We are excited to announce that our pasture-raised, heritage hogs are now available for purchase! Read below to learn more about how we raise our pigs, what to expect, and how to reserve your hog.
THE PIGS
Pearce and I have been raising pigs on various farms for the past 4 years and we love pork! We are on a mission to raise healthy, nutrient-dense pork on our farm to share with the community. For the 2022 season, we are raising 4 heritage breed pigs that are available for sale in the form of whole and half hogs. We purchased our pigs from a farm in Blue Earth, MN when they were about 8 weeks old. They are a blend of Mangalitsa and Berkshire heritage breeds. We picked them up and drove them to the space where we rent land in Marine on St. Croix where they will live out the rest of their life on pasture.
They eat grass, weeds, insects, veggie scraps from our organic vegetable farm, and we supplement their pasture diet with 100% certified organic grain. Their grain blend consists of: barley, wheat, peas, and alfalfa meal. We ferment/soak all of their grain for 48 hours prior to feeding to unlock the nutrients stored in the grains. We also splash yogurt whey or apple cider vinegar into their fermented grain to boost the probiotic activity in their feed. Each pig eats about 5lbs of feed per day so they can maintain a healthy weight and stay active.
Our pigs have the highest quality life we are able to offer them, and it shows in the quality of the pork! The flavor is quite unlike any conventionally raised pork, or even pork raised on organic corn and soy feed. The muscles have time to develop and the blend of whole grains we feed them adds to the depth of flavor. We hope you’ll choose to purchase bulk pork from us!
THE PORK
If you’ve read this far, and you’re still (or more??) interested in purchasing bulk pork from us, here’s how it works:
You can either purchase a whole hog or a half hog from us. Whole hogs weigh between 160-180lbs, hanging weight. This means that if you purchase a whole hog, you will receive between 150-160lbs of pork cuts back from the butcher. Half hogs weigh 80-90lbs will be half the whole hog weight, and you will receive between 70-80 lbs of pork cuts back from the butcher.
Our butcher date is on December 10th, 2022. We work with Grundhofers Old Fashioned Meats in Hugo, MN. We also work with a mobile butcher who will do the slaughter, then take the hanging pork to the butcher to be broken down into the cuts of your desire. Once the hogs are brought to the butcher, you will be able to call Grundhofers and order the cuts of meat you would like. You can also specify if you want those cuts of meats smoked or seasoned by Grundhofers. Once your cuts of pork are ready, they will call you and you will go pick them up directly from the butcher. We can facilitate the order/pickup process and we are happy to deliver your pork for an extra fee.
Once we know who will be purchasing our pork, we will send out more info and instructions leading up to the butcher date.
THE PRICE
In order to secure your hog, you will need to place a non-refundable deposit ASAP through our website.
Whole hog deposit: $200
Half hog deposit: $100
Your deposit will be put towards the cost of the whole or half hog. Once the hog is butchered, and we know the exact hanging weight of the hog you purchased, you will be billed by the pound for your pork.
Whole hogs: $7.50/lb
Half Hogs: $8.00/lb
The per pound price will be paid to us, the farmers. This price includes: feed cost, slaughter, piglet cost, labor/time, and misc tools used to raise the pigs. This cost DOES NOT include the cut/wrap fee that Grundhofers will charge you for the cuts of pork you order. Cut and wrap fees can range between $200-$500 based on the cuts you order and the smoking/seasoning you choose. Feel free to check out Grundhofers website to learn more about their specific cut and wrap fees.
Total hog cost example:
If your hog weighs 170 lbs hanging weight and you order a whole hog, you will pay us (the farmers) $1,275.00 (including the deposit).
If you decided to order hams, bacon, sausages, and some fresh cuts of pork (like pork chops, pork steaks, roasts etc.) your cut and wrap fee might be closer to $400. So the example total cost would be $1,675.00. So the total cost per pound would equal: $9.85/lb in this example.
