The History of Hereford Pigs (on our farm)

[@robertpayne2717]

We had a Hampshire Boar that was named Bo..I remember giving him a bloody snout one afternoon after school.. I went to do the evening feeding and noticed a bad place in the fence. I grabbed my claw hammer and some staples and went in the pen to make repair. As I leanned over to reattach the fence I felt something around my calf and Bo was about to chomp down on my leg I took the claw side of the hammer and raked it up his snout. He wasn't mean but he was territorial!!!!!

[@TheBeginningFarmer]

My dad always told me Hamps were a little more ornery ... maybe they were just territorial ;)

[@annahkurtin5345]

I love those pigs. Good video. You mentioned "processor". Yummmm. Bacon. I'm thinkin' Hereford bacon would be delicious.

[@TheBeginningFarmer]

We do love our Hereford Pork ... all of the cuts! And thankfully our customers do too :)

[@annahkurtin5345]

@@TheBeginningFarmer Might there be any way I could buy your products in Kentucky?

[@howlinhairyontheprairie8261]

I have a hereford/duroc boar that I am going to base my breeding program on. Seriously thinking of going to only Hereford in the future. Right now my gilts are Yorkshire/landrace/duroc commercial type. Not fond of how lean they are. Still a couple months from breeding. Looking forward to following you.

[@TheBeginningFarmer]

The Duroc was one of the foundational breeds of the Hereford (along with Poland China and Chester White). I would think a Hereford/Duroc cross would be pretty good depending on the genetics. Thankfully we have not had to use the typical "modern commercial" breeds on our farm, so we haven't had lean hogs :) Thanks for following along!

[@SpaceExplorer4430]

Awesome. What kind of tractors do you have?

[@TheBeginningFarmer]

Our main tractor is a John Deere 4430 (although it is out of commission at the moment) and we also have a Minneapolis Moline M5 right now too. The John Deere 4010 on the the farm right now is a loaner tractor from my cousin. In the past we have also had ... a Farmall 450 ... a Ford 5000 ... a John Deere 4020 ... and a different John Deere 4020.

[@throwback336]

That was a great story. When I was teen a fellar we went to church with had a pig farm and I helped him off and on throughout the years. I got my love of pigs from there so when we were thinking about clearing out old pasture ground pigs were the 1st choice over mechanical, but we haven't started yet. On the list, just hasn't had it to the top. How many do you have on the farm at a given time to keep your rotation going?

[@TheBeginningFarmer]

I too love the pigs! Typically we keep between 50 and 100 on the farm at any one time, but just a few weeks back we only had 19! Thankfully we are filling back up and have around 70 right now with more coming.

[@throwback336]

@@TheBeginningFarmer do you generally raise year round?

[@TheBeginningFarmer]

@@throwback336 We do. We sell year round through our CSA, individual cut sales, and even whole/half hogs so we always have pigs on the farm. If we can ever make it to the point where we are farrowing on farm I would like to farrow 4 groups a year so we can have a constant supply.

[@timskutnik4397]

What is your long term goal with pharrow to finish? I follow Jordan Green who has 60+ sows on 120 acres. How big do you think you could build with your market demand?

[@TheBeginningFarmer]

We have 40 acres total (shared with the house/yard, buildings, chickens, cattle, sheep, and pigs). I don’t think we’ll reach 60+ sows, but I also think he sells feeder pigs. While I do see some demand for that my focus will be on meat and I would like to build up to around 10 sows with maybe up to 16 - 20’ish as we hit our stride. A goal number for me, just pulling it out of the air, would be around 300 pigs direct marketed each year. Next year the plan is for about 150. I do believe the market is there though, but I won’t hit the top numbers over night. Thanks for the thoughtful question!