A couple of weekends ago, I did something that I never imagined I would do in my adult life. I volunteered to go to a pig farm to see where all of the wonderful pork that the Houseful loves to consume comes from.
Boy did I get an eye AND nose full!
As part of my participation in the Illinois Farm Families, I visited the hog farm of Steve Ward and his family in Sycamore, Illinois. I wasn’t entirely sure of what we were in for, but I was open to the fact that I would learn something. You always should be, correct? I’m eternally grateful to Steve and his family, including his very gracious father and mother, for opening up their farm to us.
On the bus to the farm, we were given a talk by a couple of the farmers who were along with us on general farming concepts. Acreage (did you know that an acre is roughly the same size of a football field?) and the massive amounts that lot of farmers have. We’re talking 1200 acres of land to take care of on a daily basis. I think that I would faint with just one acre of land, and these families are taking care of 1200. Steve even let us know that if he worked from sun up to sun down during planting season, he would be able to get through one hundred acres of land. Catch me now as I faint from exhaustion. I did get to pretend to drive a tractor. The thing is massive. Literally. One wheel is taller than I am, and the cabin is so far off the ground that those of us who are a little afraid of heights may not deal well, but we pretend and take a photo anyway.
The learning process started immediately. We were told that Steve’s farm was a wean to finish hog farm (meaning, they get pigs that have been weaned from their mothers and raise them until it’s time for them to be processed.) for Illini Farms. He has four hog houses – two for the smaller pigs, and two for pigs that are about 75 pounds and over. If you should ever get to this farm, as they do tours and the such, make sure you ask Steve how to wrangle a pig. It’s quite an art.
One thing that most city people would not really be prepared for would be the smell. It hits you before you even step foot in the door, however when you enter, you wonder where it’s coming from since the pens are literally spotless. Well, the pens all have slotted flooring, so that all urine and
I do remember learning when I was younger that pigs were social animals. I found out that my teacher did indeed know what they were talking about. As soon as our group walked through the doors, the pigs were pretty excited to come and interact with us. They also followed Steve around as he walked through the pens randomly petting or checking them.
The things that I really enjoyed learning were:
The pigs are kept in climate-controlled housing instead of outside to fare in the very random Illinois weather.
Pigs are fed a diet that consists of grains and not random slop
Pig pens are not messy in the least. They are formatted to make sure that the pigs have sanitary areas to eat, sleep and live in.
Overcrowding is not an issue on this farm. All pens have enough room to allow the pigs to roam around as necessary.
The “processing” of the pigs are done with as little stress as possible. No electricity and no knives (which is what I always thought.) Farmers realize that food must come from somewhere, and everyone is not going to be a vegetarian. They want to make sure that those who do consume pork products are given the best product that they can find.
Pig scent stays with you for a couple of days. I know that Mr. Houseful loves me because he kissed me BEFORE telling me that I was smelly.
Are there things that you would be interested in finding out about a hog farm? Ask your question below, and I’ll do my best to find out for you!
That is so cool to see the process. I am happy to hear that the pigs are kept in clean living quarters and have plenty of room to roam. I’ve heard sad stories about farms in general …glad to hear a happy story for a change.
This was a nice article. I enjoyed reading about how the pigs were treated and what they ate. There are so many bad stories circulated about pork, it was nice to read an article talking about how pigs are raised to be clean. It makes it feel good to eat the pork chops at dinner and the bacon at breakfast.
I had no idea that pigs are social animals, but then again, the closest I was ever able to get was next to them through a gate. It’s fascinating to learn more about them!
My husband cousins owns a large pig farm. Only a few years old, designed for the pigs and best manufacturing- it was a 4h project gone large. We visited I found the same thing. The farm was run by computers and people. The pigs were content and not stressed. I though it was very cool as well. I think everyone should see the process. LOL the smell stays with you .. yea in your sinus for a few days.
I used to be a “livestock nutritional consultant” (feed salesman). Father’rarely let me near their hog buildings but my wife could always tell when I’d been visiting a hog farm.