Sustainability :: The Whole Hog

Sustainability is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days. Every sort of agriculture from large-scale row crop operations to confinement agriculture to the smallest market garden farms use the word sustainable. So, if feel that it is always necessary for me to define the word when I'm using it. In my case i would simply sum sustainability up as the sort of farming that lets me survive physically and emotionally ... adds to the health and well-being of friends and neighbors ... takes into account the created purpose of the livestock ... takes stewardship of the land seriously ... and has fun doing it. Of course now that I've written that out I realize it's not quite as simple as it seems on the surface ... nevertheless I'm always striving for sustainability along those lines!

With that in mind I think I've come to the conclusion that selling halves and wholes is the most sustainable option for the farm. I'm not completely sure that I will ever make it to the point where I'm only selling wholes and halves, but I do believe it is a very sustainable goal to work towards on every level. Let me take some of the above definition of sustainability and explain what I mean ...

• Simply said ... going to the market every week (while working a full-time town job) takes up precious time and energy. I love the interaction with customers and the opportunity to share the reasons for the farm and the way the farm works. The sale of wholes and halves still takes time marketing and communicating with customers, but in the end it is much less time consuming and stressful.
• I think most would readily agree with me that wholes and halves is most sustainable for the farm, but I believe it is equally sustainable for the customer (friends and neighbors). When a family purchases a whole or half hog (since that is all we're selling now) they get all the cuts. I agree that it is easier to just get the things you want (chops, bacon, etc.), but when you get a whole hog you get all the good out of the animal. This type of purchase encourages the customer to make use of everything ... including some of the most healthy things that many people would skip. Lard is the perfect example ... and it is not as difficult to make and use as you think!
• Crooked Gap Farm is a place where a pig is a pig. That means that the pigs are allowed to fill their created pigginess, but also that the whole pig is used just as it was created to be. I strive to make sure that all that can be used or sold is used or sold and when dealing with wholes and halves it is just that much easier.
• On the surface it seems that the way you sell an animal wouldn't have much to do with land stewardship. But, I think it does! Just think of it this way ... when you are selling the majority of your livestock as wholes and halves you are able to really align the animals with the seasons that work best for them and the land. This allows the farm to maintain a high level of ecological sustainability and to tap into the natural instincts of the animals. I love it!
• Finally ... I just want to have fun farming because that is one of my key components of sustainability! When I was a kid I played with my toy tractors for fun ... I ran through manure piles for fun ... I pretended to farm for fun! Now that I'm an adult I want to keep the fun around ... too many farms forget the fun and I refuse to be one of them.

:: Farm Rock :: Deer in the Headlights by Owl City ... watch here ... buy here ::

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.

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...

Safe and Sound...

*Today's post is a couple hours later than usual, but I'm still trying to catch up from the long day that was yesterday ... a 5:00 AM wake up, a pig pick up, soccer practice, and youth group (back to back to back) took a toll on me and I'm trying to catch up with my work.

But, as you can see from the picture above the piggies are all safe and sound in their new home. In fact it looks like they decided to sleep in today because I snapped this picture after 8:00 AM. I am really pleased with the way the pigs look and how they have grown. The Berkshire and Hereford cross is something that I'm very interested to watch grow, and of course taste. There might even be a chance that one of the gilts (four gilts and one barrow) gets to stay on the farm. If I can find a Tamworth boar (or semen) it is a three-way cross that I would be interested in trying out.

The sow though is probably the most exciting part because she is bred to a purebred Hereford boar and this June will give us our first litter of pigs born on the farm ... and they will be purebred Herefords. She is very easy going and nice to work with and I aim to keep it that way be feeding her and the pigs by hand instead of using the bulk feeders (at least to start with on the pigs).

Of course all these new pigs mean one thing ... we will have pork available this summer and then probably again in the fall/winter. If you are in the area and would like to get on the waiting list just shoot me an e-mail.

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.

Learning From Pigs, And More...

In yesterdays post I focused on some of the more difficult aspects of raising our first batch of Stoneyfield Farm pigs. Today I wanted to take a look at some of the better things that we learned/did/experienced. Overall this first batch of hogs was a pretty good experience all the way through finishing them out and even the sales (we still have two that we could market if you are interested). And, I can easily say that we learned A LOT! Here is just a small sampling of the good things and what we did right:

1. All though these crossbred pigs may not have been my first choice we did luck out in that we were able to find Tamworth x Hampshire pigs close to home. I was really excited to get the heritage Tamworth into this pigs and I was thrilled with the way they finished ... well filled out, but longer and leaner like a Tamworth. Now if I could just find some purebred Tamworths (gilts and a boar) close by then I would be set!


