Graig Farm - What is Organic? > How our animals are reared > Organic Pork - Rearing

Organic Pork - Rearing

Organic Regulations require that pigs are fed no routine drugs, that almost all their feed is grown organically, and that their rearing conditions are of the highest standards of animal welfare.

"Granfa Grig
Had a pig
In a field of clover;
Piggy died,
Granfa' cried
And all the fun was over."

Traditional Nursery Rhyme

Organic pigs in mid-Wales
Organic Pigs at Crickie Farm, near Brecon

The sows are kept free-range, and practices such as tail docking and teeth cutting are not allowed, unlike in the intensive industry. If stress is removed from the animals, by keeping them under non-intensive conditions, then the anti-social behaviour found under the intensive conditions disappears.

Intensive production of pigs is particularly unkind, as the pig is a very intelligent animal.

"Odd things animals....only a pig looks at you as an equal"

Sir Winston Churchill

Gloucster old Spot pig Oxford Sandy and Black pig
Gloucester Old Spot & Oxford Sandy and Black pigs

"A peasant becomes fond of his pig and is glad to salt away its pork. What is significant, and is so difficult for the urban stranger to understand, is that the two statements are connected by an 'and', and not by a 'but'."

John Burger

 

happy as a pig in .......

Happy as a pig in .......

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Wherever possible, Graig Farm uses pork from pigs whose breeding is based on traditional British breeds. This is for two main reasons. Firstly, the pigs are suitable for rearing in non-intensive conditions required for organic production. Modern breeds may not thrive in outside conditions.
Secondly, that the old-fashioned flavour of pork is retained. The main disadvantage of traditional breeds is their ability to "go to fat" easily. In order to keep fat levels to acceptable levels, more modern breeds of pig may be crossed with the traditional breeds, to give the best of both worlds - tasty, lean pork !

"In Germany, where the chestnut is so largely cultivated, the amount of food shed every autumn is enormous; and consequently, the pig, both wild and domestic, has, for a considerable portion of the year, an unfailing supply of admirable nourishment. Impressed with the value of this fruit, for the food of pigs, the Prince Consort has, with great judgement, of late encouraged the collection of chestnuts in Windsor Park, and by giving a small reward to old people and children for every bushel collected, has not only found an occupation for many of the unemployed poor, but, by providing gratuitous food for their pig, encouraged a feeling of providence and economy".

Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management - 1861

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