Homegrown Acres

Why Buy from Homegrown Acres?

Five Good Reasons

DIVERSE GENETICS: The most critical step that we can all take with heritage hogs is to strengthen the diversity of our herds. At Homegrown Acres we have distinct bloodlines (two Large Black boar lines and three sow lines as well as three of the four GOS bloodline groups) and we control breeding so that each successive generation adds to the health of the U.S. herd. We are proud to be able to provide breeding pairs that together will produce offspring with low inbreeding. We are also negotiating to bring new, rare bloodlines in from other herds and countries.

Another of the things that we are proud of is recognizing which piglets will contribute to the health of our rare breeds and which piglets should not be bred because they may pass along undesirable traits. Large Black hogs and Gloucestershire Old Spots are quite rare in the U.S. and also quite inbred. This is the result of far too many people selling every piglet they get as a breeder regardless of the impact on the U.S. and global herds. The result has seriously harmed the breeds. We will only sell piglets, as breeders, if their offspring will improve the herds. This means they will have better than average conformity to standards; not just published "Breed Standards" but also inherent qualities that will allow them to be good boars and sows. Good front and rear leg structure, level backs, good width, depth and spring of rib, good width between the back legs, depth and squareness throughout the body cavity. All of these are important characteristics for a pig that will become a breeder.

There are, unfortunately, some rare breed farmers who have no clue about these traits and couldn't tell a good piglet from a bad one. If you buy a premium pig from us you are investing not only in the highest quality animal but also our experience and knowledge to help you make the best of your investment.

KNOWLEDGE: We have been raising hogs for some time now and have probably made every mistake that a person can make ;) When we give advice it is based on having had the experience ourselves. We have raised several hog breeds including Chester Whites, Durocs, Feral and numerous flavors of crosses as well as our current breeds. We share everything we know to help ensure that your hog program is successful.

When you buy a piglet from us the deal does not stop there. We are always ready to help answer questions and guide you as you develop the structures, fencing, feeds and management practices at your farm. We can help you create the kind of natural, safe environment in which your hogs can thrive. Not only can we help you individually but we also created and manage "Heritage Hog Blog" (www.HeritageHogBlog.com) where we share our experiences and thoughts with other heritage hog farmers and people interested in our way of humanely raising these wonderful animals.

WHOLESOMENESS: Farm animals need a variety of natural food, clean water, fresh pasture and adequate shelter. We are fortunate in that we have 40 acres, roughly half pasture and half forest, on which to raise our livestock. We rotate them around the farm in large paddocks that consist of both grass and forage (brush and forest undergrowth). This allows them to have constant access to fresh, natural food. Since several months pass before they graze the same area twice; this rotational grazing process allows the pasture and forest to recover and prevents over-grazing.

When you are shopping for your pigs, ask each breeder how they raise their herds. Do they raise them on pasture or in the woods or are they kept in a barn or on a dry lot? If the answer is "barn" or "dry lot", shop somewhere else. The quality of the pig you buy depends much upon the quality of its ancestors. You see, the primary desirable traits of a heritage breed hog are its ability to live on pasture and in the woods without requiring a lot of supplemental feed, environmentally controlled shelter or lots of help from humans as modern breeds do. Taking a heritage breed and raising it in a barn is just contrary to the whole notion of maintaining healthy heritage breed hog herds.

Also be careful how they describe their husbandry practices. "Pasture Raised" is a lot different than "Pasture Fed". Raising livestock on pasture means just that; the animals live, eat and breed out in a natural environment. "Pasture Fed" often means the hogs are kept in pens and barns and given hay to eat. The nutritional value of old, dried hay just can't compare with the value of fresh, growing plants. Even in winter, when the pastures are dead and hay is the only option, good breeders still provide fresh vegetables and high protein, medicine and hormone free supplemental feed to their herds. Heritage hogs can only retain their valuable traits if their diet consists almost exclusively of natural food. Beware of the breeders who don't know or care about this.

Lastly, watch out for the breeders who manage their heritage breeds just like modern breeds are managed. Preventative vaccinations and antibiotics, medicated feed, scheduled deworming, history of transmissible diseases, clipped teeth and tails; these are all signs of a hog farmer who neither understand the value of heritage breeds nor truly understands the importance of keeping our food sources free from harmful substances. If a heritage hog breed cannot successfully endure without significant human intervention then it ceases to have any value. It becomes just another man-made breed.

HUMANE TREATMENT: We treat our livestock humanely. This means that we must provide them with proper nutrition for their age and condition, cannot use growth hormones, must give them continuous access to good pasture (during growing season), must keep them in good physical condition and use humane practices when handling them, among other practices. When you buy an animal from us you can be assured that it has been treated well and has been allowed to live as natural and healthy life as we can provide.

We try to maintain a good reputation and have turned down several potential customers because we either felt they were too inexperienced or were going to raise our livestock in an unhealthy manner. When you become a caretaker for livestock, we believe that you have a responsibility to do it the right way. These animals are not a commodity to be bought and sold; it is incredibly important that we work to improve their lives. We also get personally attached to each animal on our farm and sort of feel a paternal / maternal obligation to keep them happy and healthy. As much as we enjoy the "traveling money" we get from them, we aren't doing this for the business aspects; breeding livestock is something that makes this phase of our lives whole. We hope it will do the same for you!

Of course, the obvious question becomes, "If you care so much about your livestock, why do you supply them to be used as food?" The answer is complex but boils down to a realization that most people do eat meat and that market provides the incentive for farmers to raise them. If the rare breeds are to grow out of their current endangered status there has to be a reason for more people to raise them; providing a healthy source for meat consumers ensures that farmers will have an economic incentive to continue to raise them. We know that, at least as long as they are under our care and hopefully for long afterwards, our livestock get to live a healthy life and be treated with respect.

SUSTAINABILITY: To be good citizens and caretakers of our planet, we believe that small farms such as Homegrown Acres must produce products with the least amount of outside inputs possible. We chose to raise heritage pigs here because the environment is right for them to thrive; they eat the natural grass and forage that grows on the farm. With our rotational grazing strategy, hogs also provide all the fertilizer our forests and pastures need so we don't have to bring in chemical fertilizers. Our free range chickens help by spreading the manure around and have developed a symbiotic relationship with the hogs (as the hogs root around, the chickens feast on the grubs and worms that are uncovered! In return they remove any external parasites that may be unlucky enough to land on a hog.)

We have large gardens where we grow much more produce than we need; this allows us to share the harvest with our herds and reduces the amount of supplemental feed we provide. We bale hay each summer and use it as winter feed and bedding. Our forest is a wonderful place and we manage it to favor the hardwoods, such as walnuts and oaks, that provide nuts for our hogs as natural food. We chose to use a Llama as a herd protection animal because it eats the same food as the livestock (instead of a dog that requires lots of manufactured food). We reuse just about everything on the farm, including old wire and posts for fencing, old dog houses for shelter, paper products as compost and weed control, fallen trees as firewood.