2. Raising hogs out on dirt and in the grass really does work. With the use of a single strand of electric we were able to effectively strip graze our pigs from time to time and allow the access to all kinds of good things. They proved to be very hardy as long as they had shelter and made it through the coldest days (-20ºF) without any problems. Once our exterior fencing is all in place I look forward to really getting them out on the farm.


3. Thankfully we were able to find customers who were interested in our pork. Hopefully we can continue to work with them in the future and build on a customer base in our own area. I am excited to know that the pork is going from our local beginning farm to local families that we already know and those I'm sure that we will get to know. To me that just seems like a great system.


4. I think the biggest thing that we learned from these pigs though is that if you let them be pigs they are pretty good at being pigs. We made sure they had shelter, food, and clean water ... they made sure they grew and stayed happy (and they did seem pretty happy).


5. Finally, if I were going to be completely honest I would have to say that raising our pigs outside is probably the one thing we have done best since we begun. We had the benefit of starting out with a very few and having things set up for them when they got here. Like I said, we made sure they had what the needed and we let them grow. That isn't to say that there wasn't problems or setbacks (see yesterdays post), but all in all I really enjoyed raising pigs on a small scale.

Those are some of the good things. Our biggest question now is where do we go from here. We have kept back two gilts that we could use for breeding stock. They were the best two of the bunch that seemed that have the best traits we were looking for (consistent gain, good health, intelligence, and more). But, on the other hand they are not purebred and from time to time I really buy into the benefits of purebreds. Also, I'm not sold on the Hampshire in their blood...

So, that is all to say that if you are interested in a half (or splitting a half with someone else) just let us know and we will set up a processing date :)

What Have I Learned

In the comment section of my "Dirt Hog :: Chapter 2 Book Report" post Mike and Rich asked similar questions about what I have learned by just jumping out and raising pigs and what was different than I expected from when I was planning it out in my mind and on paper. I thought those we such great questions and important things for me to think about, so here is a whole post dedicated to just those thoughts!

So, since it is always better to finish on a good note I thought I would start out with the bad. Here are some of the surprises and difficulties we faced raising our first batch of pigs:

1. We had everything ready. A spot for the sow and the piggies and a spot for the big 'ol boar to hang out until he was needed. Even though we didn't have running water on the farm yet we had it covered with our 300 gallon water tank that we pulled out from town. Despite all of our planning we lost our boar just a couple days after getting him home. He got out and I'm still not sure what led to the death ... it was pretty sad that it happened literally about a day and a half after he arrived. That was difficulty/bad thing number one.


2. Feed cost wise the timing wasn't perfect and we bought our pigs just as commodity prices started to skyrocket. This really wasn't a huge difficulty because the same thing was happening for everyone, but it did make things different than what I had imagined "on paper". Also, I don't think we switched the ration to a lower protein content early enough. Not a huge deal, but it may have saved us a few bucks in the end. That was difficulty/bad thing number two.


3. Pigs are ornery! I can't say that I didn't know that going in because I had experienced it on the farm as a child, but I do think I had forgotten how ornery they were. When the water tank got low enough the liked to knock it around like a toy, when the were done eating they liked to flip around the trough like a toy, when I went in to fix something they liked to rub their beautifully muddy noses all over me! That was not really difficulty/bad thing number three ... and now that I think about it... it kind of is funny :)


4. They get big quick and lift gets busy. This problem is really a problem that came about because of all that we were trying to do. Our pigs really were ready around November and we should have and could have sold them then. It would have saved feed money and been a good deal all around. But, because of how crazy our life was with the move and the construction it just didn't happen. We knew we had customers interested, but we just didn't make the time to get everything lined up and by the time we did it was deer season.
   
   Deer season in Iowa means some lockers shut down all processing except for deer. That meant we weren't able to secure our processing slot until this past week. Like I said, this was really poor planning, but we have been able to work through it with a great batch of customers ... That was difficulty/bad thing number four.

Other than that there were a lot of things that we learned and some great things that came out of our first batch of hogs. But, I think that really should be a post unto itself. Check back tomorrow for the good of what we learned and experienced with the first Stoneyfield Farm pigs.

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.

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...

