Star Tribune | By Jeremy Iggers | 16 Jan 2003
Drive by the VanDerPol family's farm near Kerkhoven in western Minnesota on a sunny afternoon, and in the distance you might see an unusual sight: pigs grazing in a pasture.
Pigs aren't exactly rare in Minnesota; in 1997 Minnesota ranked third in the nation in hog production. But today nearly all hogs are raised in indoor confinement systems. In a drive through rural Minnesota you are more likely to detect the presence of pigs by smell rather than sight: The large confinement operations store pig manure in giant lagoons, which give off pungent odors that often can be detected for miles.
The lives of the VanDerPols' hogs are very different from those of most Minnesota pigs: They have room to roam both outdoors and in spacious open-ended hoop buildings. They can supplement their diet of corn and soybeans with grasses and legumes, and antibiotics are used only to fight disease. Look closely, and you will see that they still have their tails; most piglets raised indoors have their tails removed, or "docked," to prevent the tail-biting that often results when many animals are confined in a small space.
'Clean' pork
Some advocates of the VanDerPols' style of hog production call the result "clean pork" -- what goes into the pigs is "clean" (that is, free of unnecessary antibiotics and growth stimulants), and what comes out is "clean" as well (meaning the meat is free of chemical additives, and the farms don't pollute the air and water nor do they breed antibiotic-resistant pathogens).
There is no pungent smell of concentrated raw manure at the VanDerPols' Pastures A Plenty Farm; outdoor wastes are distributed over a large area of pasture. Indoors, the hogs live on straw bedding in large open-ended hoop structures. As fresh layers of straw are added to the bedding, layers of manure beneath are composted, breaking down into an odorless organic fertilizer. This deep bedding system is healthier and more comfortable for the pigs, advocates say, and less damaging to the environment than lagoon systems.
The VanDerPols' farm may seem like a throwback to a bygone era. But a coalition of groups, including the Animal Welfare Institute, the Sierra Club, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and the Land Stewardship Project, argues that their style of pork production is the best hope for small farmers and rural communities, and the most healthful option for consumers and the environment.
"If we were still producing in confinement in 1998 [when commodity pork prices bottomed out], it would probably have cost us the farm," said Jim VanDerPol, who switched farming methods about 10 years ago.
Animal welfare advocates say this way of raising pigs is also more humane. Tom Frantzen, who raises livestock on his organic farm near Alta Vista, Iowa, says that pigs need to be able to do three things: run around, build nests and chew on things. In typical confinement systems, all of these natural urges are frustrated.
Other alternatives
The VanDerPols' farm is just one example of Minnesota family farmers seeking alternatives to the commodity pork production system -- different ways to breed, feed, house and market their pigs. Many of them are assisted by the University of Minnesota's Alternative Swine Production Systems Program.
"It isn't just about hog production," said Wayne Martin, program coordinator. "It's about a way of life, it's about communities, and it's about the environment. Consolidation and ever larger-scale pig production has put small-scale farms out of business, and that has been hard on local economies."
On so-called factory farms, sows are bred as often as possible, and spend most of their lives in gestation and farrowing pens so small that they are not able to turn around. On farms like the VanDerPols, however, sows are bred only twice a year, and they farrow in larger pens that protect the piglets but still allow freedom of movement. This is also how Lisa and Eric Klein raise pigs on their Hidden Stream Farm near Elgin, Minn.
The number of hog farms has declined steadily for years as family farmers find it a difficult or impossible way to make a living. About 60 to 70 percent of the hog market is controlled by a few processors, including Tyson Foods/IBP and Smithfield, who control processing and distribution, and supply most of the nation's restaurants and supermarkets.
Most farmers raise their hogs under contract to these processors, at prices per pound that sometimes fall below their cost of production. That puts farmers under tremendous pressure to produce pork as inexpensively as possible. Frantzen sees no future for small producers like himself in the commodity pork system. "You can't be a small player in that market," he said. "You are just going to starve to death."
In order to survive, many farmers have invested heavily in confinement systems so they can raise more hogs in less space. Critics of these concentrated animal feeding operations, called CAFOs, say they are harmful to the environment and dangerous to human health.
