By Celeste Laurent/Farm to Fork
All shoppers have their own criteria when it comes to meat selection. Increasingly, consumers are concerned with the treatment of the animal long before processing. Terms like all natural, CAFO, factory farm and organic flood the airwaves and make every trip to the meat counter more confusing than the last.
So how is the average shopper to know what brand to purchase?
In the pork market there are two major divisions: those like Smithfield Foods, Inc. who use conventional production methods, and those who use non-conventional production systems such as Niman Ranch.
This comparison will focus solely on animal welfare practices of two farmers: Chris Chinn of Clarence, Mo. who sells pigs to Smithfield and Niman Ranch grower Bob Hendrickson of Shickley, Neb.
Chinn has been raising pigs since she married her husband, Kevin, in 1995. The Chinns now operate a 1,200-sow farm and sell their pigs to Premium Standard, a division of Smithfield Foods.
Hendrickson grew up raising pigs on his family’s farm. He has been raising pigs outdoors himself since the mid-80’s and currently has 15 sows.
Chinn's son helps on the family farm. Photo provided by Chris Chinn.
On Chinn’s farm pigs are housed indoors in highly technical buildings. These modern barns utilize computerized climate control systems and a mechanized waste management system, regulated and inspected by the Missouri State Department of Natural Resources.
“The feces is stored under the pigs pens and then we flush it out to a lagoon like you flush the toilet in your house,” Chinn explained.
Chinn realizes that some consumers don’t know the reasoning behind housing pigs indoors.
“Since a pig can’t sweat the hot humid summers are hard on pigs outdoors. We also don’t have pigs frozen to the ground in the winter,” she explained, “The pigs stay a lot healthier by housing them indoors because we protect them from elements.”
Hendrickson too houses some pigs on concrete floors, however, all of his pigs have also access to open air, a requirement of Niman Ranch.
When it comes to temperature control, Hendricks leaves it up to the pigs.
“If it is hot they lay spread out and when it’s cold they lay closer together. The sows always have access to a mud puddle that will have a fair amount of water in it.”
Hendrickson’s sows are housed in a fenced in dirt lot and have bedded huts for shelter. In fact, they can even farrow – a term for giving birth – in the huts if they choose.
“They can go ahead and go outside, and normally I set them up in the huts for two weeks, and then they mingle with the rest of the herd. Quite often I house them as a group as the pigs get a little older.”
Chinn's newborn pigs are born in farrowing crates to provide them additional protection from their mother and other sows. Photo by Chris Chinn
Chinn, however, lets her sows farrow in what is known as a farrowing crate to protect the sow and her pigs from being injured and disturbed by other pigs.
“Crates allow us to give each animal hands-on care multiple times a day and keep very detailed records on every animal. The crates also keep the piglets from being stepped on by other sows or laid on by their mother.”
Some of the most important of these records involve antibiotic usage. Food and Drug Administration approved antibiotics are administered to pigs on Chinn’s farm only when directed by a veterinarian. All medications have a withdrawal period, an amount of time that must pass before an animal that has been treated can enter the food chain.
“We have to observe the withdrawal dates,” Chinn explained, “When we treat a pig, it is recorded in our computer and that pig is flagged for us. Our veterinarian goes over the guidelines on a quarterly basis just to make sure we’re up to date on everything.”
Chinn credits moving pigs indoors for eliminating the need for most antibiotics.
“Our usage is much less now that we have protected our animals from having contact with wildlife, which spread diseases, predator attacks and the elements of the weather.”
On Hendrickson’s farm, antibiotics are never used. Niman Ranch protocol prohibits the treatment of sick pigs with antibiotics.
These Minnesota pigs are raised according to Niman Ranch protocols. Photo from Niman Ranch website.
“I usually have a few that wind up getting sick, and depending on the weather, I either let them run on their own or put them in a special pen and see what happens,” Hendrickson said, “It doesn’t always work…then I let nature take its course.”
Though Chinn and Hendricks utilize very different methods of producing their pigs, they do have two major similarities.
Both Chinn and Hendrickson are Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) Plus Certified. According to the National Pork Board, the PQA program is meant “to ensure that U.S. pork products are of the highest quality and safe, and that the animals raised for food are cared for in a way that ensures their well-being.”
Chinn feels PQA is important because it ensures that high quality pork is being produced. “We eat the same food as you and we know that healthy pigs make better pork,” she said.
Additionally, neither Smithfield Foods nor Niman Ranch will purchase pigs from non-PQA Plus certified producers.
Kevin and Chris Chinn hope their children someday return to the family farm. Photo provided by Chris Chinn.
Niman Ranch has additional standards its farms must follow. A summary of those protocols is available online, but the company would not provide a complete list of pig husbandry standards, saying that information is provided only to its growers.
Though they pursue it in very different ways, both Hendrickson and Chinn have a deep love for family farming.
“I’m just a smaller diversified farmer trying to make a go of it in this increasingly diversified agriculture industry,” Hendrickson said.
“I farm because of my children, I want them to return to the farm and be sixth generation,” Chinn said “It’s a great feeling to know that we are providing food to this country.”