PASTURED PORK
Whistleberry Farm raises pork that tastes great, and it tastes great for all the right reasons. We focus on flavor, and we place its importance well ahead of the cost of production, how fast we can get an animal to market weight, how much labor that takes, how much land it takes, or how much time it takes. Environmental responsibility, humane treatment, and freedom from drugs and chemicals go hand in hand with setting our priorities on quality and not speed. It is so much a part of producing a good product that it hardly seems like extra effort.
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| I raise pastured pork. |
| Pastured Means Pastured |
That means animals raised outside with access to shelter, but not
confined to a building.
My growing pigs have teepee houses or threee sided sheds, for shelter from the sun and rain. Pigs like to wallow in mud
after it has rained, but in general they do not care to be rained on.
A local feed mill custom grinds a grain-based feed mixture for me with
no chemicals or drugs added, which I provide in free-choice range feeders.
The herd has big trees for shade and loafing next to their water tank.
They have lots of space to run around and hold pig races, which they do every afternoon
when it cools off a little.
They are able to forage for as much of their food as they want, and they have a good variety. They have enough area to divide into ground to be rooted up and pasture to graze like cattle. They are wonderful consumers of some very unlikely pasture. They select very carefully between the grasses and legumes they graze, but do not root up, and those they turn over and eat from the bottom up. They bulldoze up quack grass, which is largely considered a nasty weed. They prefer the roots, which are high in protein. Give them a stand of white clover, another favorite, and they graze it gently but rarely turn it over or destroy it.