In typical confinement systems, hogs are kept in very crowded conditions on slatted concrete floors, and their waste collects in manure pits directly below them, releasing gases that are toxic for pigs and farm workers. One result is frequent respiratory diseases, which require treatment with antibiotics. If the ventilation systems fail, the gases can be lethal.
Hog waste spread on farm fields sometimes contaminates wells and runs off into local rivers and streams, said Dr. David Wallinga of the IATP, who is a practicing physician. That unpleasant odor given off by sewage lagoons is caused by hydrogen sulfide, which can cause nausea, headaches and neurological and respiratory problems for farm workers and nearby residents.
There are alternatives to conventional confinement systems, including the open-ended tarpaulin-covered hoop structures, which have deep straw bedding over earthen floors. Pigs can move around freely in these structures, which reduces stress and allows them to socialize. The hoop structures also are much less expensive to build than conventional structures, which require forced-air ventilation, but they can be more expensive to operate.
Some farmers in the Pipestone area have developed another alternative -- they've invested in shared sow barns and standardized their genetics, which enables them to compete more effectively against corporate producers. By most definitions, though, Pipestone Family Farms pork doesn't really qualify as naturally raised -- the pigs still are raised on concrete in indoor confinement systems.
Nevertheless, the meat has attracted the attention of upscale food and wine publications such as the Wine Spectator and Saveur magazine and is sold to restaurants at premium prices. It's not yet available in supermarkets.
Say no to drugs?
Bob Morrison, a professor of veterinary medicine and hog expert at the University of Minnesota, says the pork industry as a whole is very concerned about -- and defensive about -- antibiotics, and is trying to minimize their use.
At a local summer picnic sponsored by the Sierra Club and the IATP, activists wore T-shirts emblazoned with slogans such as "Get Pigs Off Drugs!" The drugs in question are low doses of antibiotics, routinely fed to pigs on factory farms as growth stimulants.
According to Wallinga, head of the IATP's Antibiotic Resistance Project, the widespread use of these drugs in animals is linked to the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. The result has been illnesses in humans that can no longer be treated with conventional antibiotics.
But Morrison cautions that alternative farming methods won't work for every farmer.
"If you have the labor and farm setting where you want to raise pigs on straw, it is a nice solution, but it is not a feasible way to raise 100 million pigs in the U.S."
The taste test
Restaurant chefs who have made side-by-side comparisons say free-farmed pork tastes better. That could be partly a matter of genetics. For the past few decades, the pork industry has concentrated on producing a very lean pig, which is lower in fat and cholesterol, but also less flavorful.
These leaner breeds often carry a gene that causes them to produce pale, soft meat that can't retain water content, especially when the animals are slaughtered under stressful conditions. Small producers like the VanDerPols are bringing back older varieties, such as the Berkshire hog.
Still, one of the biggest challenges facing farmers like the VanDerPols is getting their hogs to market. Unless they have contracts with corporate processors, it can be difficult to find buyers for their hogs. The VanDerPols use many different ways: They sell their pork directly to customers at their farm and at the farmers market in Willmar. They also deliver orders to customers at several Twin Cities pick-up sites, as well as selling to several co-ops in the Twin Cities area. The Kleins sell their meat at the Rochester farmers market and offer home delivery in the Rochester area.
The VanDerPols also sell some of their hogs to Niman Ranch, a California-based distributor of free-range, antibiotic-free pork raised on family farms in the Midwest. Niman Ranch guarantees farmers a much higher price than they can get producing under contract to corporate processors or selling on the commodity market. The Chipotle Mexican Grill chain of fast-food restaurants, owned by McDonald's, now buys all of its pork from Niman Ranch.
Alex Roberts, chef at Restaurant Alma in Minneapolis, buys his pork from Niman Ranch and Four Winds Farm, a family farm near River Falls, Wis. "It tastes better, it's better for the environment, it's better for the animals, and it doesn't poison the land where the pigs are raised," said Roberts.Star Tribune:
