We run a small farrow-to-finish operation. This means that we have a breeding herd of sows and boars, the piglets are born here, and live their entire lives here until they are "harvested." The pigs are a mixed breed; crosses of Hampshire, Duroc, and Yorkshire.

The pigs live in large pens with hoop-house shelters. They are free to roam within those pens, and to eat grass and weeds and to root around in the soil. A pig snout is an amazingly strong digging tool. In winter, some of the pigs share living space with weaned calves. The calves are fed hay in the pen, and the following summer the pigs will turn over and compost the hay that the calves trampled and "wasted." There is no waste, of course, because any hay that falls to the ground uneaten becomes fertilizer as it breaks down and releases nutrients back to the soil. After a few years of pig action, the pen is ready to rotate out of animals and into vegetable garden.

Sows are not put in crates when they are farrowing (giving birth). They go into their own private hut where they have room to move around and hay or straw bedding to build themselves a nest. In cold weather the newborn piglets snuggle down between their mother's big belly and the sidewall of the straw nest, and stay warm.

Piglets stay with their mother for six to eight weeks, depending on the size of the litter and the condition of the sow. After the piglets are weaned away from their mother, it takes another four months for them to grow to slaughter weight.

Pigs are fed a feed ration that I grind and mix myself on the farm, using locally grown oats, barley, and peas. This blend also contains a non-medicated vitamin/mineral pre-mix from Famo Feeds in Freeport, MN.