I would love to hear your thoughts/votes/breeders close to me!

P.S. There is one half still available if you would like some pork. Just shoot us an e-mail if you would like more details.

Are Pigs That Smart?

Here is a lighthearted post after yesterdays "thinker". I ran across this neat little video blog over at the Sustainable Farm website. It doesn't really have a ton of practical application other than proving the point that pigs are pretty smart and can take care of themselves when give the opportunity. Although I'm not quite ready to place the intelligence of a pig over myself...

For those of you with slow internet (like myself). This is a two-minute video that took about 4 or 5 minutes to load on my computer. I just paused it and then let it load.

A Few Thoughts on "Harris on the Pig"

Whenever my wife sees this book she has to make some comment about "Harris" and why he shouldn't be on a pig ... but, I digress! This really is a book that I have throughly enjoyed reading, probably because it was originally published in 1883. Old books in my opinion are great, and in many cases better than things that are being written now ... of course we are still learning lots of great stuff these days that is being written about when it comes to agriculture... What I'm trying to say though is that it is a really good book, and if you haven't checked it out yet you should.

Here are a few things I have especially enjoyed in the last couple weeks of reading:

• There is a great chapter discussing the construction and design of pig pens and piggeries. Although I may not be up to building anything like the book suggests for our pastured pigs I do love the suggestions about construction, layout, and even materials. It is also great to see the images they have included of the different layouts and the reasons for the designs.
• The various discussions and dissections of the different feeding experiments is priceless information. Although the scientific procedures of the day may not be quite as stringent as today the various feeding trials reported on in the book are great and gave me a lot to think about when it comes to feeding. I would have to say that it really made me want to look beyond the "normal" pig ration to see what else is available in my area.
• One last thing that has been especially informational were the chapters on different breeds. Mr. Harris broke the chapters down into sections on American Breeds and British Breeds. I think it was very helpful to read a little bit about the development of certain breeds and what specific things they were going for in those breeds. This is great information to have today when you are selecting pigs.

I know a few others who read this blog have read the book, so I would be interested in hearing some other thoughts on the book as well. Are there anythings in particular that you really took away from the book or enjoyed?

By the Cut, Half, or Whole?

As we inch closer to our first farm meat sales I am beginning to consider the different ways to sell our pork, beef, and possibly poultry. Our pigs should be ready around November/December (if you are interested in buying shoot us an e-mail) and I am starting to wonder if there are benefits to selling by the cut or at least in smaller packages. Of course if we decided to sell by the by the package there would be other hoops to jump through, but would the positives outweigh the difficulties?

Right now we are planning on selling our pigs as halves or wholes and just taking them to our locker or possibly one close to the customer. A couple of the biggest benefits with this sales method is that you have fewer customers to coordinate with and you are able to sell all of the cuts at the same time, not just the most popular cuts. Buying a whole or a half is also less expensive for the customer most of the time because you don't have to use a state/national inspected/certified processor.

The downside of selling by halves or wholes for the consumer is that you get a lot of meat! Of course that isn't a down side for everyone, but smaller families or couples (and singles) may not need or have the space for 80 or 160 pounds of pork and even more beef. I suppose another downside for the producer is that you are dealing with a smaller customer block. It may be a positive thing to be able to sell to many people.

If we decided to go the route of individual cut sales there are a few hoops that we would need to jump through. We would need an approved label, some sort of storage area (does it need to be certified?), and a certified processor. It is becoming more difficult for the small farmer to jump through all of those hoops, but it is possible and is being done by small-scale farms all over the country.

So, what are your thoughts? If you a farmer, potential farmer, customer, or potential customer I would love to hear what some of your thoughts are. Do you love the variety and relative economy of a half or whole? Or, do you like the idea of small package deals and individual packages for sale?

It is About Survival

I know that this is a topic that I have blogged about before, and the article that I'm taking the information from is from the June, 11th edition of the "Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman". Nonetheless I am dumbfounded each time I read about the current crisis in the pork industry. The title of the article that I read yesterday is, "Goal is survival, economist tells Pork Expo crowd", and it really details a difficult time for the hog farmers across the country. And by difficult I mean they are losing money or on the edge of losing money.

Glenn Grimes, of the University of Missouri, said this, "There will be some rough times ahead, but the hog industry will survive. One of the things you have to think about is how to get from here until the end of 2009, not about how much profit you will be making. Your goal is to survive." The article goes on to say that the breakeven cost for most of the hog farmers in Iowa is around $60 per hundredweight. Today lean hogs are selling at about $70 per hundredweight. So, there could be a little profit ... but, corn, bean, and fuel prices have gone up since July, 11th.