Dirt Hog :: Chapter 1 Book Report

I know that I haven't finished "Grass-Fed Cattle" yet, but as I left for my soccer game yesterday afternoon I couldn't find that book (there was a LONG bus ride) so I grabbed "Dirt Hog" by Kelly Klober. I had heard good and not-as-good reviews of this book, but if the rest of it is anything like the first chapter (which basically serves as an introduction of the idea) I think it will be a good read. There was a lot of stuff to think about in this chapter, but a couple of quotes really made me think about life, farming, and of course pigs. Here are just a few of my thoughts...

The first thing that really had me thinking was this quote:

"He stepped out of his pickup to bring them closer and bid me to follow him. I started to decline and give the stand answer, which is that some harmful organisms might be carried in my clothes and/or shoes. His answer to my protests will surprise many; it was to get out there."

Here is what I thought. That doesn't surprise me at all, and yet it does surprise me. On one hand it doesn't surprise me because that seems just about right for a confinement farm based on quick growth and nothing else. It does surprise me because I would have never thought that would ever be a thing to worry about, I mean we are talking about pigs ... of which unfortunely, I know too much about being around. They should be able to handle people around them I would think. Mr. Klober often writes in this first chapter that the current confinement system is more about looking good and being easier for the farmer not about what is best for the pigs.

Another big thing that I got out of this chapter was encouragement. This book came out in 2007 and even though the hog market is in the dumps right now I see reason to be encouraged by hog raising, if you do it on the range. If you are rotating your pigs and not spending tons of money on buildings and infrastructure there is still a way for pigs to be the age old "mortgage lifter".

I think this was a great chapter and hopefully just a sign of things to come from the book. If I were to make a recommendation on the first chapter alone I would say it is a must read. But, we will wait and see what the rest of the book holds.

Acron Raised Pork

In my most recent issue of the The Practical Farmer, published by Practical Farmers of Iowa, there was a very short blurb about acorn fed, organic pigs. Along with the short article there is also a partial transcript of a story about acorn pork that was on Iowa Public Radio in November 2007. The interview includes quotes from Jude Becker (a farmer raising acorn pork) and Kathy and Herb Eckhouse who own La Quercia Artisan Cured Meats, located in Norwalk, Iowa. If you are interested in listening to the radio interview click here.

As a brief aside there was also a nice article by Kelli Miller of Sugar Creek Farm about farm blogging. Good stuff!

Acorn pork is a tradition that comes to Iowa from Italy and Spain (and that region) and according to what I have read produces some of the best hams out there. Others must agree because La Quercia has already taken a bunch of reservations for pork that won't be ready until 2009! Some of the chefs on the waiting list include the Iron Chef and Lydia Bastianich of public TV. That is some pretty crazy stuff!

But, the real key here is what the farmer is doing. Mr. Becker lives up in Northeast Iowa and has been raising organic hogs for the last 11 years. Right now he is raising and finishing 50 Chester-white and Berkshire-cross pigs now and is feeding them entirely organic feed. In the radio interview he said that the goal is to have 50% of their weight gain to come from the organic acorns (what is a non-organic acorn?). His pigs consume about 4 bushels of acorns a day, but it is also important to point out that organic acorns cost between $50 and $60 per bushel!

A couple of thoughts came to my mind after reading the article. First of all I thought ... man, those must be some expensive hams! This is definetly a niche market, but it also shows that there are many niche markets out there and there is probably a niche market available for many farmers if they look for it and help create it. But, the second thing that came to my mind is that although the pigs wouldn't get 50% of their gain from acorns they would receive a portion of it if they were pastured with access to the woods. For me that is just another reason, among many, to raise hogs outdoors in movable fencing.

Not Looking Good for Pork in 2008

Lately my father-in-law has been saving his issues of the "Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman" for me. He keeps up with my blog pretty regularly (probably will read this) and thought that some of the articles would be interesting and make good fodder for my blogging. Well, he was right! I enjoy thumbing through them and seeing what is going on in the industrial, conventional, local, worldwide, and even small scale farming worlds. The latest issue that he dropped off had an article about the 2008 outlook for pork farmers that really drew my interest.

The title of the article is, "Pork farmers facing difficult 2008 due to high feed costs; soft market". I think the title says it all... Recently the Iowa Pork Congress was held in Des Moines and much of the time was spent tying to work out some solutions to the possible coming crisis. This quote from the article wouldn't give me much hope though: "But based on current analyst forecasts and predictions for 2008, there may not be any good short-term solutions." And, one analyst, Dr. Steve Meyer, said, "It could actually get worse".

For many pork farmers the best solution may be just to break even or even have just a small loss. How in the world can we keep propping up a system thats best solutions ever 10-20 years is to, "break even or have a small loss"! The article continues with no real recommendations other than to do your best and feed any stored grain you have. And then just to make everyone feel even better they throw out the possibility of a drought coming to the Midwest this summer. Yep, just a real good time to have hogs.

But, is it all bad news? The prices that they conventional farmers are being paid are heading down and the grain prices are heading up ... but, the prices at the store are staying relatively even. There is the good news. For farmers who are not tied to the commodity market they may find a bit of insulation from these drastic ups and downs. Not that the direct marketer will feel the pinch from the growing grain prices, but they have more room to move and hopefully more dedicated customers.

It is amazing reading through these articles. The margins are so razor thin in the commodity and conventional markets that if there is even slight movement one way or another it can literally make or break the year. On the other had a diversified farmer who takes the time to connect and market directly with the consumer can weather some of the storms ... it doesn't mean it is easy, but it does make it more bearable.

So, after reading this article I'm still ready to have some hogs. Now we just need to figure out what works best for us...

Mmmm... Tasty Pork!

Okay, the Gearld Fry article wasn't the only cool article I read on New Farm the other day. I also ran across an articled titled, "Customers seeking taste, type, integrity and terroir drive traditional pork revival" by Kelly Klober. Mr. Klober is the author of a few books, including "Dirt Hog" which I received for Christmas and will probably start reading after I finish the book I'm on now. The title really tells it all with this article, but it really is a good read. Plus, it is another plug for the heritage breeds.

The article has a quite a bit of information and gives a nice overview of some of the possibilities available for the small pig farmer these days, but I won't take up the space to give you a blow by blow account of the article today ... I'll just give you some of my thoughts and encourage you to check out the entire article.

In the late 80's and early 90's my family was fully entrenched in the hog industry. At the time my uncle was running hogs in a confinement building along with some cattle and his row crops and my Father had hogs ... well, he had hogs everywhere! We were living on an older farmstead in the Northeast part of the state with a couple of barns and various other outbuildings. We started finishing feeder pigs in one barn ... then they spread to the second barn ... next they made their way into the old chicken house which we added a wooden feeding floor too ... and finally they were pretty much everywhere! Mostly we were buying feeder pigs and selling them when they finished. It was good money (although it was stinky work) for a time ... but, then the bottom fell out of the market and the family was no longer in the hog business. Luckily we didn't lose much other than a source of income (which is a big deal).

Well, I don't know all of the details ... but, after the market dropped things started to change in the hog industry. It hasn't quite gotten to the point of the vertical poultry business yet, but it is on its way. At one time in this country every farm had some hogs just because they were considered a safe way to get a consistent return. That is no longer the case ... unless you are doing something different.

Even here in Iowa (confinement capital of the world) people are beginning to desire something more from their pork. Our blogging friends up at Sugar Creek Farm are selling farm raised pigs and many other Iowa farmers are starting to tap into what I would call the "real pork" or "quality pork" category. In fact the PFI along with other organizations is holding NICHE Pork meetings around the state. People are trying different breeds (lots of Berkshire) and different methods in order to get back to the way pork used to taste.

I must admit that now that we have our cattle pigs and the pork that comes with them are pretty high on my list. In fact, they will most likely be the next piece of livestock that we purchase. The question is, "what do we get and why do we get it?"

Over the past few months I have mentioned Tamworths, Berkshires, Ossabaw Island, and other heritage or rare breeds. I also would like to add Glouchester Old Spots because I just found out there were a few breeding those. We need to have hogs on our farms that not only can tolerate the outdoors, but that can thrive in the outdoors. We need hogs that can "root" up part of their meals (root, hog, or die!). And, most importantly we need hogs that can become a sustainable component of the farm.

One of the many things that I do is coach high school girl's soccer. I've been doing it for just at four years now and I enjoy it for many reasons. But, one thing that I have observed is that too many girls are focusing on just one sport. They won't go out for soccer because they only do volleyball or they only do basketball, yet study after study has shown that when athletes aren't out their competing in a diverse area of competition their sport of choice can suffer. Just think about when you grew up in a small town. The same people went out for every sport ... just because! Well, that isn't always the case even in the small towns today. People think they need to specialize to be successful.

Farming has fallen into that trap also. People are grain farmers, cattle finishers, dairymen, or pork producers ... too much specialization. In order to get back to quality (just like our high school athletes) we need to have diverse farms that not only have a well rounded balance sheet, but that also produce a variety of foods. Pork is just another part of that variety!