Today I had the most amazing experience! A friend and I visited an all non-gmo crop, dairy and pastured pig farm and got a taste of what it’s like to run a fairy operation. It was nothing like I had imagined. It was very routine and orderly and organized. The beautiful Brown Swiss cows knew exactly what to do and where to stand, all without a single moo. We watched with awe the kind of “dance” that the farmers do while milking 50 cows. I got my hand at washing teats and putting on the vacuum milkers. 

  
After clean up of the milk parlor and a bunch of Q & A, we fed some calves…

   
 
…then took a farm tour of the land and pastured pigs and hoop building pigs. We were in hog heaven. This is how hogs should be raised!

   
 
Then we ended the morning with a delicious lunch at the farmhouse and a big glass of…

  

I am trying to perfect our feed ration, providing a diverse diet for my pigs. Because you are what you eat, right? I have eliminated soy out of their diet and have gotten expert advice on rations to make sure our pigs get not only a diverse smorgasbord but also a healthy diet with the vitamins and minerals and aminos necessary to grow.  Our feed is a mix of organic and non-gmo small grains with corn.

The fall is a great time to raise pigs because they get all the squash, pumpkins and apples they can eat.