General Info:
Locally grown pastured gourmet Berkshire Pork. We are the largest Berkshire producer in the state. Although that sounds commercial and industrialized, we "pasture" raise our pigs in the woods right here in Central Virginia! We sell our pork locally and ship anywhere. We love pigs, that’s why we’re pig farmers, and why our pigs live in the woods. We also love pork, and that’s why we raise Berkshires. The Berkshire breed has been selected for decades to produce superior quality pork. These aren’t the super lean ‘white meat’ pork and you won’t have to pay us for ‘flavoring solutions’ added to the meat. Our Berkshire pigs have well-marbled, deeply colored meat, without being overly fat, and we think it is the best pork you’ll ever taste. Because we are pig farmers we want the our pigs to be happy and healthy. We start by letting them live their entire lives outside. They root in the dirt. They roam with other pigs. They eat fresh pig feed with no growth hormones, no sub-therapeutic antibiotics, and no added animal proteins. Then they eat all the acorns, grass, and natural pigs snacks they can find. When it gets too hot they relax in their mud wallow’s to cool off and when it gets cold they build massive nests of straw in their portable shelters. We feel that this approach to raising pigs is the right thing to do. It costs more to have pigs outdoors. They don’t grow as fast as confined pigs. They eat more food because they spend so much time rooting around and generally being pigs, but they live a comfortable fulfilled life, and it’s a farm where we’re happy to show up for work. It also makes better tasting pork. There is no mystery about why our pork tastes so good. It comes down to three simple things: Genetics: Berkshires have been selected for meat quality. Centuries have been spent breeding for better tasting pigs and that careful selection has paid off. Since before the time of Oliver Cromwell, Berkshires have maintained a reputation as the best tasting pork, and the breed has continued to focus on that even in the face of industrialization. Lifestyle: Our pigs live as absolutely stress free a life as we can manage. We keep them calm, happy, and outside their entire lives. Processing: All of our meat is butchered locally to minimize the stress of transportation and allow us to oversee the butchering process. We insist that our animals are treated in a respectful and humane manner. We don’t add water or flavoring solutions to our pork. The superior taste comes from the pig, not from additives.