Hogs and Soil Health

A specific type of hog farming can improve your soil. We've all heard of free range chickens But what about free range hogs? The Rodale Institute has a hog raising strategy that they say proves you can improve the health of the soil on your farm. Furthermore, someone who wants to employ this strategy can use land that is minimal in size and marginal in quality and actually improve the land that is present. That sounds like a win-win according to Ross Duffield who is Rodale's farm manager and calls his method of raising hogs homesteading.

 

The farm has a 3,840 square foot facility which resembles a large hoop-house and houses the hogs surrounded by 8 acres of pasture including several varieties of peas, oats, legumes, grasses and turnips. By allowing their hogs 24/7 access to the outdoors and a diverse mix of forage crops, two goals are accomplished; the quality of life for the pigs is enhanced as they express their natural behaviors including foraging and rooting; and the farmer is able to avoid costs by reducing labor and the amount of feed purchased from off the farm. Duffield points out that he sets the hogs loose on land that is virtually unfarmable and they get all the nutrition they need while improving soil quality.