Illinois Farm Families Blog

I was debating what blog topic to write for the Illinois Farm Families website this week.  While I was out helping Chad feed the cattle on one of the unusually warm days we’ve had, I thought about how much easier it is to care for all the critters when the weather is warm.  But, then I got to thinking about the terrible heat of the past summer and decided that each season has it pros and cons.  My preferences are spring and fall!  For winter things would go a little smoother when if we didn’t have to worry about frozen waters, cold calves, heaters not working, etc.  In the summer things would go smoother if we didn’t have to haul water, worry about overheated animals, or storms that cause power outages.

Our hogs are raised in climate controlled buildings.  There are sensors that we set to control the temperature, air flow, fans, and ventilation.  We make adjustments as the hogs grow. We are raising a group of wean to finish pigs right now.  They require a little bit more TLC at the beginning.  They were started with special feed mats and heat lamps to get them growing well.  As they have matured, the mats and lamps have been removed and they are eating out of the regular feeder in each pen.  This winter we have not had to worry about frozen pigs, bedding them down, slopping through the mud to feed them or trying to keep them cool in the summer.  Hogs can’t sweat and can get overheated easily. It has been 15 years since we switched to feeding out all our hogs inside.  It was an excellent choice for us and the hogs are all the more comfortable for it.

Our cattle are pretty easy to care for, but there are challenges in the winter and the summer.  In the winter we deal with frozen automatic waters and hydrants, the cattle require extra bedding in their shelters and extra feed to keep them warm and full.  Newborn calves can have a harder time keeping warm and when the weather yo-yo’s it is harder to keep everyone healthy – cattle and people included.  We are still hauling water to the wells in the winter and we have to keep our water trucks unfrozen to do that.  The summer months we need to keep the cattle cool.  The bulls don’t always breed as well when it is hot – just too hot to do their business.  The summer drought kept the grass from growing much.  We started feeding hay a lot earlier, feed prices went up, and we hauled water to the wells.

We love what we do, even with all the challenges that are faced.  Raising livestock is rewarding.  There is nothing like seeing a newborn spring calf running and bucking through the pasture, or sitting in pen with little piglets chewing on your boots.  The pros definitely outweigh the cons in raising livestock.

Stacy Schutz is a farmer, wife, and mother of two daughters located in central Illinois. She farms with her family; raising corn, cattle and hogs. She loves her animals, food and is happy that they go hand in hand!  You can find out more about her at her blog, From Our Farm to You.

Unfortunately, also our society has a hatred of large scale producers, and, thus,  the efficient, safe, scientific way to effectively raise hogs on a large scale to help Americans continue their love with bacon.

Seriously.

I just read on Prairie Farmer's Facebook page that Purdue University's Chris Hurt (who has been on Purdue's faculty since 1981, teaching mainly undergraduate livestock and meat marketing...who I am considering credible, because, for pity's sake, he had to do his thesis on something in regards to MEAT!), projects that "by this spring the U.S. hog industry will have lost $3 billion in equity."

Prairie Farmer's reaction: "Ouch!"

Agreed.

3 BILLION.

As in 3 billion dollars. 

And here's the deal... high feed costs (which bodes well for a grain farmer, not so well for those who buy corn) are already causing crazy costs for those who produce hogs. While the demand  for pork is still high, there are still folks out there who don't understand the hog industry who are fighting for a lot of the mandates and crushing regulations and even refusal to purchase hogs from confinement operations. Generally speaking, these mandates and, well, crazy loud anti-confinement people base their opinion on emotion, not science.

Restaurants like Burger King, Chipolte, etc. are refusing to buy hogs raised in gestational crates (which don't google that, ask a real hog farmer what it means...because I did google its definition and boy do I regret it.). You've probably heard it, and that's fine to still go there, we're just a little ouchy about it because that means that my father in law has lost out on business because of these folks. 

Is it probably not humane to put someone in a crate, yes. But, it's not A HUMAN. It's a HOG, who, research says, likes the feeling of being closed in. There's a science to it, and I don't have much knowledge in it, but knowing what my father in law does to keep his hogs safe, healthy, and happily producing so you can eat your bacon with your eggs (which, don't even get me started on eggs...oy), I know that he is doing nothing but the best for his animals, often times at the sacrifice of his comfort for his hogs. And mine..because sometimes he's late for a family dinner because of chores, and I get cranky when I'm hungry.

Honestly, friends, let's let the experts do the mandating. You don't see me walking around telling a surgeon, where to cut. I won't be fixing any plumbing issues...that's for a plumber. I try to not even tell my hairdresser what to do...she went to school to cut hair...I just have it, what do I know about cutting it?  We all are good at something, and most likely passionate about it, so let those who are truly in the thick of it make the decisions.