I guess I read an article like this and think about the ramifications for the farmers and I wonder how in the world this could happen. It is not like we are talking about computers or iPods here that are just "wants". We are talking about food! How have we as a nation gotten to the point where producers lose money in order to provide food for our nation and the world. Okay, I guess I understand the "how" and to a point I understand the "why" (we are addicted to cheap subsidized food), but I really can't figure out how we can keep going in this direction.

There is one other thing that I think about when I read an article like this ... can I make any money with the eight feeder pigs that I will have finished this fall and for sale. Right now it costs about $18 per hundredweight of feed and pigs like to eat (even though they are the best converters of feed to weight). Will those numbers work out for me and will I be able to make ends meet?

Remember ... I'll have wholes and halves of pork for sale this fall ... let me know if you would like to be added to the list!

Late Post...

Sorry for the late post today. As you can see from the picture below we had a busy/early morning. I will update this post later this afternoon with more details!


Here are some of the details on our new pigs. A few weeks back I saw an ad on Craigs List for "pastured swine". This of course caught my attention, but even better was the fact that they were only about 12 miles from our place! I called the farmer and told him I was interested in a few of the feeder pigs ... but, found out he was really wanting to sell the 8 pigs, the sow, and the boar. I went down to check them out hoping that I could just some feeders.

Well, once I go there he mentioned that he really wanted to sell them all and that he had some people coming to look at them. Normally I would have just said thanks, but I can't ... but, I really like the fact that these pigs where a Hampshire and Tamworth cross. As you may know the Tamworth is is listed on the ALBC list as "threatened". I drove away that day and began thinking about the different possibilities.

Finally I figured out a way to get it all together and those piggies showed up on the farm today. So, as of now we have halves and wholes of pasture raised (soon to be back on pasture after learning the joys of electric fence) Tamworth x Hampshire pork. These should finish this fall (October/November) and should be plenty tasty (I know I can't wait!).

If you would like to throw out a name for our new Tamworth boar you can check out my latest Epi-Log post and offer up your suggestion.

Small-Scale Pig Raising :: Chapter 5 & 6 Book Report

Well, I'm tearing my way through this book! Actually the chapters are fairly short, which I tend to like because it makes it easier to knock out a section each night. But, I'm also working through it pretty quickly because I think it is a pretty good read. I also think that it helps that it is about something other than grazing or cattle. I have been hitting the grass-fed cattle books pretty hard for quite awhile no so this is a change of pace. It will probably make me more interested when I pick up "Grass-Fed Cattle" again.

Chapter five of Dirk van Loon's book, "Small-Scale Pig Raising" deals with selecting a pig. Mr. van Loon writes mostly about selecting a pig for your own home pork, but also includes a few paragraphs on buying pigs for breeding. This is something that I was somewhat ready to read, although I already have our pigs picked out, because it dealt with what we are dealing with right now.

Of course he is specifically talking about "small-scale" and in this case that means two or three pigs. This is a perfect number for the family that is looking to provide meat for themselves and maybe to sell in order recoup some of their feed money. This is the number of pigs that I was looking to buy, but that isn't what happened (more on that next week). The chapter is full of great information for the beginner and I am beginning to understand why Walter Jeffries recommends this book so highly.

In Chapter six the topic is pig handling. Again, it is full of a lot of good information for the beginner including stuff about transportation (think small-scale and people without stock trailers) and moving on the farm. I do like the section where he talks about using the tail of the pig to direct them where you want. I believe we are going to be a farm that leaves the tails on our pigs.

Overall my impression of this book is very good and I think it is perfect for someone who doesn't know much about pigs. It puts everything in good practical terms and makes it all seem doable. Pigs is one area where I have the benefit of a little prior knowledge. For much of my growing up life we had pigs on the farm and I was able to help out quite a bit, but there is still a ton of good information for everyone!

Pasture For The Pigs

I am getting dangerously close to being able to announce that we have pigs on the farm, but I can't quite do that yet (keep checking back for more details soon). I have been reading as much on the subject of pigs as I can get my hands on though and I'm starting to get pretty excited about the possibility of pork for the family and for customers. It looks like we will have plenty of pork available this fall, but more about that later. For now I would like to share an article from the University of Missouri Extension titled, "Forages for Swine".

This article is from about fifteen years ago, but the information included is timeless. I would say that the authors, Howell N. Wheaton and John C. Rea, give a fairly unbiased assessment of pasture management for pigs. They take time to through out both the positives and negatives and seem to favor confinement farming in some circumstances (I don't really agree with that), but they also give some great information on what forages really work for pigs.

I think this is a good basic resource for those of us interested in pasturing pigs and I will certainly be turning to it next year when I begin to do some seeding on the farm. I would love to hear from any who is or has pastured pigs ... especially if you are planting certain grasses or legumes for your pastured pigs. Hopefully I can give some more first hand information very soon...