Our forthcoming pigs: Why I chose Idaho Pasture Pigs
As we start to add more livestock and get closer to the source of our food, I started to research different animals.
Over the winter I took an online goat class because many people told me that goats would be a great next animal for us. I liked the idea of using them to control invasive species, using their manure in the garden, and occasionally using them for dairy. I also took a sheep class because sheep sounded like they could offer similar benefits, but wouldn’t require extravagant fencing. Kristin Lie-Nielsen of Hostile Valley Living, a farm based in Maine, led the online classes and I learned so much. The classes made me slow down to consider all of the needs we’re trying to fill, pull out which were most important, and then decide which animals would work best on our particular land. Goats weren’t going to fill most of our needs. Sheep would fill more needs. Sheep would offer great herding training for our new Australian shepherd, and eventually serve as a meat source. However, sheep would require predator protection. Getting sheep would mean also getting a Guardian Livestock Dog, donkey, or mule. This would be feasible, but a better fit at a later time.
Raising our own meat comes with responsibilities and more work. I value animal welfare and knowing what goes into our meals and our bodies. Pork consumption can introduce toxins if you’re not sourcing your meat responsibly. Pigs store toxins in their subcutaneous fat. The subcutaneous fat is the largest amount of fat in pork. Irresponsible animal care and commercial swine operations might include the use of hormones, antibiotics, and cramped stationary housing, which can breed bacteria and attract pests. These substances could be stored in pig fat. On the flip side, pigs store Vitamin D in their subcutaneous fat. Shortly after I reserved two barrows (castrated boars) from a nearby farm, Jill Winger of The Prairie Homestead featured pigs in the episode “Pastured Pork IS Possible” on her Old-Fashioned On Purpose podcast. Winger interviewed Charles Mayfield of Farrow Skincare. Mayfield shared (around the 6:55 mark), “A pastured pig will have arguably higher Vitamin D content in its fat than any other mammalian species.” This implies a great opportunity to curate livestock practices for more nutrient-dense food.
According to the nonprofit Food Animal Concerns Trust, “Studies show the nutritional value of pork from pastured pigs that consume grass and forage is higher than pork from conventionally-raised pigs.” Pastured pork consistently shows less saturated fat and greater polyunsaturated (heart-healthy) fats, nearly twice as much Vitamin E, and a more favorable omega fatty acid ratio with more than 2 times as much omega-3, a nutrient that approximately 90% of Americans remain deficient in.
I heard about Idaho Pasture Pigs (IPPs) through various YouTube channels and they’ve been in the back of my mind. A relatively new breed, IPPs have existed for a little more than a decade. They’re a cross between Old Berkshire, Duroc, and Kunekune. You might already know that commercial operations use high-production pig breeds that mature in as little as 4 months. Old World breeds, like Magalitsas take about 18 months to get butcher-ready. Sadly, “Six livestock breeds are lost each month in favor of high production practices. Today, 75 percent of the world's food is generated from only 12 plants and five animal species,” according to the National Institute of Health. The IPP blends certain qualities of breeds so that they’re ready for the butcher at 8 to 10 months old, their main diet is pasture and about 20 percent of their diet is grain, and they’re generally not prone to root and turn up the ground.
In February, I attended a session at the Organic Growers School Spring Conference with Perma Pastures Farm’s Billy Bond. Bond’s session was all about pigs and how you can feed them for free. He, like everyone I’ve talked to who raises pigs on a small scale, said that pigs are easier to raise than chickens. (Although my chickens can be high maintenance some times—a post on a recent drama will come soon—their care is usually stress-free and not time-intensive.) From Bond’s session I learned that “oak hay”—oak leaves—are a great seasonal food source for pigs. I also learned that every permaculturist’s favorite plant—comfrey—is another good food source. Comfrey is one of only three plants that produce Vitamin B12. (The other two are alfalfa and borage. The latter you might remember from my post about summer forage for me and the bees.)
The more I learned about the ease of pig care, the less I wanted to stress about goat fencing and four-legged fugitives. Pigs also help control invasive species, so choosing swine helps to check that box too. Although dairy isn’t feasible when raising pigs, I took stock of our dairy use and we really don’t consume much. Maybe a gallon of milk per month, and butter consumption varies seasonally. Certainly not enough to use the gallon or more per day that a dairy goat would produce. I considered mini breeds that produce a quart per day, but even that felt excessive for our needs.
Our property offers a variety of forage options for pigs. Unmowed grassy and weedy spaces that total to about an acre, and a few wooded acres with plenty of acorns, “oak hay”, and hickory nuts in the fall. With the rotational grazing I had already intended, IPPs began to make more sense. Pork is also the top meat we consume. When I plan our meals, I prioritize diversity to help promote a healthier microbiome. According to the National Institute of Health, “The more diverse the diet, the more diverse the microbiome and the more adaptable it will be.” (The same study also cites that our microbiomes are impacted if we consume meats that were given antibiotics.) I try not to repeat a meat source two nights in a row. Maybe a week has two meat-free nights, pork chops, beef meatballs, trout, quail, and pork sausage. It’s rare that any other meat other than pork would repeat in a week. Since IPPs mature in less than a year, and they’ll already be a few months old when we bring them home, the brief time commitment in relation to the freezer pay-off make sense.
The fencing piece is a key factor for me. My husband oversees all the mechanical, machine, and automotive aspects at home. I manage all of the animal care on our homestead. I need systems that I can do on my own. IPPs, like many pigs trained to a hot wire, only require a single wire fence to contain them. With rotational grazing, I can set up a T-post solar hot wire system that I can pick up and move without the need for expensive permanent fence installation, a tractor, or my husband to help me. IPPs also tolerate cold very well, but not heat so much. (I’m glad we’ll have them primarily through the fall to spring.) Their shelters will be too heavy for me to move on my own, so I’m building a lighter structure during their early months that I can pull with our lawn tractor, and I’m planning a wagon wheel rotational grazing system with their larger shelter when they’re bigger.
We’re expecting to pick up our two IPPs at the end of August. They’ll come home just in time to enjoy the late summer grasses before the leaf, acorn, and hickory nut buffet. The invasives—Japanese stiltgrass and Autumn olive—will be at peak for them too. I’m also seeding their future paddocks with summer and fall cover crops to give them more to nibble on. Pumpkins are one of my favorite things to grow and I doubled my plants this year in anticipation of pig appetites. Between their grazing, extra garden produce, and our kitchen scraps, I feel good about their diet. I also feel good about their help in improving soil around our property for our next livestock. I’m still considering what we’ll get next. What do you think we should add?