That way, you can have your bacon, whether you sprinkle it on your salad or your ice cream!

Emily Webel
Emily, a town girl plunked out in the middle of nowhere, chronicles the surprises she's found living life with her husband and four children on a working grain and livestock farm in Farmington, IL. Confessions of a Farm Wife: The Good, TheBad, and The Dirty Truth of Life on the Gravel Road allows Emily, a former teacher, to use her educational expertise to share the truth about food and farmers to consumers everywhere. As a Farm Mom with the Illinois Farm Families campaign, Emily has enjoyed one on one experiences with city moms, fielding questions from fashion to fertilizer. 

Photo courtesy of The 50's Diner in Peoria.

What if I told you that twice a day, I tie my four-year-old to a chair and leave her there for an hour?

No matter how she pleads or cries or protests, she has to be tied down. Some days I strap her to a chair for 9 hours or more.

Before you call Child Protective Services, think about a car seat. It is against the law for me to transport my small child anywhere without strapping her into a car seat. She may not like it, but its best for her.

Everyone understands the dangers of not using car seats. No one will argue that they are not needed to keep our children safe. People understand how dangerous car wrecks can be. We haven’t always used them (my parents weren’t strapped in car seats), but people now agree that they are needed to keep kids safe.

People don’t know much about pig farming.

Most people think of Wilbur or Babe when they think of pigs on farms. Cute little pink pigs that make smart-alecky remarks to the sheep. But, that’s not reality. Real pigs are much different.

·         Did you know that grown sows (momma pigs) can weigh as much as 500 pounds?

·         They are huge animals. They may stand 4 feet tall.

·         They can be very dangerous animals. Pig farmers can tell very scary stories about a pig hurting or even killing someone.
There has been a lot of news in social media and on the internet about gestation stalls, or maternity pens, used in the pork industry. Several food companies and restaurants have declared that they will be phased out in the next few years and some states have even passed legislation banning them.

Most people know very little about pork production and why gestation stalls are used. People see pictures and hear terrible stories about farmers ‘abusing’ pigs and think, “Wow, how can we let this happen?” The problem is that we are not hearing the whole story. So, I decided to write a post about them, to help explain.

What are gestation stalls?

Gestation stalls are small pens that farmers put sows (momma pigs) in while they are pregnant. They provide each pig with a specific amount of food and all the water she wants, but there is not a lot of room for her to move around. They can lie down, but not turn around. They are artificially inseminated (bred to the boar) in those pens and stay there until they are about to have their babies. Then they move to a different type of pen.
 
A friend of mine who is a pig farmer in Ohio sent me these pictures of pigs in gestation stalls on his farm, Standing Oaks Enterprises. You can check out his blog at Acorns for Thought.

Why do farmers use them?

First, they use them to protect the pigs from each other. Just like people, pigs pick on each other. If you have a group of pigs together in a pen, they will fight to establish a hierarchy, to determine who is the boss. In the case of sows, some will become ‘bully sows’ and will literally fight and pick on inferior sows until they are physically separated or one dies. These pigs stand waist-high and may weigh as much as 400 or even 500 pounds. A 200-lb man is no match for them. Fighting sows are very dangerous.

Second, farmers must control how much feed the pigs eat. Also like people, pregnant sows are very hungry. But, unlike most people, they don’t know to control how much they eat to keep from getting obese. If allowed to eat all they wanted, the pigs would be morbidly obese, they would shorten their lifespan, and it would be wasteful. If the sows were mixed, some sows would hog (no pun intended) all the feed and overeat, while others would starve. So keeping them separate allows the farmer to feed each pig exactly what she needs.
 
Since I've been working on this post, I participated in a radio show with a pig farmer from Missouri, Chris Chinn. She was asked about gestation stalls and had a couple of points I wanted to share. She said that her farm used to use group housing and that the bully sows ate too much and had big babies and trouble in labor. She also said that the weaker sows had small, unthrifty babies. When they switched to gestation stalls, they found that they used less medicine because the sows didn't injure one another fighting.

Right before the sow has her babies, the farmer will move her into a farrowing crate. These are pens that are large enough for the sow to stand up and lie down, but she has to do it slowly. Remember these sows can weigh as much as 500 pounds. Their piglets may only weigh 3 or 4 pounds. They can walk soon after they are born, but not very well. If the momma pig lies down too quickly, she could squish her babies.

Research shows that there are advantages and disadvantages of using gestation stalls. One study gave pigs the choice of remaining in a group pen or in a gestation stall and found that the pigs preferred to stay in the stalls most of the time. In a video of a farm in Indiana, the farmer has European-style gestation crates, where the pigs can choose to go in or out of the stalls. He says they stay in their stall over 90% of the time.

In response to all the pressure from food companies, some farmers have removed their gestation stalls and changed their barns to group housing. Others have installed European-style pens that give pigs a choice of where they can be.

Big changes in animal housing need to happen slowly. Don’t think that we can just ban stalls and walk away feeling good about our animal welfare practices.  Pigs and people will suffer if we don’t find acceptable alternatives.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) put together a task force to address sow housing that included several vets and a representative from HSUS. They concluded that any sow housing systems had advantages and disadvantages, and that farmers and animal scientists should work together to retain the advantages of the current systems and improve on them.

I hope that veterinarians, farmers and food companies can work together to determine what is truly best for pigs. I don’t think anyone has an easy answer right now. Even the animal welfare experts say that there are no easy answers when it comes to housing pigs.

I think this quote from Dr. Temple Grandin is very meaningful, “Nature is cruel, but we don’t have to be.” She said it many times. Animals are cruel to each other. Farmers do their best to keep animals happy and healthy. Just like parents with car seats.

 Here are a few more resources about gestation stalls and pig housing.

·         A good Q and A about gestation stalls and their history.

·         A nice video about modern hog farming, including gestation stalls.

·         A good video from Humane Watch about pigs and maternity pens.

·         The report from the AVMA task force on sow housing.
Janeal Yancey
Huntsville, AR
Janeal Yancey is a mother with a Ph.D in meat science. She shares her knowledge about food on her blog www.momatthemeatcounter.blogspot.com. This blog was shared with permission from the author. 

When it comes to all things porcine, my knowledge is pretty limited to Miss Piggy, the conniving mustachioed pigs from Angry Birds, Olivia, Charlotte’s Web, that George Clooney kept a pot-bellied one, and the popular tag line, "the other white meat."

And yes, going to college in South Bend, Indiana taught me that a sow’s uterus takes up an entire lab table (we had to dissect both that and piglets), and that driving downwind of a pig farm for a good 20 miles on the way to New Buffalo is probably a good reason to put the top back on the jeep. Beyond that, I had no idea that raising, maintaining and harvesting pork is such a complex (!) process.

I recently joined my fellow Field Moms for a nose around the multigenerational Gould Pig Farm in Maple Park and not only came away with a potential calling as a pig midwife – newborn piglets are very hard to resist - but with some serious knowledge about the current events impacting pork production on a global level.

If you follow foodie news, McDonald’s recently announced its decision to require its pork producers to stop using gestation stalls - pens used for breeding sows that are about the same length and width as their bodies.

Way to be pressured by the European Union there, big wigs.

The EU operates under completely different guidelines than the United States, and once a non-scientific group decided pigs must be able to exercise and investigate their environment, things got kind of hairy for the way farmers run their farms now.

Here’s the thing. Human perception and the way animals are being housed are not mutually exclusive. Just as it’s human nature to think, "Gee, I wouldn’t want to be in a pen where I can’t turn around or hang out with my friends," anthropomorphizing pigs draws a very crooked line in the sand.

Activist groups are very quick to point the finger at what’s wrong in the farming community, and yes, there are always a few bad seeds in the bushel, but animal welfare and animal rights are not mutually interchangeable. And, while transparency is key in how farmers run their operations, activist groups are putting pressure on retailers in saying that consumers want to see an end to gestation stalls.

Gone are the days of open pastures, people. Pigs are not herd animals, and introducing group housing is not a simple process. When left to socialize in groups, pigs develop a hierarchy, meaning that the "mean girls" of the group quickly monopolize food and water sources and become aggressive toward other sows. Pigs do bite and can cause some nasty chewing injuries. Seriously, would you want a 700-pound bully chomping on your vulva or biting off your tail? Yikes! But that’s what pigs do when left to establish their own pecking order.

Stressed pigs also means tough meat, inconsistent individual weights – farmers want to see relatively uniform pigs, not obese or overly thin sows - difficulty in controlling diseases, and more importantly, unhappy pigs.

Think about it. It’s in the farmer’s favor to treat their pigs well. Pig farming is a business, and though there may be a favorite boar or sow here and there, they are not pets. Eventually, we’re going to eat them.

The Gould’s stressed that they treat their sows as individuals, and give them as much TLC necessary to make them feel pampered and happy, which for pigs, translates to biohazard security, quality (not quantity) of space, and five basic freedoms: food, water, protection, and freedom from fear and distress.

In fact, the Gould’s have implemented advanced methods of Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) and Transport Quality Assurance (TQA), which means that voluntary animal welfare audits are the norm at their farm, conducted by third parties who have no connection to them or their clients.

