Well, several of our registered Berkshire pigs are going to the happy hunting ground later this week. We will be offering some of this pork for sale to friends, family and other foodies like us. We’re excited to see the results of what has been absolute hours and hours of work on these crafty, smart and enormous animals. If you follow our blog (as infrequent as it may be), you already know a few things about how we raise our livestock, but if not, here’s a quick overview:
Organic…to be or not to be!
Being certified Organic is an incredibly expensive and time-consuming process that a lot of small family farms don’t undertake. While we could certify once we have been on our land for 3 years (we’re not quite there), we don’t feel like it’s worth the thousands (upon thousands) of dollars to invest in this governmental certification, so instead we try to be transparent with how we raise our animals. For our pigs, they are raised in a large pen with access to some forage. We supplement their feed with commercial feed that is antibiotic free when we can get it. Yep-that’s a big problem-that feed is not always available, but we do our best to avoid the antibiotic feed that many commercial pig operations feed exclusively. In addition, our pigs receive zero additional medications during their life here with us. So, I feel honest in saying that our pigs are sorta organic.
Registered? Papers? I don’t need no stinking papers!
But, really you do! Our stock is registered and more importantly they are from registered blood lines found at a well established, well-respected family farm. We can trace the lineage of our pigs and are happy to report that there are no “Uncle Daddys” among our boys or girls. As we move forward with our breeding program, we will continue to ensure this clean genetic line by introducing stock from other family farms thereby keeping everyone pure Berkshire and not genetically compromised.
Butchering…learned it on youtube?
As a small family farm, we do a lot of things ourselves. However, there are a few things that we absolutely will not do and one of the things at the very top of that list is butcher our own large animals. We do not have the facility, training or equipment for it and we prefer to turn that over to trained professionals in established facilities whose cleanliness is inspected and maintained. Do you really want me butchering your pork chops next to my coffee pot while running my dishwasher? Yeah, I didn’t think so!
I’m your mother’s cousin’s sister’s friend twice removed…..you can cut me a deal on the price, right?
We love our friends, family and mother’s cousin’s sister’s friends and would be happy to give anyone who wants a large volume of meat a volume specific price. However, please remember that these are Registered Berkshire pigs. Do a quick Bing search for Berkshire pork and you will see that prices range from $15-$40 per pound from commercial producers who make no effort to raise organic. In Japan, apparently the prices can go even higher! But…we’re not in Japan and we’re not looking to extort money out of other pork loving foodies. As we take this batch to butcher, we will sit down and calculate a fair price based on our cost that is reasonable. You will know the price per pound of the cut you want before you have to commit. But, I’m just going to say this…if you want grocery store prices, ya gotta go buy grocery store pork…capice?
You don’t have to be a local yokel to enjoy these piggies
If you aren’t near us, we can ship to you! Just contact us through our site and we can work out shipping, etc for you to get your little piggie products. We may be country but we do have FedEx/UPS!
Speak now or forever hold your peace..
This is hopefully not a one time deal. We will have other pigs available for purchase later this spring/early summer. From there, our focus will be on our breeding program so that we always have a supply of yummy, delicious berkshire pork available. If now is not the time for you to buy humanely raised, sorta organic, deliiiiicious berkshire pork, you will have other chances!
Thanks to everyone who helped, supported and educated us as we started this process of learning about pigs. Now let’s go make some bacon!
