Spring Hill Farms

I hear this question a lot. Your pigs are on pasture? Do they eat grass? Suprisingly enough farmers ask this more than anyone. If I explain a little to them many times they dismiss it and go on.

I can see them thinking to themselves and some have even said 'you can't get a hog to eat enough grass to make any difference.'

I just smile. I know mine do! My feed consumption and weight gain records don't lie.

It's a practice that was common years ago.

 Here's one account from 1910:

Pasture plays an important role in the common practice of swine feeding. Besides getting fresh and palatable feed the pig in such cases harvest the crop which saves considerable expense.

He also gets a greater variety of feed as well as different mineral substances that may be gathered from the soil in different places.

While the feed gathered from the pasture in the form of grass, plants of various kinds, etc., is of the nature of roughage, still the pig can use a considerable quantity of this even though he is primarily adapted to concentrated feeds.

In fact, he will do better with some roughages in his ration than he will to be confined entirely to concentrates, especially if the former are gathered from from the pasture. The pasture exercises a considerable influence besides the feed it supplies. - William Dietrich - 1910

Hogs on grass fell into obscurity for quite some time, thank goodness it's making a come back!

Until next time...

Our new building is framed up and ready for metal. We'll use this to farrow pigs in the winter and brood chicks when pigs are out on pasture.

I try to plan buildings for multiple use. For the first several years the only building we had was a yard barn. As we have grown we have put up some barns for storage and shelter. The pigs are normally in huts that we keep straw in for warmth.

 Tamworth pigs are known for there ability to with stand cold temps but they still need something to protect then from the wind and wetness of Winter and Spring.

I'll put the sows in this about a week or so before they pig so they can get used to it and prepare for the little ones.

 Here's a shot of the pole building we put up last year. I hope to use it for farm tours etc.

Well just a peek at what we're doing.

Until next time....

I find a large part of my work as a small farmer is educating folks as to why they should buy local off the farm whenever possible.

 Sure, there is a segment of soceity that is already convinced of that and some of them shop here at local harvest or the local farmers market.

 I find a much larger portion of Americans have only had some form of exposure to these thoughts. They aren't always convinced yet. I'm always on the look out for evidence supporting my belief in local food and/or sustainable farming.

 One of the most prevalent stories right now is one of food safety. Almost daily we see something on the news or Interent about food safety issues. All these things help our cause. Americans are starting to pull all the bits and pieces togther of the whole local farm freash thing thanks to the media.

 I checked my mail today and viola it seemed as though Consumer Reports is seeing that it is a hot topic now too!

 I got a mailer from them trying to sell me the 2010 buying guide. On the front cover in large letters:

 "How safe is that chicken? We'll tell you..." see page 4

On page 4 they inform you that they compared 525 chickens from 27 brands and found only 17% were free from salmonella and campylobacter.

Thanks Consumer Reports for doing such a study! I'll use it to sell my pastured poultry!

Until next time...

Here I am in this dang bed and who's gonna feed them hogs? So goes the old Tom T Hall song...After surgery on Monday I'm glad I'm not wondering that! 

 I would say "minor" surgery but the only time it's minor is when someone else has it!

 Seriously though I am so thankful for friends and family. The farm has perked along just fine even though I've hardly left the couch since Monday.

Thanks to all!

till next time!

I just got spoke to my processor on the phone. I was thrilled to hear him say he was "impressed" with the way our beef looked on the rail. He said it was not what he expected for grass fed beef. A really special compliment coming from a guy who has been in the business since he was born! The family ran business just celebrated 100 years in business.

 He said the cover was excellent and it was marbled nicely. He had not seen that in 100% grass fed, grass finished beef. To tell you the truth, until recently I have not been a fan of grass finished beef. I was raised on grass fed and grain finished beef which was what we had to do in order to obtain a good finish.Genetics have come a long way since then.

 I'm pleased to announce we have finally got a product that is 100% grass fed and holds it own with any beef on the market! 

Until next time!

In the last few days I have spoke with several people wanting to start raising Tamworth pigs. They usually want to know about a couple gilts and an un-related boar. Oh how I wish we could run a couple different lines of Tams but it requires way more infrastructure than I'm capable of right now.

 Then to make matters worse, Tamworth breeders are few and far between. I end up making a 500 mile trip if I want to get new breeding stock. I try to keep "outside stock" to a minimum so as to reduce the chance of different "bugs" making mine sick.

 And so it is with Heritage breed stock. Hard to come by and many times a small genetic pool. That was why I decided to stop raising Old Spots. There is practically no one remotely close to get stock from.

 I'm hopeful this will get better in the future but we need more breeders of these rare pigs.

Until next time...

Well the snow melted and now we have mud everywhere. I'm glad we're down to just breeding stock on pigs. A whole bunch of grower pigs in this mess tires you out. 

 It's time to think about ordering chicks. We have made the decision to use a bird from the Label Rouge  program instead of the standard Cornish Cross birds most folks use.

 Updated our website some this week also. You can see it by clicking here

I've had some time to actually get caught up on office work and marketing this week.

I'm getting excited to send the last of our Goucestershire Old Spot pigs to butcher. Andrew of Slim Pickins' Pork will be taking this one and preparing some very interesting products. I'm sure he will detailing it all on his blog found here.

He looks like he's ready to go, the pig that is!

 These are old unimproved lard hogs. The meat is intensly marbled and has been called "silky".

Anybody want to guess his weight?

I find these pigs to be timid and very reluctant to move to new surroundings. I think it's because of the ears obstructing their view. Our Tamworth pigs are much more at ease and seem to see much better as they have erect ears.

Here's some information from the Dept of Animal Science at Oklahoma State University.

Gloucestershire Old Spots originated in the Berkeley Valley region of England and have now spread throughtout the UK. The origin of the breed is unknown but is probably from the native stock of the area along with introductions of various breeds. In 1855, Youatt and Martin mentioned there was a native stock in Gloucestershire that was of an unattractive dirty white color.

 The Old Spots are among the large size pigs in England. At one time, they were called the Orchard Pig because they were partially raised on windfall apples and whey - waste agricultural products of the area.

 Gloucestershire Old Spots are said to be good foragers or grazers. This is not surprising considering the type of feeding practiced in the original home of the breed during its early development. The sows of the breed are known for large litters and high milk production. Prolificacy and milk production have been characteristics sought by practical producers everywhere.

These pigs are listed as critically endangered on the American Breeds Livestock Conservancy website.

Well once again summer has flown by and fall is turning to winter. As soon as it starts freezing at night I'm glad all the market hogs are gone and only breeding stock is left.

I'd much rather  be frying bacon in the morning than moving pigs and thawing water tanks. Sows are so easy to take care of it doesn't seem much like work except when it rains and the mud won't go away.

Actually I have one Old Spot left that goes to meet the sausage maker on December 18th. The customer wanted his pork with the "rind on" so I have to send him to a shop that will scald v.s. skin him. He is hoping to dry cure the hams and a few other neat, old, techniques that produce old style pork. Since the Gloucester Old Spots are very old line pigs they should be great for the job. Once that gets under way I'll put a link to the blog that will detail it all.

The end of February or first of March new pigs will be born and we start all over!