And yes, we did have a chance to zip up some Hazmat suits and actually tour the pig housing. I’ve always been the first to speak up against circuses and puppy mills, and in support of more stringent regulations at those farms that have popped up in the news as being bonafied cruel to their animals, but that was most certainly not the case here.

Though startled when we first trudged in with our plastic shoe covers, and cameras and lighting, the pigs were very inquisitive and relatively clean. I didn’t see any injuries or signs of fights among the pigs, and they spent plenty of time communicating with one another via grunt and oink.

Sure, there was some stinkyness – they are farm animals after all – but remember, they don’t sweat, so that infamous smelly rap mainly comes from poop, which has a lot of ammonia in it. Last I checked, no poop smells that grand, so no big. Better yet, the Gould’s use all of that waste to fertilize their fields, making it an excellent example of reduce, reuse, recycle.

The highlight was witnessing a birth in the farrowing – nursery area - of the barn. The Gould’s work with nature, not against it, and since we had just experienced the insemination of a sow – optimal semen shown to produce lean meat and strong pigs is used, and the process involves charting each sow’s cycle and using a "tease" boar to naturally bring on excitement - it was a pretty nifty progression to see.

Piglets smell wonderful, and are surprisingly fuzzy and loud. Those newborns who have trouble finding their mother’s teats – like any littermates, there are bigger and smaller piglets, and plenty of squabbles over the teats closest to the sow’s head as they have more milk - are assisted by the Gould’s, since the sow’s colostrum and milk naturally boosts her offspring’s immunity and promotes healthy development.

Obviously, the learnathon was vast, but the opportunity to form individual opinions based on the Gould’s experience and Janeen Salak-Johnson’s expertise – the latter is a professor as the University of Illinois – was much greater.

And for all those who know me entirely too well, no, I didn’t bring a piglet home with me. The newborn piglets didn’t fit into my camera bag.

 

Pilar Clark

Field Mom

Prior to our visit to the Gould’s farm, I hadn’t really thought much about pork production. Where I live our food comes in packages and our farm stories come from children’s books. For the most part the only thing I know about pork is how to cook it. My family eats more pork products than any other type of meat—so it was fun (the piglets are SO cute) and interesting for me to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how the meat that makes it to my table gets it start in life.

The Gould’s farm houses 700 sows in a “sow center” and they focus exclusively on breeding, gestation and farrowing. Our tour started in their family office where they explained the process of insemination and gestation, farrowing and eventually starting all over again.  The field mom’s on this tour were in for quite a shock as we discussed all, ahem, aspects of impregnating the sows! We even had the experience of witnessing the process, something I had never, ever considered while at home cooking for my family. On this farm they purchase semen to be used with their sows and it is selected for multiple reasons including characteristics that affect size and meat quality. Some of the specific attributes are indicated by the producer as consumer preferences, such as leaner meat. It was great to see science being used in parallel with Mother Nature. The Gould’s chart each sow’s cycle and check her status by using a “tease” boar (male)—they are not rushing or forcing the process. It was interesting to learn that the gestation period is 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days. Just prior to her due date, a sow is moved to the farrowing crates where she will deliver and stay with her piglets for the following few weeks. The deliveries are not scheduled or induced due to a business plan. It was amazing to walk into the farrowing room on our tour just as a sow was delivering her 7th piglet of the morning, somewhat of a surprise to Chris Gould as she had not even started two hours prior to our visit.

While I was pretty sure that I was not going to encounter a pig named Wilbur and his friend the spider in an idyllic country setting, I was a little overwhelmed by the view of the sows inside the sow center. The sows are kept in metal crates which protect them from each other and enables the farmers to give individual attention to each sow.  These crates are lined up within the barn from end to end with narrow walkways for farmers and boars to access all of the sows. It seemed so incredibly huge and barren and the sows are all kept facing one direction. While they can lay down, they cannot turn around. Taking this all in for the first time was hard, mainly because I, as a person, would not like to be confined this way. Despite this initial feeling I kept an open mind to what I was seeing and to the individual pigs.  They were all clean and well cared for. They seemed happy enough as much as a random visitor can judge an animal’s happiness. As we walked through you could hear them snuffling and their ears would perk up as they gave us a cursory glance.  Once it was determined we did not have food there was not much interest on their part. It was a very low stress atmosphere and actually quite peaceful.

It wasn’t a surprise to learn that the crating of the sows is a huge industry topic right now. It was great to see for myself and to hear the opinions of an expert (Janeen Salak-Johnson from U of I) along with us for the tour so that we could understand the contrast between reality on the Gould Farm and what we see and hear in the media. We learned that the debate includes animal behavior and their natural instincts to determine social order through violence (as is true with many animals, including the cattle we viewed on the last farm tour). Furthermore, it is important to determine the actual needs of the animals, including whether more space is needed for turning around or other behaviors.

The tour to the Gould farm enlightened me to this serious political and ethical debate that is raging about sows being crated.  I cannot avoid further mention of the controversy as the discussion on crates took up such a huge part of our tour. As I mentioned at the farm, I feel many urban consumers are so far removed from our food and where it comes from that it is easy to latch on to negative stories in the media as truth. Some of the uproar certainly is a defense mechanism to feeling manipulated by those that sell us our food. I do want to eat pork (or beef or chicken), but I don’t want animals being treated poorly. There are many parts of this issue and I feel I need to start by deciding what I want to eat, how much I am willing to pay for it and what issues I have with specific practices and why. Housing animals indoors and in the case of sow crates, individually, has a lot of benefits including safety from the elements and each other, ease of checking them for disease or injury and the ability to adjust food for each individual animal.  As outsiders looking in we need to be practical about what we see. These are animals that are intended for people to eat—not house pets. The producers of the animals we eat are business people running a business. What is good for the animals is good for the farmer, but more space also has a real cost. I saw animals that were very well treated by caring farmers.  I would like to see the future include a little more quality space for animals, but with the understanding that the sweet farm where Wilbur and his friends live, in reality, would not feed the world or even the city of Chicago.

 

Amy Hansmann

Field Mom

 

From the time I could walk, I’ve worked with hogs. As I grew up at my father’s side, I learned the joys and frustrations of pork production and the subtle nuances of caring for what can sometimes be a cantankerous animal.

Dad is gone now, but his farm continues on -- though a lot has changed.
Open lots and pastures have been replaced by environmentally controlled, protective housing. Gone are the days of tossing feed to pens of animals hoping that the strong ones didn’t eat too much and the weak ones could somehow survive.

Gone are the days of rummaging through piles of straw each morning to find the little pigs that had been crushed by their mothers.

I no longer need to shovel a path through the snow to reach feeders and hope the temperature gets warm enough for the animals to come out and eat.

I’m part of an industry that has spent literally billions of dollars over recent decades improving the tools we use to produce pork. These changes were made with one goal in mind: providing better care for our animals.

Perhaps that’s why I’m so frustrated by McDonald’s recent announcement that it would require its pork suppliers to outline their plans to phase out the widely accepted sow housing practice of gestation stalls.

I used to keep my sows in pens like those McDonald’s and other folks wish us to use. I couldn’t control individual diets like I do now.

I had to cull sows after two or three litters because they were too fat, too thin, or injured by other sows. I used to struggle to give individual veterinary care to animals even to the point of risking personal injury to administer treatments or vaccinations.

Perhaps I could understand McDonald’s actions if it had science, research, or experience to back its stance. However, there is no evidence that there is any better way to care for a sow than what is currently being used in most modern production systems.

Unfortunately, the decision seems to be driven by emotion and perception regarding what makes for a “happy” pig while ignoring what research and experience tell us is truly in the animal’s best interest.

Perhaps what saddens me the most is I know the end result of an effective ban on gestation stalls is more animal suffering and more risk to producers’ health and safety.

For more than 40 years I’ve done everything within my control to give my animals the best care possible. I give thanks to our Creator each day I’m able to participate in this wonderful calling of livestock production.

To now be told to do something that I know brings harm to the animals under my care is indeed a tough pill to swallow.

Ultimately, my hope is that the voices of the people with experience and expertise are heard and prevail on this issue so my dad’s grandchildren will be able to care for their animals using what they know are the best tools available.

BRIAN DUNCAN
Farmer
Polo, IL

All I have ever heard about pig farms is that you don't want to be downwind of one! That is absolutely true!  Fortunately we weren't immediately met with the smell but were greeted by Chris Gould who was pleasant and informative.  His parents Eldon and Sandy were there to answer questions and give, often times humorous, anecdotes about farm life.  His sister, who is a vet, was also there to help support the information. The Gould's were well spoken and intelligent. We spent a good hour in their office listening to the history of the farm and learning facts about everything from pig breeding and reproduction to how often and what the pigs are fed.  I can honestly say I learned a considerable amount of information about pigs. It is obvious that the Gould family cares about their farm and their animals. 

