April Newsletter

April
Newsletter
 

April on the farm is in many ways the busiest month of the year. Much of the preparation for the grazing season gets underway. Projects like fixing fence, installing new fence, setting up watering systems and readying our haying equipment all kick into high gear. While all of these projects are going on, it is birthing season! Most of our lambs and piglets are born this month which quickly doubles the number of sheep and pigs to care for. The theme for this month's letter will be the pig enterprise. What we raise, how we raise them and the steps we take to ensure our customers have the best tasting, healthiest pork possible from pigs raised in an ethical, sustainable and natural manner.

Duroc Pigs
Our favored breed of pigs is the Duroc. The duroc we know today was originally called the Duroc Jersey. This new breed was developed by blending the best attributes of a medium framed red pig of superior meat quality from New York called the Red Duroc, with a very large framed pig from New Jersey called the Jersey Red. This new pig breed was developed and improved through the mid to late 1800's. By the 1930's the Duroc had become one of the most prominent breeds in the United States. The duroc has maintained its popularity over all these years due to its excellent meat quality. To take this meat quality a step further we have sought out bloodlines that can be traced back to the early 1900's to avoid commercial trends that have diluted the best attributes of this great breed.

Northrop Farms

Spring Farrowing
Spring farrowing in northern New York is a tricky proposition. The wild temperature and weather swings dictate we farrow in a protected barn. While commercial farms use farrowing crates that restrict the sow so much she can barely move, our sows farrow in open pens where they can move freely, build nests in the hay and interact with their piglets. This type of farrowing requires much better maternal instincts, something we are constantly assessing in any new sows we add to the herd. We wean our piglets at 6-7 weeks of age. We find that by this age the sow seems almost relieved to have a break from her litter that combined may weigh over half what she does. The piglets are moved to a group where we monitor their transition to a solid food diet. 

Northrop Farms

Pasture Raised Pork
All of our market pigs are raised on pasture with constant access to green grasses and encouraged to display natural pig behavior like rooting. The pasture pigs are offered a grain mix to round out their nutrition and provide additional minerals and vitamins. This grain mix is made up of whole grains that we grind on the farm allowing us to guarantee the quality and freshness. We  Do Not use corn, soybeans, canola or any of their byproducts as is the case in the vast majority of pig feeds commercially available. One of the main goals of our pork program is to restore the natural balance of omega fats in the pork we produce. All of the natural sources of nutrition that the pigs glean from pasture elevate the levels of heart healthy Omega 3 fats in their meat. Pigs do need grain to grow properly but our grain choices are deliberately made to avoid ingredients that are high in inflammatory Omega 6 fats like corn, soy and canola. This attention to every detail of the process not only produces the best tasting pork but it is also a healthy red meat that you can feel good about offering to your loved ones. 
Since we are spotlighting our pork production this month we thought it only fitting to offer a special savings to our loyal readers.
 
Save 25% off any of our Pork Bundles by entering coupon code: BACON 
 

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