Pasture Raised Pork

What is pasture raised pork?

As the name implies, pasture raised pork are pigs that are raised with ample room to roam, root, forage, graze, and play outside. Pasture raised pork are typically heriatage breeds. Here at our farm we grow Idaho Pasture pigs; a newer breed bred to excel on pasture while prioritizing a great tasting product.

Why choose our pasture-raised pork?

Nearly 100% of commercial pork is from pigs that spend their entire lives indoors, on a concrete floor. Naturally, pigs are social, active critters that are highly intelligent (on par with dogs). As Joel Salatin wisely said, it’s very important to “respect and honor the pigness of the pig.” Pigs were blessed with a plow for a nose; confining them on concrete prevents them from expressing their natural instinct to root and forage. By raising them on pasture, our pigs can root, play, wallow, and forage to their heart’s content.

when you buy pork from us you are getting an animal that was bred, raised, and butchered here in northeast Ohio.

Is the meat any different?

TOP: Conventional Pork chop

Bottom: Our heritage pasture pork

Conventional pork has been marketed as "the other white meat" due to its poor flavor, fat content, and myoglobin levels. Simply put, the breeds of pork that do well in modern factory farming are less healthy for you and tasteless compared to slower growing heritage breeds.

A great example of the difference in taste and texture is how I like to cook our pork chops. Traditional pork chop recipes call for coating them in bread crumbs, shake n bake, a gravy or other type of sauce and baking them. Since our pork has much more marbling and flavor I treat them as steaks. I love to sear them on our Blackstone and add a simple seasoning or rub. The difference in texture and flavor is mind boggling.

Pasture Pork differentiators

Slow growth leads to more myoglobin (the red in red meat) and more developed meat and marbling giving a fuller flavor profile
Less saturated fats and more polyunsaturated fats (healthy fats) than conventional pork
lower ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 polyunsaturated fats
Higher levels of vitimans D & E

How does purchasing our pork work?

Contact us and let us know if you'd like a half or whole hog.
Pay a non-refundable deposit to us of $225 for a half or $450 for a whole hog. This deposit will be deducted from your final bill to us.
Your pigs butcher date is set
Before we drop your hog off at the butcher you will fill out a cut sheet. This cut sheet will include types of cuts, thickness of cut, quanity per package, amounts of smoked products.
On or slightly after your pigs butcher date the butcher or we will call you with your hogs hanging weight. You will then pay the remaining balance of your hog.
Pay the remainder of your bill to us. We charge $4.50 per pound hanging weight. Target hanging weight is 180-220lb.
You will then pickup your meat from the butcher. When you pick your meat up you will pay a slaughter fee ($30 half $60 whole hog), $0.95/lb for normal cuts, $1.50/lb for smoked ham, $1.75/lb smoked bacon, $0.75-$1.50/lb for sausage. Butcher pricing is listed on the cut sheet.

See example scenario below

What can I expect?

Why does the breed of the pig matter?

Where can I learn more?

Whole Hog Example

Megan wants to buy one of our whole hogs. She emails Katie@wolfsfarm and reserves her hog and pays a non-refundable deposit to Katie of $450 via credit card. Her butcher date is then set for June 1st. On May 25th, a week before her hog is butchered, she fills out and emails Katie@wolfsfarm.com her cut sheet. On June 2nd she receives a call from our butcher, her hogs hanging weight is 200lb. Megan then pays us her remaining balance of $450.

(200lb x $4.50lb) - $450 deposit = $450 balance

Her hog is then butchered to her specifications and is ready for pickup on June 8th. She has one week to pickup her hog from the butcher before a storage fee is added to the order. Between work and the kids softball practice she runs over and picks up the meat from the butcher. Her meat is vaccuum sealed, frozen, and boxed at pickup. She then pays the butchering fee and processing fee to the butcher. She selected to get both hams smoked, one of the hams she selected to get whole, the other one she had turned into steaks, she selected smoked bacon, and to get all the sausage as bulk breakfast sausage. At pickup she receives

20lbs of smoked whole ham
20lbs of smoked ham steaks
25lbs of bacon
30lbs of breakfast sausage
22lbs of pork chops
30lbs of roasts
8lbs of ribs

She then pays the butcher a total of $316.25

$60 slaughter fee

$190 for processing ( 200lb x $0.95)

$60 for smoked hams (40lb x $1.50)

$43.75 for smoked bacon (25lb x $1.75)

$22.50 for breakfast sausage (30lb x $0.75/lb)

She recieves 145lb of pork. She paid a total of $1216.25 for an average price per pound of $8.38 per pound.

This 145lbs of meat will need approximately 7 to 8 cubic feet of freezer space.

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