PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Easier farming, no till permaculture with pigs.

elchivito · #10 02-10-2011, 02:41 PM

I agree with you to a certain extent, but the "urban myth" of free range animals is becoming more and more a reality. Take a look at Polyface Farm's operation online. The guy is one example of many. He's hugely successful and has an almost completely sustainable grass based meat business including pork. His hogs do in fact free range a good portion of the year. He rotates his pastures with moveable electric fence. He buys almost no feed or chemicals. His meat brings top dollar and demand is high. Commodity beef, poultry and pork prices are irrelevant to him. He doesn't ship, if people want his products they drive to his farm on scheduled days and pick it up.

I was born on this ranch and have seen it change from cattle and sheep to sheep and dairy goats. When I came home and took it over, it was struggling, still trying to raise beef to be sold at auction and heavily tied to the agribiz paradigm. Our riparian area along the creek had been nearly destroyed by the cattle over the years and was invaded with Bermuda.I've done pretty well with my line of show stock and heritage wool sheep. As to beef, we raise a few and have custom processing done for word of mouth customers. All grass and hay. No corn or concentrate finishing, no antibiotics or hormones. When a steer requires antibiotics, it's given them and when it's well it gets pulled and goes to auction. I do this so I don't have to lie to my customers.
As more and more people become concerned about where their food comes from and how it's grown, the paradigm will gradually change. You can see it coming a hundred miles off. Those hippies in the video will move on to some other hair brained scheme when they get bored, but there are serious farmers gradually making big changes in the way they raise food. Frankly, the mess those hogs are making in that plot looks like more work to get ready for planting than just tilling it yourself.