We went to the barns next.  We needed to dress up in hazmat suits before entering the barns themselves because the pigs are so susceptible to outside germs and diseases.  Approximately four years ago the pigs caught some virus which contributed to a great loss for the Goulds.  After getting into our garb, we were told of the smell in the barns and how intense it could be. Upon entering you are greeted by a mixture of ammonia and rotten eggs.  So much so, I wondered if it was safe to be breathing that in for an hour?! (not to mention the workers who breath that in for hours, or the pigs, which is all they breathe.) We walked down a long hallway into the main barn where the pigs are housed and fed hormone free food.  There were rows and rows of pigs just standing or lying down. All the pigs seemed content and stress-free. We got to witness Chris Gould artificially inseminating one of the sows. She was first excited by the male pig who was brought over with a leash and paraded in front of her.  Insemination takes very little time or effort on the pigs part.  The farm gets semen delivered every other day during the week and they inseminate the pig for two days in a row.  The pigs are marked with different color stripes to differentiate who is on the first or second day of insemination and who is pregnant. After a brief description of how they get fed we were off to the birthing rooms.

 We walked in on a mother giving birth and got to witness first hand the first breaths of two little piglets. That was definitely the highlight of my farm tour!  The pigs stand up and wobble over to the mother's teets and fight their way to get the first taste of colostrum.  Turns out that if the piglets are having problems with getting over to the mom, they will be helped because it is important for their immunity health to have that colostrum within the first 15 minutes of life.  We were able to hold the piglets and shown how to recognize the runts of the groups. After about 5 days they have their tails clipped off  to avoid any unnecessary biting from other pigs and the males get their testicles removed. They are moved into another section of the barn after they are a few days old.  They get to stay with their moms until they are weaned.

We then had a lovely lunch and informative presentation from Janeen Salak-Johnson.  Ms. Johnson is a U of I professor and was quite persuasive in letting us know that pig housing should be based on animal behavior and well being not on emotional issues.  All in all what it comes down to is that we are raising animals to try and feed the world, which is ever expanding.  I have to wonder that if we lived in a less demanding world, would we be raising livestock differently? Could we have more farms with less animals? If we tried not to feed the world, would we do things differently? I really struggled this time around with the use of animals as food.  I am so fortunate to have this opportunity to see first-hand how my food is brought to the table and I am in no way taking that for granted. I am, however, questioning my decisions about food and meat.  For me, my emotions got in the way of my intellect, but again, I am only human. In the end, the Gould family is doing their part to feed the world and from what I could tell they are doing a fine job of it.

Amy Rossi

Field Mom

Last weekend I ventured out with my fellow Field Moms to Chris Gould’s farm, not far from the big city.  We learned about his family’s history with farming, toured the facilities, had lunch, and heard from an expert about some current issues in pork production that are having an impact on a global level.

Having recently read responses on the Watch Us Grow blog to McDonald’s decision to require its pork suppliers to stop using gestation stalls, I was particularly interested in seeing the living conditions of the pigs on the farm.  While it was a little shocking to see all the pigs lined up in stalls, it was actually a much calmer, cleaner, humane environment than the media had led me to believe.

What’s important to remember is that it really is in the farmer’s best interests to take good care of their animals.  Even if all they cared about was making money, they would still treat their animals as well as possible, because more animals thriving equals a larger profit for the farmer.  That’s not to say that farmers have an emotional attachment to each animal they raise, because they don’t – and I think that’s hard for a lot of us non-farmers to understand.  People like Chris Gould and Pam Janssen aren’t raising pigs to be family pets – they’re raising them to meet the nutritional needs of our ever-growing global population.  There is a huge, important difference there.  These pigs are food – not pets. 

Even so, clearly the farmers care about the animals’ well-being, and are always looking for ways to improve upon current systems of production.  I really loved hearing Dr. Janeen Salak-Johnson, a researcher from the University of Illinois, speak to us about gestation stalls – why they’re used, and the pros and cons of some alternative methods.  It’s easy to see a picture of a pig in a stall and jump to conclusions about that pig’s quality of life, but that’s why I’m so happy to be a Field Mom – I actually got to see how the pigs were treated firsthand.  I didn’t see a single pig that I thought was being abused, neglected, or otherwise mistreated.  On the contrary, I could see how the crates actually keep the pigs healthy by allowing the farmers to efficiently and safely provide them with quality care.

I wrote a blog post a few months ago about how being a Field Mom was enabling me to find my own truth – without any spin from the media, activitists, or corporations.  I wish every consumer could have these experiences, because they truly are eye-opening, and I believe seeing these things firsthand is the only way to really make educated, fact-based decisions about where your food is coming from.

