Heritage Pork

From the beginning...

At Stirring Soil Farm, we take great pride in our pigs. Our Missouri Mulefoot/ Large Black pigs live their whole life on our farm. Our pigs are allowed to be pigs, with shelter supplied at all times,  groups of trees, fresh cool water to drink, deep wallows to cool off in, and plenty of diverse pasture forage. Our Mulefoot and Mulefoot/Large Black sows free farrow on pasture . Our sows never farrow in crates, they are supplied with all the straw/bedding material necessary for them to build their own nest. We don’t separate our boar from our sows. It is important that we honor the natural roles that the boar & sow have. After our piglets are weaned they are moved to our diversified forage pasture paddocks.

Out to pasture...

Raised on diversified pasture, we design our paddocks and rotational system with the pigs in mind.  Each half acre paddock has 20 to 24 pigs.  The pigs only spend two weeks in each paddock, keeping their living quarters fresh and the pasture active.  After the pigs have been moved from the paddock, we apply biodynamic preparations as well as the Pfeiffer field spray to awaken the living soil. Once the pigs and preparations have prepared our soil, we seed forage and cover crops for the next group of pigs.  Each paddock will not see another rotation of pigs for two and a half months. At that time the previously seeded forage and cover crop has reached full maturity. This regenerate pasture management allows us to provide a diverse nutrient dense diet for our pigs. 

Rations...  

The pasture at Stirring Soil Farm supplies much of the feed for the pigs.  Native grasses, buckwheat, rye, oats, legumes, and brassicas supply diverse nutrients to our pigs diets.  In addition to pasture forage, our pigs are fed only the highest quality Organically & locally grown, Non-Gmo certified feed from Baumans Farms in Garnett, KS.  The Baumans care as much about our pigs' health as we do. Not using antibiotics, our pigs are kept healthy with a steady diet of diatomaceous earth for parasites and natural hardwood charcoal for immune system health. We grow a 1/2 acre of vegetables and fruits biodynamically on the farm to complete our pig’s diet.  Everything our pigs eat is non-GMO and raised with organic practices or biodynamically.

In the end...

When it is time to say goodbye to the pigs, we make sure they are treated with the utmost care and respect.  We do not force the pigs to go where we want, but instead, we let the food do the moving.  Humane handling without the use of prods is carried from the farm to the processor.  Processing is carried out by Paradise Locker Meats in Trimble, MO, a USDA inspected facility with multiple third-party humane handling certifications.