Not Your Typical Pigs Raising Hogs in a Non-Confinement Setting
Jim York’s pigs are not your typical hogs. They don’t live in confinement barns, the sows are naturally bred with boars rather than artificially inseminated, they’re primarily antibiotic-free, and they are all at least 50 percent Berkshire.
When York started raising pigs, back in 1988, near the Lake Wilson farm where he and his wife Rosie live, he raised what he called “commercial hogs.” He decided to take on pig farming as another way to generate income and give him more to do during the winter months.
“I’ve always liked doing the chores,” York said. “I like farrowing the pigs. It’s kind of a good feeling to come down and do chores in the morning and see if there’s a new litter born.”
About 12 years ago, he shifted his pig operation to raising purebred Berkshires.
The Berkshire breed originated in Berkshire, England. They were originally reddish or sandy colored, according to the American Berkshire Association, but the modern animal is mostly black with some white, specifically on the face. The primary characteristic that sets the breed apart, however, is the meat.
“The meat is not as lean, so it’s more juicy, more flavorful,” York said.
He said there’s a niche market for the meat that brings a better price for the Berkshires than producers get for typical commercial pigs.
About seven years ago, York switched to raising pigs that are 50 percent Berkshire and 50 percent a mix of Large White and Landrace. He said the cross breeding helps produce larger litters and faster growing pigs while maintaining the Berkshire meat characteristics.
York said he’s part of a group of Berkshire producers who sell their animals through a certified Berkshire pork program that allows cross-breeding as long as the animal remains at least 50 percent Berkshire. York said the producers must obtain their sows and boars from specific locations, have third-party audits of their facilities, and must verify that the pigs are raised in a humane way and are not given antibiotics after they reach 40 pounds.
If he must give a pig antibiotics after that, York said he has to mark the animal and can’t sell it through the program.
York’s operation is much smaller in size than the typical commercial pork operation. He has about 60 sows and five boars at their farm site, as well as a farrowing barn where there are currently about 140 piglets and a nursery barn that also has about 140 pigs. They also have about 450 pigs in three hoop barns not far from the Yorks’ home. The pigs are kept in the hoop barns until they’re ready to be sold.
For York, the open air barns were a matter of cost efficiency. He said the hoop barns cost about a quarter of what a confinement barn would have when he built them back in 2000. He said the open air barns do leave his hogs more susceptible to diseases, which can be brought in by birds, so vaccinations are important.
“The thing that I need to do in this program is give good vaccinations at the beginning to help the pig stave off some of these things that could happen, like PRRS (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome) is a big one and some of the pneumonias and ileitis I give shots for,” he said. “No matter where you are in southwest Minnesota there are other barns around so there’s disease in the air.”
York said raising pigs in open air barns is also more labor intensive because he puts new bedding in each week and it’s more difficult to sort the pigs when it’s time to sell them because his barns don’t have smaller pens within them like a confinement barn does.
“I definitely need three people to help sort,” he said.
York said his brother, Lee, and Lee’s sons, Brian and Terry, help him with the sorting, but he does the rest himself.
In addition to raising hogs, York grows corn, soybeans and oats on around 2,500 acres of mostly rented land with his brother and nephews. York said his family has been farming together since the early 1980s, and with their dad prior to that.
When York started raising pigs, back in 1988, near the Lake Wilson farm where he and his wife Rosie live, he raised what he called “commercial hogs.” He decided to take on pig farming as another way to generate income and give him more to do during the winter months.
“I’ve always liked doing the chores,” York said. “I like farrowing the pigs. It’s kind of a good feeling to come down and do chores in the morning and see if there’s a new litter born.”
About 12 years ago, he shifted his pig operation to raising purebred Berkshires.
The Berkshire breed originated in Berkshire, England. They were originally reddish or sandy colored, according to the American Berkshire Association, but the modern animal is mostly black with some white, specifically on the face. The primary characteristic that sets the breed apart, however, is the meat.
“The meat is not as lean, so it’s more juicy, more flavorful,” York said.
He said there’s a niche market for the meat that brings a better price for the Berkshires than producers get for typical commercial pigs.
About seven years ago, York switched to raising pigs that are 50 percent Berkshire and 50 percent a mix of Large White and Landrace. He said the cross breeding helps produce larger litters and faster growing pigs while maintaining the Berkshire meat characteristics.
York said he’s part of a group of Berkshire producers who sell their animals through a certified Berkshire pork program that allows cross-breeding as long as the animal remains at least 50 percent Berkshire. York said the producers must obtain their sows and boars from specific locations, have third-party audits of their facilities, and must verify that the pigs are raised in a humane way and are not given antibiotics after they reach 40 pounds.
If he must give a pig antibiotics after that, York said he has to mark the animal and can’t sell it through the program.
York’s operation is much smaller in size than the typical commercial pork operation. He has about 60 sows and five boars at their farm site, as well as a farrowing barn where there are currently about 140 piglets and a nursery barn that also has about 140 pigs. They also have about 450 pigs in three hoop barns not far from the Yorks’ home. The pigs are kept in the hoop barns until they’re ready to be sold.
For York, the open air barns were a matter of cost efficiency. He said the hoop barns cost about a quarter of what a confinement barn would have when he built them back in 2000. He said the open air barns do leave his hogs more susceptible to diseases, which can be brought in by birds, so vaccinations are important.
“The thing that I need to do in this program is give good vaccinations at the beginning to help the pig stave off some of these things that could happen, like PRRS (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome) is a big one and some of the pneumonias and ileitis I give shots for,” he said. “No matter where you are in southwest Minnesota there are other barns around so there’s disease in the air.”
York said raising pigs in open air barns is also more labor intensive because he puts new bedding in each week and it’s more difficult to sort the pigs when it’s time to sell them because his barns don’t have smaller pens within them like a confinement barn does.
“I definitely need three people to help sort,” he said.
York said his brother, Lee, and Lee’s sons, Brian and Terry, help him with the sorting, but he does the rest himself.
In addition to raising hogs, York grows corn, soybeans and oats on around 2,500 acres of mostly rented land with his brother and nephews. York said his family has been farming together since the early 1980s, and with their dad prior to that.