 

Betsie Estes

Field Mom

Elk Grove Village

 

I hate the feeling of being in the dark, like someone is trying to pull one over on me.  I get that pit feeling in my stomach when I learn that something I thought or believed is actually different than I thought and someone has been purposely hiding important information from me.   This is especially true when it comes to the food I buy to feed to my family.  I want it to be EXACTLY what I think it is, nothing hidden or shady going on behind the scenes before the food gets to my table.  And so much of what we read these days about main-stream farming claims that there are shady things going on all the time.  And there may be in some places.  But that's the beauty of the Field Moms program: I am actually looking behind the supermarket curtain to see for myself what is going on before the food leaves the farm.  And from what I have seen so far, no one is trying to pull anything over on anyone.

Last Saturday, I was blessed to go on another farm tour with the IL Farm Families.  Instead of beef and corn, this time we delved into the world of pork production and all that this operation entails.  We spent the day with the Gould family at their farm located about 50miles west of the Loop between St. Charles and DeKalb.  One of the most special things about being a Field Mom is the opportunity to meet these amazing farming families and see how passionate they are about what they do. Chris Gould and his father Eldon talked and walked us through every part of raising pigs, from collecting from the boar (an interesting conversation! ) to inseminating the sow to the birth of the piglets and all the care of the animals across all stages of the process.  I know more now about a sow's cycle than I ever thought I would.  But it is all so interesting- how the farmers know pretty much to the day when she will deliver her piglets (115day gestation) and how long she should nurse them and how to help transition her to getting pregnant again just a few days later.  Not much rest  for that weary sow.  :)  And to us city/suburban moms, it seems difficult to not get attached to these mama and baby pigs.  But to the Goulds, it is their livelihood. The cuteness of the baby piglets is not lost on them.  They still marvel at a brand new litter trying to nurse from their mama and their instinct to survive.  But this is their business and to them the pigs are born for a purpose and the mamas are there to give birth to more piglets and so the cycle goes.

It's not cruel, quite the opposite.  They have every motivation and desire to care for the animals and treat them with dignity.  The better the animals are treated and cared for, it is better for everyone involved.  Eldon Gould even commented that they "treat each sow as an individual.  They are some pampered pigs!"

While touring the barns, Chris Gould made a point to talk about the  stalls that the pregnant sows live in during their gestation time.  "Gestational stalls" are apparently quite the controversial topic, one that I seriously had NEVER heard of before our tour last Saturday.  The EU has put all these regulations in place on pig farms saying they have to stop using this system by 2013.  McDonalds just came out and said they promised to not buy any pork from producers who use stalls and several other companies are following suit.  How have I not heard about this?  Have you?

The argument is that the stalls are inhumane and that they limit the sows ability to perform natural behaviors, causing her distress.  On the tour, we had the pleasure of talking with Janeen Johnson, a professor at Uof I who specializes in animal science and welfare issues.  She has done extensive research worldwide on the best way to house the sows and the piglets- from open pastures to tight crates. Her conclusion?  Gestational stalls are a "viable system that needs to change and improve but needs to be based on actual scientific research on sow welfare."  Fair enough.  From what we heard and saw (in pictures), sows are very hierarchical and will harm and even kill each other if they are left in open pens.  The stalls provide a safe environment for the sows and help the farmer to manage their feed and healthcare with greater accuracy and benefit.

But it is easy to get bogged down in the details.  Here is my bottom line:  The Gould's is not an "organic" pig farm.  They use gestational stalls to house their sows and farrowing (the term for the sow giving birth) stalls when the sow gets to that point.  And some people would shake their head at these facts and say we shouldn't eat meat from these farms.  But from what I saw, that is just not true.  These pigs seem content and well cared for. The entire Gould family does everything they can do to make the pork that comes from their farm the absolute healthiest and highest quality meat they possibly can. And they are constantly trying to improve.  And to me, that is important.

I am not saying I am throwing the idea of organic food out the window.  I am still a huge proponent of eating organic when we can and trying to reduce the  "middle-men" when it comes to taking my food from farm to table. I want to know that no one is mistreating animals in order to cut a few corners.  And the idea of GMOs truthfully frightens me and I need to learn more about that.  But to meet farmers like the Goulds and the Martzs and the Drendles and the Moores (we go to their farm next) is to see that they are not trying to cheat nature to get more profit.  They are not trying to pull anything over on the public in the name of personal financial gain.  They are families, doing the best they can to produce food that is safe and nutritious and in enough quantities to feed the greater population of our planet.  They feel a duty to care for the animals and the earth and their consumers.  They are up front about what they do, never shying from questions.  Someone said that they are so disconnected from the consumer that they feel like a "small agriculture island surrounded by an urban sea."   They just want it all to be out on the table.  And so do I.

