Our family-operated small farm sits in the middle of the Catskill Mountains. Fifty years ago the land that we now manage was part of a much larger dairy farm. As that industry left the area, the fertile land was neglected and a forest grew up in the midst of hills, stone walls, and a nearby stream. Our pigs represent a new life for the farm.
We believe in practicing agriculture in a way that regenerates the land around us, and we manage our animals so that they live as close to their 'natural' state as possible - rooting around in the woods. Our pigs live outdoors in the woods and eat a diverse diet of nuts, grasses and other forage, supplemented by non-GMO grain from Stone House Grain, who share our philosophy of demonstrating a viable model of regenerative agriculture.
About Atticus Farm Pork
Please enjoy Atticus Farm’s delicious acorn finished, heritage breed, ethically raised pork! Our goal with everything we do is to raise pigs to the highest quality eating standards. As it happens, this pursuit of excellence has led to some wonderful side benefits.
Our Heritage breed pigs are:
- Raised outdoors on Hanover Mountain, in the woods of the Catskills
- Fed a Non-GMO diet of local barley, rye and field peas (soy-free!)
- Moved to new woodland pasture each week where they root under oak and beech trees for acorns and grubs, living life to the fullest
Breed
We work with a heritage hog breeder who has developed a breed of heritage cross pigs based on the Ossabaw, Large Black, Tamworth and Hampshire breeds. They are excellent foragers, thrive in the forest of our mountain and have fantastically marbled meat.
Feed
Our pigs eat a widely varied diet, as they are moved to new areas of our woods weekly. In addition to foraging many fallen acorns, grubs and grasses (the way pigs eat in the wild), we supplement their diet with a custom-blend of locally grown non-GMO legumes and grains, with a heavy emphasis on barley and field peas. There is NO SOY in our pigs diet, and we do not feed any corn to pigs for several months before slaughter.
We developed our custom feed as a way of getting back to the meat quality before confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) ruined the flavor and texture of pork. Barley has been known for hundreds of years as a way to improve the quality of pork fat, with oats and field peas to balance out the diet. You will notice the difference in the firmer fat and a pleasant nutty smell.
Welfare
We believe happy pigs make the best pork. Our animals live outdoors their entire lives, are never isolated or kept in cages that prevent movement, and are encouraged to root, wallow and generally have a grand old time. Often visitors to the farm are surprised that even 250 lbs pigs will come running down the mountain for head pats and scratches: our pigs have positive experiences with humans so that they are not stressed at all when they are handled.
A note on how to recognize good animal welfare: we believe that if you would like to open up a lawn chair and drink a couple of glasses of wine while you watch your animals, then you have good animal welfare. No normal person enjoys watching a hen in a battery cage or a sow in a farrowing crate, or a steer wading in its own excrement. Well as it happens we finish almost every day on the farm sitting by a fire and enjoying the landscape with our animals. We hope you enjoy our pork as much as we’ve enjoyed raising it for you!