Jacob Springs pork program

Due to the high quality of swine breeding and feeding at Jacob Springs Farm, the pork produced there is of exceptional quality in color, flavor, tenderness and marbling.

Jacob Springs Farm raises swine using a combination of old-fashioned, traditional methods and farming innovations to produce both the highest quality pork and the highest possible welfare for the animals while maximizing the economic viability of the business to sustain their farm community. This is in stark contrast to the industrial methods of swine rearing which rely on cheap, subsidized grain, agro-industrial methods and economies of scale to raise pigs quickly

Pork quality being a combination of breeding and feeding, Jacob Springs tries to maximize the quality of both while finding ways to make it profitable.

Breeding

In line with Jacob Springs' philosophy on heritage breeds, the hogs raised there are the result of a unique hog cross-breeding program. Rather than accepting the breeding goals of the pork industry with their narrow genetic bases and their aberrant breeding goals, or simply attempting to preserve the heritage breeds of yesterday, we believe strongly that it's important to continue breeding hogs which are based on heritage lines while applying today's improved knowledge of genetics and breeding methods to create new breeds that are well suited to the needs of the future and the goals of regenerative agriculture.

To this end Jacob Springs is developing a breed of hog we call the Colorado Mutle based on two unique traditional breeds highly regarded for meat quality, the Red Wattle and the Mulefoot.

This breeding program continues the work of visionary farmer Mark Cortner who pioneered the first several generations of this cross and sold (and delivered) his breeding stock to Jacob Springs in the spring of 2012.

Crossbreeding, Heritage breeds, breeding for quality, forage ability, mothering and fecundity.

Feeding

Burrito filling: beans rice and vegetable mix commonly thrown away by a local food establishment. Pigs raised on such feed in our experience are healthier, happier, and taste better than pigs raised on dry grain or formulated feeds

Swine being omnivores thrive on a diverse diet and cannot subsist on hay alone as the herbivores can. However they can derive much of their feed (and, in rare cases, all of their feed) from foraging if given adequate habitat.

Along with chickens, swine are the ultimate recyclers in the right kind of production system, making use of "waste" foods that have few other uses other than composting. Swine can turn this into valuable proteins, manure and usable work. Jacob Springs uses cast-away people food as a primary source of feed for hogs.

• Food production waste: example Evol foods
• Resturant kitchen scraps: example: Horizons
• Brewers or distillers spent grain: examples: Bru Bistro and Anvil distillery
• Plate scrapings (no example)
• Day-old bread and pastries: example: Panera or Sprouts bakery
• Agricultural waste foods: example: Munson's sweet corn or pumpkins
• Grocery produce department waste: example: Sprouts Market

Natural farrowing

In the agro-industrial method of rearing swine farrowing is a much-criticized aspect of the process since strict confinement of sows in farrowing crates is the norm for several weeks of weaning. A [[farrowing crate does not allow the sow space to roll over or even to move but has an area allowing piglets access to the sow's teats to suckle. This is done to prevent the death of piglets, either by being crushed or stepped on by the mother or due to exposure to extremes of cold or, less commonly, heat. In a Danish study, piglets of sows that were allowed to farrow in pens, rather than in crates had a mortality rate of

Swine Habitat

• Legume pastures
• Thickets
• Post-harvest fields

Marketing

Jacob Springs Farm markets their pork through their Meat CSA and through the sale of locker pork whole and half animals. Occasionally some pigs are sold for breeding purposes or for people to raise on their own.