I know that not everyone can go see the farm for themselves (although they have all said that their doors are always open).  And I feel so grateful to be one of the lucky moms who does get to see these farms first hand and help bridge the gap between farmer and consumer.  But most importantly, I love that I am getting the facts.  ALL the facts.  And so far, what I have seen and learned is amazing.  I left the farm last Saturday feeling a little swimmy from having heard SO much information.  But mostly grateful for people who are willing to say what is true.  They are doing their part to make sure we as consumers have the information we need to make informed food choices.  And that is SO important to me.  And I'm sure to you too.

Don't try to pursue me.  Or trick me.  Or sneak one by.  Just give me the facts.  ALL the facts.  And let me make up my own mind.   And these farmers are doing just that.

Farrah Brown

Field Mom

 

As soon as we got on the bus, I was excited and eager to speak with Pam Janssen. We Field Moms peppered her with question after question.  She was a great sport along with Tim (Maiers, Illinois Pork Producers) in answering all our questions, from how the pigs are kept to even how they are bred! I enjoyed the candid conversation very much. We had a lively conversation going, and before we knew it, we were already at Gould Farm.

We were led into the farmhouse where we met Eldon Gould and his wife, Sandy, along with Chris. We sat down and were treated to another awesome conversation opportunity where we were able to ask a million questions and everyone was so nice to answer our many inquiries! I was interested in hearing how the farm has been operating since its beginnings in 1972. Also, Eldon spoke on why the farm needed to take steps in the 1980s to minimize risk to the farm by changing to contract production. It was also very interesting to hear straight from Eldon about the steps taken to improve care to the animals around that time. I was really interested to learn that pigs don’t sweat and are very susceptible to problems with extremes in weather as a result. Housing them in pens in barns is so much more humane than being out in changing weather conditions. I can’t imagine being pregnant, not being able to sweat, and having to be outside in an Illinois summer!

From there, we took our tour. We were dressed in lovely Tyvek suits – to protect the pigs, not us! (I think the highly useful and protective plastic shoe-covering boots we were given were more for us!) My first observation once we entered the barns was that the smell was not at all as strong or offensive as I might have thought. Matter of fact, the hallway was much more pungent leading to the actual gestation barn than the barn itself. Once we entered the barn, I was amazed at how quiet it was. I guess I may have had a preconceived notion that there may be much more noise and squealing overall than there really was. The majority of the sows near to us at the entrance stood up and “checked us out” as we walked in. Something interesting and new! Many of the sows tried to nibble our suits and sniff our feet. It was interesting to be able to witness the insemination of one sow, and also witness the reaction of other sows who were ready to be bred as the “teaser boar” was walked nearby. That was when we heard all the squealing! I was impressed by the condition of the sows; very content, quiet, and overall appearing in excellent health with no visible scratches or lameness or issues. It wasn’t something I necessarily had thought about prior to visiting the farm, but it seemed like the sows were very happy in their conditions, even if they couldn’t turn around or move “freely” out of their pens.

Watching the birth of piglets was amazing, too. I liked that the mother sow had room to lay down and feed her piglets and that the piglets could run around her wherever. Holding a squealing piglet was also a fun experience! I noticed the heat lamps for the piglets. Something Chris said that was really interesting was that all the barn rooms are on an alarm system for the temperatures of the rooms. It is really nice to know that the farmers take that much care to ensure the best possible conditions for their livestock!

We had lunch and a great presentation and discussion thereafter about the European Union and their decision to start implementing their opinion of “more humane” treatment of livestock, including open penning of gestating sows. I was very interested to hear the actual science and the fact that Janeen Salek-Johnson (U of Illinois) had gone to Denmark and done research over there about their methodologies. It is sad to hear that people with misinformation or some “sway” in the political environment have attempted to  change the entire industry’s practices (and over in the EU been successful) based on emotionalism and lack of logic. Janeen had taken pictures of the behaviors she witnessed over there in the open pens, and we learned  all about the “pecking order” that sows normally operate under. I couldn’t imagine that being in a more “open” pen helps the sows not have as much stress, when they’re mounting each other or biting each other in sensitive areas. It doesn’t seem to be as humane as having each sow in her own protected pen as the industry has been doing for years and years. As the farmers noted, it is best to have each sow in the best conditions possible, for feeding, watering, and overall general health, as these sows will produce better litters and better products for the consuming public!

I didn’t want our tour to end, although I felt a little overwhelmed with the information I received! Overall it was a great experience and I learned some great things. I left the farm very satisfied with the knowledge that it is in the livestock industry’s best interest to devote time and resources to ensuring the utmost care and concern for our consumption animals in this country. I’m confident in our farmers and their ability to ensure the animals’ welfare and the end result being an excellent product to feed my family!

Jenn Weiss
Field Mom
Chicago, IL